Forget Willy Wonka's factory, forget places like Yum Yum and Candy Planet who pay tribute to it - Bombay Sweet House is the original candy shop. Before every other sweet kade in Colombo began to call themselves 'Bombay Sweet', there were these guys, all the way back in 1948. The shop still remains the best place in town to pick up your classic Indian favourites like jalebi and muscat and to down a glass of Faluda.
The Sweets
We got a whole assortment of sweets - boondhi, jalebi, soan papdi, gulab jamun, muscat, just spending about Rs. 600 in total. You can get 100g of whatever for about 100 bucks, though they usually sell in bulk. Everything is very sugary and very satisfying.
The little yellow beads of boondhi are softer here than at most places, the golden coils of jalebi are just perfect and oozing with sugar, and the flakey soan papdi just instantly crumbles in your mouth. The gulab jamun are smaller and more compact, more old-school. It's good stuff, if the place's hordes of loyal customers are anything to go by. They also unexpectedly had some chicken rolls on display - not spicy, but stuffed to the brim and tasty.
This is the place for muscat, by the way. These fat, gelatinous cubes of goo are delectable, topped with a thin mild sugar crust at the top.
BAM. Dat Faluda. Didn't see this Faluda coming when I asked for a Faluda. For about Rs. 100 you get a giant glass where you can see the different layers - the rose syrup, the milk, the kasa-kasa and a fun dollop of vanilla ice cream. Stir it up and it's pretty grand - milky, fragrant and extremely sweet really, you may be pushing it if you're going to have a bunch of sweets and this.
Ambience & Service
This is one of those rare little shops that seems to be really functional but still looks the same as it probably did fifty years ago. It's a small space, with a long candy display case, and a bit of seating if you want to sit down for a drink. There are these really old school beige cupboards all along the walls and a lot of mirrors much like little sweet shops in North India.
The first Bombay Sweet House was set up in 1948 in Pettah, by Dawood Bhoy - this was the second, in 1962, and later they opened one in Wellawatte. Dawood Bhoy's son Johar now runs the shop and he told us that his son plans to take over after. This Bora family may be royalty in Colombo's candy world, but the shop remains charmingly small and understated.
Service was very efficient during our visit. The waiter jokingly warned us that eating as many sweets as we did can make us really giddy and to be careful. Maybe he wasn't joking now that I think about it.
Conclusion
Bombay Sweet House has survived the test of time and remains a quality place for Indian sweets and Faluda. If you're looking for a mind numbingly sugary packet of boondhi or gulab jamun, this place is your fix.
Tip
This Colpetty institution however isn’t just a great place to sample laddoo, muscat, barfi, and jalebi, it’s also basically the best café space in the city. While modern Starbucks imitators have tried to create a Colombo café culture with 300 rupee Cappuccinos this beautiful antique space is the real thing*. You can sit for hours at a time and watch the world go by while reading a newspaper or engage in endless politico-metaphysical discussions without worrying about your ever mounting bill.
Best of all every time you return it feels like you’re coming home to space that has barely changed in 50 years, the only problem with the café analogy though is that they don’t actually serve coffee (they really really should) but you can instead grab a cool Faluda- rose water, kasa kasa seeds(the original bubble tea bubbles) milk and ice cream in a tall glass.
Johar the owner(a third generation descendent of Sri Lanka’s first Bombay sweet supplier) is a real sugarcraftsman, incredibly knowledgeable about his art- just ask him the history of Indian sweets. His abilities also surpass the tastes of the local market, for example he makes the tastiest Indian sweets ras malai only to order as there isn’t enough demand here for them to be kept in stock.
The simple fact that you can drift into this beautiful shop and speak to someone so knowledgeable and passionate about food is a real privilege. So if you haven’t already been… go! (what have you been waiting its been open 50 years) And as central Colombo comes back to life this Colpetty establishments is in at the heart of all the action and much cheaper than hanging out at Coffee Bean or Baristas.
*Editor's note: they don't actually serve coffee here. Savan has just been hassling Johar to, but that's not quite the same thing. The faluda is excellent.
කොල්ලුපිටියේ බොම්බේ ස්වීට් හවුස් හොඳම ලඩ්ඩු, මස්කට්, බාෆි සහ ජලෙබි රස බල්න්නට පුළුවන් තැන පමණක් නොවෙයි, එය තමයි ලංකාවේ හොඳම කෝපි හල් අවකාශය. නවීන Starbucks අනුකාරකයන් රුපියල් තුන්සීයේ කැපුසිනෝ කෝපිවලින් කොළඹ කෝපිහල් සංස්කෘතියක් බිහි කරන්නට උත්සාහ කරද්දී මේ සුන්දර පැරණි අවකාශය තමයි, සැබැවින් ම ඒ සඳහා තැන. ඉහළ යන බිල ගැන නොසිතා ඔබට මෙහි පැය ගණනක් අසුන් ගෙන පුවත්පතක් කියවමින් ලෝකයේ වගතුග බලන්නත්, නිමක් නැති දේශපාලන පාරභෞතික සාකච්ඡාවක යෙදෙන්නත් පුළුවන්.
මෙහි හොඳම දෙය තමයි, ඔබ එහි පිවිසෙන හැම විටම ඔබට සිතෙන්නේ ඔබ වසර පනහක් තිස්සේම වෙනස් වී නැති තැනකට පිවිසෙනවාය කියායි. මෙතැන කෝපිහල් කලාවට නො ගැලපෙන එකම දෙය තමයි, මෙහි කෝපි පිරිනමන්නේ නැති වීම. ඇත්තතෙන්ම, මෙතැනට එය අත්යවශ්යයි. ඒත්, ඔබට උස වීදුරුවක පිරිනැමෙන සිසිල් ෆලූඩා රෝස වතුර හෝ කස ඇට, කිරි සහ අයිස්ක්රීම් දැමූ සරුවත් තොග ගාමින් සතුටු වෙන්න පුළුවන්.
මෙතැන හිමිකරු වන ජොහාර් ලංකාවේ පළමු බොම්බේ රසකැවිලිකරුවන්ගේ තුන්වන පරපුරේ කෙනෙක්. ඔහු නියම රස ශිල්පියෙක්. තම කලාව පිළිබඳ ඔහු හොඳින් දැනුවත්. ඉන්දියානු රසකැවිලි ඉතිහාසය පිළිබඳ ඔහුගෙන් නිකමට විමසන්න. ඔහුගේ හැකියාවන් දේශීය රුචිකත්වයන් ඉක්මවා යන්නක්. නිදසුනක් ලෙස ඔහු රස් මලෛ නම් මිහිරි අතුරුපස සාදන්නේ ඇණවුම්වලට පමණයි. ඒවා හදා අලෙවියට තැබීමට තරම් මෙහි ඒ සඳහා ඉල්ලුමක් නැහැ.
මේ සුන්දර අවන්හලට පැමිණ ආහාර ගැන දැනුවත්, අනුරාගී පුද්ගලයකු සමග කතාවට වැටෙන්නට ලැබෙන එක වුණත් සැබෑ වරප්රසාදයක්. තාම ගිහින් නැද්ද? අවුරුදු පනහක් එය එතැන තිබෙද්දී ඔබ මොනවා කරනවාද? යන්න. කොළඹ මධ්යයේ ජීවිතය යළි අවදි වෙද්දී බොම්බේ ස්වීට් හවුස් පිහිටා තිබෙන්නේ එහි ක්රියාකාරිත්වයේ හදවත ළඟ. එසේම, එය Coffee Bean හෝ Baristaට වඩා මිළෙනුත් අඩයි.
*සංස්කාරක සටහන: සවන් එසේ කරන්න්නැයි පොළඹවන්නට උත්සාහ කළත්, ඇත්තෙන්ම ඔවුන් මෙතන කෝපි පිරිනමන්නේ නැහැ. ඒත්, ෆලූඩා ඉස්තරම්.
கொள்ளுபிட்டியில் அமைந்திருக்கும் இந்த சுவீட் ஹவுஸ்; லட்டு, மஸ்கட், பர்பி, ஜிலேபி போன்றவற்றை சுவைக்க மட்டுமல்ல மணிக்கணக்கில் உட்கார்ந்து வம்பளக்கவோ பத்திரிகை படிக்கவோ அரசியல் பற்றி பேசவோ வசதியான இடம். இந்த கபே கலாச்சாரத்தை ஏனைய கபேக்களில் ஒரு கப்பச்சீனோவுக்கு ரூபா 300 கொடுத்தே அனுபவிக்கமுடியும். ஆனால் ஒரே வித்தியாசம் இங்கு கோப்பி கிடைப்பதில்லை என்பதுதான். அதற்கு பதிலாக உயரமான கிளாஸில் பரிமாறப்படும் பால், ஐஸ்கிறீம், பன்னீர், கசகசா கலந்த பலூதாவை முயற்சிக்கலாம்.
இதன் உரிமையாளரனா ஜோஹார்; இலங்கைக்கு பம்பாய் சுவீட்டுக்களை தந்த குடும்பத்தின் மூன்றாவது தலைமுறையை சேர்ந்தவர். இவர் சுவீட்கலையில் கைதேர்ந்தவர். இந்திய சுவீட்களை இலங்கைப்பாணியில் வழங்கத்தெரிந்தவர். அதனால்தான் இங்கு அவ்வளவு பிரபல்யமில்லாத ( ஆனால் இந்தியாவின் மிகச்சுவையான சுவீட்டான) 'ரசமலாய்'ஐ இங்கு கேட்பவர்களுக்கு மாத்திரம் செய்துகொடுக்கிறார். இன்னும் சுவீட்டுக்களை பற்றி அறிவுள்ள ஒருவருடன் அளவளாவதுகூட இனிப்பான அனுபவம்தான்.
எனவே இதுவரை இந்த இடத்திற்கு சென்றிருக்காவிட்டால் இப்போதே செல்லுங்கள். இது உங்களுக்காகத்தான் 50 வருடங்களாக திறந்திருக்கின்றது என்று உணர்வீர்கள். நீங்கள் "கொபீ பீன்" இலோ அல்லது "பரிஸ்டா"விலோ நேரத்தை கடத்துவதை காட்டிலும் இந்த அழகான பழைய இடம் மலிவான தெரிவே.
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Comments
I went to uni for 2 years literally right behind that building and I never went in… :| KMN!
04 August 2012 07:58 AM ReplyThis was a true Oasis on all those hot and dusty afternoons as I made my way back from school. There was a time when the bus fare to and from Mt Lavinia would buy you a faluda (fare evasion justified!). I've been a customer since in mid-seventies and whilst I've tried faludas of all sorts in other places there was always only one original in my mind… and then in March this year, I thought I'd indulge and popped in on my way to the SSC. The same familiar people behind the counter, the same old ceiling fan and even the window display across the street at Victory Silk Store seemed familiar. I felt like I was 13 again and I ordered a faluda and a samosa. The samosa came first and it was as good as it has always been but the faluda, wasn't! I was horrified to find a scoop of ice cream floating in my faluda, only to be told that they had to do that to compete with all the other places that put ice cream in their faluda. Is nothing sacred anymore?
23 August 2012 02:28 PM ReplyPerhaps I'd have to get back to Curry and Chips in Blackburn to taste an authentic faluda? They certainly make better 'Green Cabin Cake' than Green Cabin does!
Completely agree with this review. I know the owner personally too, really great guy. @Janith - Yes I go to Sliit too…never went in yet :D
07 March 2013 11:41 AM Replybest Muscat & Falooda in the town…. also the best ALMOND MILK
30 April 2013 06:58 AM ReplyI highly doubt if this is the oldest Bombay sweet. Theres a Bombay Sweet opposite the Red Mosque on Main Street, its been there ever since my parents could remember. Please get your facts right.
01 May 2013 11:52 AM ReplyThe faluda here is absolutely to die for. BTW, as an FYI, Kasa-kasa seeds are (in English) poppy seeds! I was going nuts looking for these to add to a cake mix - also, I don't think these are anything to do with bubble-tea bubbles, those were tapioca pearls. Correct me if I'm wrong.
30 July 2013 12:48 AM ReplyThe current owners of Bombay Sweet House in Colpetty (Colombo 03), Sri Lanka, represent the third or fourth generation of a family that set up a high-quality Indian ('Bombay') sweet business in old Ceylon many years ago. Although the Colpetty store/restaurant is the oldest and best known outlet for their delicious muscat, jeabi, faloodah, etc., I believe one or more other branches of the same family have set up smaller outlets which serve the same excellent products - there is a place on Duplication Road (R. A. de Mel Mawatha) the name of which I have forgotten. The genuine Bombay Sweet House family places can be be recognized by the characteristic richly delicious smell of their muscat that welcomes you as soon as you enter through the door and they all use the familiar white box with blue lettering and picture of a smiling lady to package your purchases. There are many places in Colombo that call themselves Bombay Sweets or some such but have nothing to do with this family and the products of these fake places is garbage compared to the real thing. The main store at the Colpetty junction used to serve great buriyani too, not sure if they still do.
16 August 2013 10:24 PM ReplyThe name is Panaash and they are now down School Lane.
11 June 2015 05:27 PM Replyhey guys anyone knows how much 500g of masqat n boondee here is ? please let me know
05 April 2014 11:03 AM ReplyRight across the road from work, and the Gulab Jamuns are TO-DIE-FOR ! I often visit after work for a couple of Gulab J's and a cold coffee ! BLISS !
28 May 2014 03:12 AM Reply@yamu, you guys should review the Bombay Sweets in pettah in Keyzer Street. They are the best.
05 June 2015 12:11 PM Replyreally the best. Tried newer places with similar claims but the standard was not the same. Anyone who has not tried yet must.
06 June 2015 09:08 AM ReplySimply the best Indian sweets I have tasted. I would say better than the ones I have tried in India. Been going there for over 50 years. Colpetty won't be the same without this shop. Recently been to their shop in Wella (about 100 yards for Police station towards Dehiwela) and all the sweets are made there. Johar is guy very passionate about his business and most importantly a hands on guy. My fav stop over whenever in am in Colpetty. The syrups are awersome too.
07 June 2015 11:54 PM ReplyThough this site says it is opened till 7p.m. I called at about 6.20 p.m. and asked if it opened. The operator said it is closing at 6 p.m. Please update this page so that there wont be any disappointments.
14 July 2015 12:43 PM ReplyI like this place a lot, especially the miscast and the jalebis. The falooda looks good too but haven't tried it recently, though I have done as a child. Anyway I have a funny story to tell you. My mum ordered samosas from here years and years ago, when I was a kid, and it was for a party that she was having. When she came home, she found that they were very oily. So she called the shop to complain. The guy there ( he maybe dead now) told her "if it's oily throw it away" then my mum told him I will come there and throw them on your head. " and then she rang off. ha ha ha ha!!!
08 February 2016 11:44 PM Reply