Stumble on the little maze of streets tucked between Spitalfields Market and the neck-straining skyscrapers of Bishopsgate, and you’ll get the uncanny sense of being lost not in space, but in time.
Between time-warped residences like Dennis Severs’ House and Batty Langley’s hotel, the cobbled streets, the Victorian gas lamps and the painted window shutters, you’d be forgiven for thinking you had genuinely stepped back in time. And having swiftly adjusted to your new life in the 19th century, you’d also be forgiven for thinking that one of the warehouses on these Dickensian streets didn’t house a brilliantly authentic Sri Lankan restaurant.
But you’d be very, very wrong.
Back in 2019, Kolamba brought the vibrant flavours of Sri Lanka’s bustling capital all the way to London’s Soho, and now, in the wake of heaps of critical acclaim, founders Eroshan and Aushi Meewella have just cut the ribbon on their second site.
Milo Brown
So, we’ll start by saying that the place is straight-up beautiful. Walking into this backstreet warehouse, you’ll feel like you’ve stumbled across a Sri Lankan beach bar, with evocative rattan chairs and sleek tan banquettes orbiting a sizeable central bar, where the ‘tenders are shaking up curry leaf gimlets and Colombo Sours (made with gin distilled in the Sri Lankan capital). Hand-crafted lotus-shaped lanterns exude a warm glow over the space, while Pragreeth Manohansa’s dynamic, large-scale sketches of water buffalo prowl the walls. But there’s still a bit of that London edge peeking in through the gaps, from the distressed brickwork framing the space, to the original cast iron pillars supporting the exposed timbers overhead.
Anton Rodriguez
Take a pew – the banquette seating is so comfortable you might genuinely have trouble leaving – and leaf through the menu, which has expanded considerably with the move. If you’re the kind of person who orders with their eyes, be warned – you’re going to want to order everything you read. Two starters and two larger plates is probably about the right call for two to share, but luckily everything arrives so swiftly you could also just order as you go along.
As with the Soho restaurant, Kolamba East draws on Sri Lanka’s melting pot of cultures and heritage to create a varied menu of dishes with Dutch, Malay, Sinhalese, Tamil and Moorish origins – the kind that the founders grew up with in the capital. In fact, they’ve even gone so far as to get recipes from family and friends for added authenticity.
Anton Rodriguez
Some of the standouts include the hot butter soft shell crab (they’ve essentially deep-fried the entire thing, and it’s insanely delicious), and the tamarind chicken, which is unbelievably tender and sings with flavour. The Jaffna lamb shank melts off the bone into a pool of richly spiced curry dotted with pistachios. And if you’re looking for a showstopper, get the Ceylon Moor king prawn string hopper biryani, which tastes as impressive as it looks. Non-negotiable are the sambols – they might feel like a bonus track you can skip past, but they genuinely lift every other dish on the menu into a new realm.
Anton Rodriguez
After your meal, you might want to migrate over to a seat at that beautifully-lit bar. Kolamba East gives cocktails considerable more airtime than its predecessor, with a host of new signature creations including the Arrack Old Fashioned, the Clarified Pina Colada, and the K.C.C. – a heady, fragrant concoction of coffee liqueur, jaggery, tonka bean, cardamom, nutmeg, and bona fide moonshine distilled in Battersea.
Dickens would have loved it.
NOTE: Kolamba East is open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday – Sunday. You can find out more, and make a reservation, on the Kolamba East website.
PREVIOUS PERK: Nudge Members (+3) enjoyed a secret extended soft launch with 50% off food, and a welcome cocktail or mocktail, from 6th August – 18th August 2024. Not a Nudge Member yet? Sign up for a free 7 day trial.
Kolamba East | 12 Blossom Street, London E1 6PL
Want to know what’s coming up? Check out our guide to London restaurants opening soon