Five years after Kolamba’s Soho debut, co-founders Aushi and Eroshan Meewella have returned with a second site, this time bringing the flavours of Sri Lanka to East London. Nestled away down a side street in the new Norton Folgate development, you could easily walk past without a second glance.
Kolamba East is sleek and minimal, but there’s something undeniably glamorous about the space - a testament to the interior-design expertise of the couple. This clean, neutral aesthetic is heavy with wood and exposed brick but there's nothing cold or clinical about it. The open kitchen and thoughtful layout create a familial warmth, with a seated bar that acts as a focal point in the main room. A curtained dining space is tucked to the side, and we sink into wicker chairs, separated from the packed restaurant, but still a part of its jovial buzz.
Kolamba East specialises in home cooked dishes from Colombo, offering authenticity in its menus of curries, hoppers and sambols; comforting plates of family recipes that are designed to share. We start the evening with a Kolamba Spritz (a refreshing mix of doppelganger aperitif, sparkling wine, soda, cucumber, ginger and orange) alongside a plate of chilli-spiced pappadums which we dunk into a sticky and sweet mango chutney, complete with chunks of the fruit. We’ve barely started what is going to be a multi-course feast, but the essence of what there is to love about Kolamba is ever present: elegant simplicity in its style, bold in its flavours.
Masterful cookery sees incredibly tender cuts of jaggery beef and lamb shanks, each swimming in richly spiced sauces. But more than that, Kolamba East shows how much can be done with its simple, fruit-based curries. A chewy, caramelised wedge of pineapple is the main event of one dish, offering a welcome sweetness that cuts through the complex spicing. The star of the evening is the string hopper prawn biryani, layering the curry with rows of wispy noodles, and we come back for several helpings. A jackfruit alternative of the dish is equally moreish and disappears just as quickly.
Whilst it has the style of a high-end London restaurant, the prices seem more reasonable, and once you’ve had a bite of those biryanis, you’ll find it hard to stay away.