Roast paan is a staple food that you will find in every Sri Lankan home. Often paired with curries and pol sambol, roast paan is a traditional type of bread that is made with fermented dough. Adding their own twist to the traditional roast paan meal, Ayana Sea started Roast Paan LK where they serve roast paan in various renditions, ranging from a typical Sri Lankan meal consisting of roast paan and curries to roast paan sandwiches. Popular items such as the Garlic and Herbs Roast Paan have been marked as best-sellers, and they can be paired with curries such as Pork Kalupol Malu, Negombo Prawn Goraka, and Colombo Chicken Red Curry, sure to make you feel as if you are eating a home-cooked Sri Lankan meal. The founding team began Roast Paan in hopes of popularising it further, incorporating their own twist to it. 

Roast Paan LK began in the month of June 2021 which marks the business as fairly new. Within four months of operation, the venture has become one of the go-to places when one craves a hearty meal with roast paan. The team is excited for their future as they have been receiving an overwhelming, positive response, and having received many recommendations, the team has been able to improve their business immensely. 

What inspired you to start Roast Paan LK?
The team decided to start a new venture called Roast Paan. LK to give more light and prominence to one of Sri Lanka’s most used bread products and include a variety of twists with it. 

Roast Paan is a very popular meal that Sri Lankans eat daily. What makes your Roast Paan different from the usual meal?
How we’ve chosen to be different is reflected in the way we have paired our dishes, for instance, the Roasties that are creatively paired with curries that are guaranteed to pack a punch.  We wanted to stick to the traditional Sri Lankan dishes as well but we also brought out a variety of sweet selections too. By having such a range, we wanted a large variety of options for the customer to choose from. Apart from the roast paan sandwiches, we have also introduced a variety of rice and noodle dishes, including a tasty Indonesian Nasi Goreng and an immaculate Curried Chicken Spaghetti. 

How has the response for Roast Paan LK been so far?
It has been amazing! We have received a lot of good responses towards the brand and a lot of recommendations too. 

What are some of the challenges you faced during the operation of your business?
We did face difficulties when the taxes had been applied to some of the most needed products to be used but we as a team overcame all the obstacles. 

How has COVID-19 made an impact on Roast  Paan LK?
The current pandemic has definitely played a crucial role when it comes to the number of orders. The business has been tough but with the constant support from our customers and the lovely feedback we get all the time, we keep pushing to deliver the best roast paans in the country.

What are some of your most popular items on the menu?
It would definitely be the Garlic and Herbs roast paan and our rice and noodle dishes. 

How experimental would you say you are with the items on the menu?
We would scale ourselves nine out of ten when it comes to experimenting with our dishes as we have come up with a large variety of twists with roast paan that we believe no other ventures in the country have tried out yet.

How have you utilized social media to get Roast Paan LK known among its customer base and the public?
Social media has been our biggest form of sales. We had a lot of plans we intended to carry out but due to the current, dire situation, it has been really difficult to enact those plans. However, we definitely want to thank our customers for the constant love and engagement we receive on our pages on social media!

What is next for Roast Paan LK?
What is next for us is definitely to open up a cute little café for everyone to come enjoy the delicious Roasties!

text Tiranya Ranasinghe