Sri Lanka’s first boutique hotel, Saman Villas is located in the small fishing village of Aturuwella in Bentota. Established in 1995, the hotel is synonymous with luxury by offering above par service and quality holiday experiences. 

The hotel’s restaurant that is open to both in-house and outhouse guests has always produced culinary feasts of excellent calibre. The hotel recently launched a new menu under the guidance of executive chef Mahdi Eghnam. 

Speaking to us about the menu, General Manager Renuke Coswatte tells us that it’s a fantastic new menu. “Chef Mahdi has found the right balance in the menu to give some excitement for the diner and have them coming back for more” 

The new menu is extensive featuring salads, appetizers, mains, cuisine from East, the North, the South, Asian and dessert and covers an array of different dishes to suit palates of all kinds. 

To start off, we ordered the Thai Beef Salad, the Traditional Caeser Salad with Chicken and their signature Mahi Mahi and Yellowfin Tuna Fish Ceviche as appetizers. The appetisers were well presented with an eye for detail and specifics and despite being appetisers, the portions were very large. The Mahi Mahi was a surprising dish; well prepared and lightly flavoured. 

For mains, we ordered a Rack of Lamb, Duck Breast and the Lobster Thermidor. We loved the presentation and how generously plated each dish was. The Lobster Thermidor was creamy and packed with lobster meat and mushrooms in sauce. All the seafood is freshly brought in every day and that really contributed towards the overall freshness of the dish. 

The Rack of Lamb was succulent and the duck breast was well seasoned. We really enjoyed our mains. 

We were more excited for dessert because the options are plentiful and the GM, Mr. Costwatte tells us that the desserts here are sensational. We ordered the Coconut Ice Cream, the Saman Villa signature Chocolate Encrusted Pani Pol and Exotic Flavours of Sorbet. 

The Coconut Ice Cream is presented in a thambili husk with scoops of coconut ice cream in the hollow topped off with coconut shavings. 

The signature dessert dish is coconut cooked in treacle encrusted in a layer of frozen chocolate and is served with vanilla ice cream. The dish is artistically designed and the combination of pani pol and chocolate was quite pleasing. 

Other options on the dessert menu include Strawberry Mille Feuille, Coconut Crepes, Warm Date and Ginger Pudding, Pineapple and Ice Coconut Parfait and Green Tea Crème Brûlée. 

Overall, we had an excellent 3 course dinner at Saman Villas where the food, the service and the ambience was perfect from the beginning to the very end. The food is well prepared and artistically presented and the diner is given a culinary experience to remember!