Just over two years ago I met with the three generations behind Mama Aida’s, Mama Aida (Aida Suby) herself, her daughter Naja De Saram and her daughter Amrita De Saram. The love of food, Lebanese to be precise, has been a driving passion in the Suby-De Saram family for many years.
Mama Aida’s pita bread has been in the market for decades while in 2013, Amrita decided it was time people got a chance to savour these age old dishes once again.
With a love and passion for good food and fresh produce, Amrita set her sights on setting up a restaurant of her own and this is when August by Mama Aida’s was born. The restaurant serves most of what Mama Aida’s is known for, and then some. Amrita has allowed herself to steer a little away from the traditional and add her own touch to these traditional recipes.
Ambience – 5 stars
Situated in the same premises as the ‘Shirohana’ flower shop on Cotta Road, a light blue gate, on the left, opens up into a setting almost out of a fairytale. The open dining concept under a large mango tree creates a romantic, laid back atmosphere which, encourage you to stay on for hours!
Taste and value for money – 5 stars
The atmosphere, coupled with the delicious food ranging from hot and cold mezze options, mains, desserts and drinks gives you a wide variety to choose from.
The Cold and Hot Mezze options on the menu alone will leave you stuffed. We opted for an array of Mezze which included tender shreds of Slow Cooked Lamb (Rs 850). The lamb is soft, succulent and full of flavour while the pomegranate seeds and molasses add a whole lot of flavour to this simple dish.
One of my favourites was the Halloumi (Rs 600). These grilled slices of halloumi cheese with olive oil as simple as it was, was so delicious.
Pita Chips (Rs 200) accompanied most of the dishes we nibbled on and it went so well with the delectable and creamy Baba Ghanoush (Rs 450). The flavour of the sesame paste and rich olive oil comes through so well in this rustic dish. I tried some Baba Ghanoush with their some Marinated Olives (Rs 550) which come whole and marinated in chilli and thyme, on top of the pita chips and it was just lip-smacking.
A fresh crunchy salad was also among our Mezze that of the famous Fattoush (Rs 450) which is a salad of tomato, cucumber, spring onion, radish, fresh herbs and lettuce mixed with a zesty lemon juice and olive dressing. The dish is served with oven roasted pita chips sprinkled with sumac. Yum!
We also tried out their Fried Fish with Tahini Sauce (Rs 700). The fish was that of baby red mullet pan fried and served with pita bread and a creamy sesame sauce.
In spite of being stuffed to the core, we couldn’t resist trying out a few desserts (priced at Rs 550 each). The August Mess which comes in a cute glass filled with rosewater scented meringue, layered among fresh strawberries and cream and topped with pistachios was so simple yet so full of subtle sweet flavours and in my books, heavenly.
While the Chocolate Tart which is a short crust pasty filled with a rich dark chocolate and cardamom ganache – was a naughty treat well worth the calories!
Hours of operation : 12 – 2pm (Only delivery with the menu also offering slightly different options to the dinner menu) and 7-11pm (Tuesday to Sunday)
Address : 61, Dudley Senanayake Mawatha, Colombo 8
Tel : 077-700-5808 or 071-555-5598 (Call ahead and make your reservations)
By Natasha Fernandopulle
Photographs by Kanishke Ganewatte
-[Horizontal-Crop].jpg)
0 Comments