For Natalie Raymond, it was only natural that she delve into the food business. She claims that she’s always loved cooking, and started early as a teenager, experimenting with varying ingredients and spices in the kitchen. “I can’t cook an authentic Sri Lankan rice and curry meal. Would you believe that?” she quips, when I ask her what circumstances led her to open the Achcharu Kadé Café. But she continues. “I have always expressed an interest in food, and have loved cooking. Experimenting with food was common,”

What started off as a simple stall selling variants of chillie-laced servings of achcharu at the Diyatha Uyana on Wednesdays, Natalie shifted to selling her fare at the Good Market on Thursdays. The response just kicked off from there. From mango, pineapple, guava, and wood apple achcharu, she included a few signature mixes to the range which consisted of a jambu, jambola, lovi and nelli achcharu, an ambarella, lovi, guava, pineapple and green apple achcharu, and a veralu and mango achcharu with mustard sauce.

Soon, she started selling rice and curry at the stall, consisting of freshly cooked rice with servings of various accompaniments such as saffron infused potatoes, polos, crunchy green beans, pol sambol, chicken curry, ash plantain, crunchy lotus root, kos mallung, mango curry, or breadfruit curry. And the pairing of kiribath and crab curry soon made its way to the menu, and by then the Achcharu Kadé had a huge fan base, with customers coming back for their favourites every week.

The Achcharu Kadé Café opened their doors to customers two weeks back, and so far they’ve had a great response with food selling out fast within the first operational week. “It’s been so hectic but I’m really happy, especially when I see people enjoying the food,” says Natalie. The menu has evolved and now includes drinks, desserts and mains.

The day menu serving rice and curry packs for lunch, sandwiches with fillings of polos pahi and pol sambol or parippu and ambul thiyal, a stuffed omelette served with rice and a choice of meat, soup of the day served with fresh crusty bread and homemade butter, and a salad. The evening menu features biryani with a creamy cashew curry, chicken and pickle, The Paan Bagé which is homemade crusty bread filled with a choice of curry, and served with onion or kochchi sambol and topped with a fried egg, a pineapple rice dish served with flame grilled chicken, spaghetti with a choice of four sauces, flame grilled chicken or lamb served with mash and vegetables. The crab and kiribath is served only on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Cooling iced drinks such as sarsaparilla, cucumber, tomato, ginger and ambarella are ideal to accompany your lunch or dinner. Natalie’s also included tea smoothies available in cinnamon, apple or lemon. They’re made with fresh tea and sweetened with honey. Everything at the Achcharu Kadé Café is made from scratch with the exception of using vinegar and raw brown sugar. No trip to the café is complete without digging into a bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream topped with a soft pink sugary nest of bombai muttai with crisp paper-thin wafers on the side. The combination is delightful, and a novel idea for ice cream. Other ice cream flavours include pani pol, coffee almond and Oreo, which are all homemade and the flavours differ from week to week. There's a menu for kids as well, and this includes spaghetti, pancakes and French toast.

Achcharu Kadé Café has tied up with Orderfood.lk for food deliveries in Colombo 1–14. There’s no minimum order, and you can order and pay online if you wish, and they deliver until 12AM.

The Achcharu Kadé Café is located at 9, St. Anthony’s Mawatha, Colombo 03. Their opening times are 11AM – 3.30PM and 6.30PM – 10.30PM (Monday to Thursday), and 11AM – 3.30PM and 6.30PM – 1AM (Friday & Saturday). They’re closed on Sundays. They can be contacted on 0727877025, and check out Achcharu Kadé on Facebook for daily updates.

By Sarah Kellapatha
Photos courtesy Achcharu Kadé Café