Relaunch of the Palmyrah restaurant 

The Palmyrah restaurant recently relaunched, after having been completely renovated, and with it bringing along its fine dining experience serving up delicious and authentic Northern fare. Situated at the Hotel Renuka, the 43 year-old restaurant has long been known for its Jaffna specialties, each dish made to a Thambiayah family recipe.

The restaurant was the brainchild of the late Alfred Leo Thambiayah, who wanted to share his ancestral recipes with the rest of the country, and signature dishes at Palmyrah include the Jaffna crab curry, ghee thosai, mutton poriyal, prawn curry, raal varai, porichha meen pittu, milk hoppers and jaggery hoppers.

Sampling a few dishes at a menu tasting, I found the flavours pungent, with each dish perfectly executed thus making for a fantastic dining experience. If you haven’t dined at Palmyrah yet, you should, and especially if you love Northern specialties. The porichha meen pittu comes highly recommended, accompanied by the mutton poriyal, Jaffna prawn curry and add the Jaffna crab curry for complete indulgence. Soft and warm circular towers of pittu drizzled with coconut milk, and combined with the mutton poriyal is divine. The mutton poriyal features soft cubes of mutton cooked in a ginger and garlic paste – spicy, delicious and extremely flavourful. The prawn curry is a winner on its own and goes great with the pittu also, but pairs excellently with freshly steamed string hoppers or even the crispy hoppers that Palmyrah is best known for.

A crisp jaggery hopper drizzled with treacle with a sprinkling of jaggery crumbs and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream made the perfect dessert to end the meal.

Framed black and white photographs of Jaffna adorn the walls of the restaurant, while small woven boxes, made out of Palmyrah leaves, make for table centrepieces. The private cushioned seating areas are decorated turquoise chairs and purple cushions, which are the two primary Kolum colours used for decorating the floors of kovils. Hanging antique bells, which are used in kovils, are also hung around the restaurant.

The Hotel Renuka also organizes private events which can be held in any one of the hotel’s conference rooms, with catering by the Palmyrah, or even at another location of your choice with its outside catering services. For reservations, inquiries and information, please call (011) 2573598. Palmyrah is located at Hotel Renuka at 328, Galle Road, Colombo 03.

By Sarah Kellapatha