Located at: 76/1 Flower Road, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka

Visited on: 12 Jun, 2018

Colombo’s been sprouting out restaurants and cafés like mushrooms after the rain. Which is great for food enthusiasts since it gives plenty to choose from and explore. One of these relatively new spots, The Embazzy, was quite abuzz when we visited for lunch. The place has a mix of seating – regular dining chairs and tables, couches and coffee tables, and high chairs. Based on the day’s crowd, this seemed to be a popular lunch go-to among the younger generation – possibly owing to its close proximity to several schools, academies and some offices.

We started off by ordering an Almondcino (hot, LKR 550) and a Nutty Blast Frappe (LKR 600). Both drinks were pretty good. The Almondcino had a nice touch from the almond flavouring added, and the Nutty Blast was pretty nutty indeed with something to lightly munch on with every sip. Neither beverage was too sweet or too heavy, which was great as it helped to keep our appetite intact!

One of the mains we ordered was the German Shepard – signature hotdog with double sausage and chips (LKR 890). I was expecting a little more in terms of authenticity when they described it as their ‘signature’ hotdog. The sausage tasted fine but didn’t quite have that ‘German’ feel (or texture) to it. Likewise, I was expecting some sort of healthy, crunchy home-made bread to be holding the contents. Whereas, it turned out to be regular supermarket hotdog bread. The combination of mayo and sauce that they had used was tasty and also went well with the chips – which were actually pretty good and not oily. Overall, it would have made for an above-average hotdog had my expectations not been misled by their use of (exciting) vocabulary – German and signature. Throw those adjectives into what you expect, and what you receive is comparatively ordinary.

The second choice of mains was a Peri Peri Chicken – tangy chicken with corn on the cob, salad and couscous (LKR 1,190). The presentation was delightful, and it was a substantial portion. The salad was fresh and its dressing complemented the couscous too. The corn, which I cut off the cob and mixed in, plus the sauce on the chicken contributed well to the mix of textures. There also was an interesting spicy minty chutney that had been used to dress the plate. It was present in a very minimal quantity, possibly more for the visual than to add a contrasting South Asian touch to the Portuguese dish. Although I felt like the dish didn’t need it, it did stir up some intrigue nonetheless. As for the chicken, it was a lot more tender than the peri peri chicken I’m used to having at places like Nando’s – which was no issue. However, it certainly needed more flavour. ‘Tangy’ was absent, as was almost any flavour. The sauce wasn’t as spicy and flavoursome as one would expect a peri peri sauce to be, but it definitely helped to enhance the meat.

All in all, I think this relaxed and trendy spot has great potential and is on the right track. Just a few tweaks here and there in their dishes could make it a formidable rival for its competitors.

Yummy Rating: 3.5 / 5.0