• Courtyard by Marriott Colombo’s Taste of Ceylon explores the distinct flavours and culinary traditions of 4 regions

Food festivals at hotels often focus on bringing a particular international cuisine to Colombo, but Courtyard by Marriott Colombo took a different approach earlier this month, turning its attention closer to home.

Held from 3 to 6 September at Beira Kitchen, Taste of Ceylon brought together food from the southern, central, Uva, and northern regions of Sri Lanka, with each given its own space within the restaurant.

A great deal of effort had gone into creating a food festival atmosphere at Beira Kitchen, and dividing the experience into different regional areas was a nice touch. More importantly, the distinction extended beyond presentation.

The diversity of flavour between the regions was one of the strongest elements of the experience. Moving through the buffet, there were clear differences in the spices, ingredients, and cooking styles used. Rather than presenting Sri Lankan cuisine as one broad category, Taste of Ceylon gave diners an opportunity to see some of the variations within it.

There was plenty to explore, from familiar favourites to dishes that took ingredients and flavours in less expected directions. Some of these were among the most interesting. A lotus root, chicken, and sweet corn soup was a clever combination, while the pili mung stuffed cuttlefish from the Uva Province was another standout.

The northern section was also a highlight. Its selection did not restrict itself entirely to the dishes most Colombo diners immediately associate with Jaffna cuisine. There appeared to be a conscious effort to look more widely at the food traditions of the north, giving the section greater depth. Jaffna crab and mutton curries were among the dishes represented, alongside a live dosai station.

Not every experiment landed for me. The Sri Lankan-inspired sushi was a miss, largely because I found some of the flavour combinations a little too obvious. This came down to personal taste, though, and the willingness to experiment fitted with the broader approach of the festival.

The desserts deserve a mention for the same reason. There were the expected Sri Lankan favourites, including watalappan, kokis, athirasa, and aluwa, but the more inventive desserts were more interesting. 

An Embilipitiya sour woodapple mousse cake, woodapple coconut wandu, and cream coconut Bounty cake (featuring the famous Bounty coconut-filled chocolates) played with familiar local flavours in less conventional forms. It was a thoughtful way to approach dessert and helped carry the regional, exploratory nature of the festival through to the end of the meal.

Where Taste of Ceylon worked best was in its regional focus and willingness to look beyond the most obvious representations of Sri Lankan food. There was enough familiarity to ground the experience, but the dishes that stood out were often those that offered something unexpected. 

For Sri Lankan diners especially, Taste of Ceylon offered an interesting look at the differences within a cuisine we often speak about as though it were one single thing.