Taste of Sri Lanka
March 20,
2019
Coffee with fresh cow's milk |
It looks like the new kid on the block and indeed, the 10-year-old Yarl Restaurant (behind the YMCA building) has shed its old mantle after having undergone massive renovations. Reopened two months ago, it now wears chic hues of black, white and grey, with splashes of brown in the tabletops. Stone benches along both sides even have power points so customers can charge their mobile devices as they dine.
There is no
airconditioning but the interior is surprisingly cool despite the sweltering
heat outside. It opens early too, to cater to the breakfast crowd.
Food is
lined up against one wall at the front but some items such as apam and roti are
made to order. The food counter is divided into vegetarian and non-vegetarian
fare.
Yarlpanam is
the old name for Jaffna and as its name suggests, Yarl offers Yarlpanam food
from the town of Jaffna in north Sri Lanka.
Some of the vegetarian dishes available |
Pumpkin varai |
Vegetarian
fare is give equal prominence and there are at least 8 vegetarian curries
offered daily, in addition to deepfried dishes such as cutlet RM8) and my
favourite pavakai (bittergourd). Manager Murali tells me the menu is changed on
a daily basis. Prices are reasonable too. A plate of rice with three vegetables
cost RM7 and you also get complimentary rasam and chutney sambal.
Vegetarian thali set: Rice with (from left) rasam, dhal, brinjal-tomato-garlic curry, beetroot varai and vegetable cutlet |
I love
Indian vegetarian fare and Jaffna vegetarian fare is no less interesting. With
pumpkin varai and beetroot varai, I don’t mind not having meat. Add in some
fiery hot brinjal-tomato-garlic curry and I’m a happy diner. If you can’t take
too hot food, the lentil sothi (cooked with turmeric and coconut) and bayam
curry go well with rice.
Yarl serves
both ordinary and parboiled rice; on Friday, the special is red rice.
Fish curry with choices from head to tail |
Spicy Fried Tenggiri steaks |
For
non-vegetarian fare, there’s chicken, mutton and seafood. As Sri Lanka is an island,
seafood plays a major role in its cuisine. I see at least 5-6 seafood dishes.
There are fried fish, fried tenggiri, fish curry (including head and tail),
prawn sambal and sura (shark) varai.
Sura varai is flaked shark with desiccated coconut, turmeric, onion and chili |
Delicious Prawn Sambal |
The sura
varai is amazing. Shark flesh is flaked and cooked with desiccated coconut,
onion, turmeric and chilli to give a dish deceptively simple in appearance but
tops in flavour. The turmeric and chilli bring out the best side of the fish
and coconut. The prawn sambal
has large prawns, fresh and sweet. The sambal is quite hot but so yummy.
Well marinated Fried Chicken |
Mutton bone curry is full of marrow |
Chicken Varai thali set |
The fried
chicken is well marinated, so is the chicken varuval but it is the mutton bone
that makes me go “yes!”. There may not be too much meat as this is a bone dish
but the soft, jelly-like marrow is what sets this dish apart. The way the bones
are chopped up allows diners to easily suck the marrow.
Atta Puttu served with dhal and Vendhaya Kulambu |
Apart from rice, there’s dosai, roti, puttu and apam, served from 4pm. Yarl egg dosai (RM4) is made with turmeric, fried curry leaves and dried chilli. Good enough to eat on its own, it is served with condiments of onion curry, dhal and perhaps a meat/fish curry.
We ask for
atta puttu, a wholemeal flour roll with coconut and served with dhal curry and the
aromatic vendhaya kulambu (fenugreek curry).
Chicken Kothu is a popular street food in Jaffna |
Then there’s
chicken kothu (RM10), that famous Jaffna street food that’s a complete meal in
itself. Roti is chopped up and stirfried with leek, onion and scallion as well
as egg. There’s also mutton (RM12) or prawn (RM15) kothu.
Sweet apam is the perfect ending to any meal |
One mustn’t
leave Yarl without a taste of its apam, whether you like it plain (RM2),
savoury (egg apam, RM3) or as dessert (sweet apam, RM2.50). All apam are freshly made, with crisp edges
and a soft centre.
The sweet
apam is my favourite. The sprinkle of brown sugar and drizzle of coconut cream
in the moist centre complement the crisp edges perfectly for a super duper
dessert to end a Yarlpanam meal.
YARL
RESTAURANT (halal)
50 Jalan
Pedang Belia
Brickfields,
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Telephone
+6010-360 6624
Opening
Hours
Daily: 7am
to 10pm
Services
Also
delivers with foodpanda and Grab
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