Grilled lamb tenderloin, batter fried cuttlefish in hot butter sauce, sushi and pork schnitzel. Hungry anybody? Well, I sure am! One of my favourite past-times is eating! Whilst some people simply eat in order to recharge themselves, some of us other gluttons love the entire experience. From the ambience, to the company, to actually eating the food — it all counts.

However with sky rocketing prices, households today have cut down drastically on dining out on a regular basis. What was once a weekly family routine of eating out has now been adjusted to a dispiriting once a month. So now what are we left to do with our poor dejected stomachs?

Recently a few of my colleagues and I decided to go for a meal to a slightly up market Chinese restaurant. We then proceeded to gaily order various dishes and walloped our food completely oblivious of what was about to take place. Once the bill was presented we realised that we had ordered what was supposedly large portions of every dish and on top of this the taxes were exorbitant. Considering the fact that the food was not anything marvelous, we left rather miffed with the entire situation pledging never to go back.

Snob factor

What baffles me is that this place is a very popular spot and many people have recommended eating here as well. One can only think that the ‘snob factor’ has something to do with its popularity as it has nothing sensational to offer. When thinking back, I realise that the best Chinese meals I have had are at strange little ‘joints’ where the ambience is rather questionable but the food is absolutely divine. Not only does it hit the spot but it’s also only half the price of the up market restaurants.

Some may say that eating out is much cheaper than actually buying all the ingredients and making the entire meal yourself. However my mother is living proof that this is not true. It’s only a matter of what you decide to cook and where you can get the best deals.

Although I have spent many dreary days being driven to all ends of Colombo in search of a certain ingredient which is a must, the end result is that I get a scrumptious meal at a reasonable value in the luxury of my own home!

Say a boy decides to take a prospective girlfriend out to dinner. He chooses a snazzy five star restaurant in order to knock her socks off. A quick riffle through his wallet and he realises he might be just short of cash. Instead he opts for his credit card. Finally at the end of the month, horror of horrors, the wretched bill arrives. Unfortunately, since he’s so busy with work he forgets to pay the bill. Now with these ridiculous interest rates piling up he has a preposterous bill to pay and all for nothing since the girl rejected him! ‘Aiyo! In vain men, I should have taken the wretch to a saivar kade instead.’

Saivar kade indeed! Some of our culinary best has been discovered in a tiny shop on the street corner. One day a bunch of friends decided to go on an expedition in search of the best crab curry in town. We were told that there was a small joint that sold the most scrumptious crustaceans around. So onward we marched into this kade and behold the manna which we found was spectacular! Needless to say it was great value for money.

Meal from home

Many university students studying abroad have discouraging days where all one can think of is a good meal from home. It’s also evident that the food that is missed the most is not the stuff found at pricey restaurants either. On several occasions my friend Rashmira complains ‘Aney, what I would do for a kotthu or a cheese roti!’ I have the same cravings now and again myself which just goes to show that it’s not the lavish or expensive food that one identifies home with.

My sister and her friend once decided to go for dessert after lunch to this fancy restaurant. Whist doling out large sums of money on a tiny little chocolate cake, they realised that this was really extortion! Sure the ambience was great, yet the prices when considering the measly sliver presented to them, was quite rubbish!