Uga Residence’s fine dining menu is a testament to how an original and creative chef thinks and works. Innovation around Sri Lankan ingredients is often limited to reinterpretations or garnishes when they do make it to the menus of Sri Lankan fine dining restaurants at all. Coconut- based garnishes and reinterpretations around varieties of tea are popular and predictable, being the somewhat international ingredients with close Sri Lankan identity.

But traditional Lankan cuisine is replete with unusual concoctions like mango in a spicy curry or variations around Milkrice – soggy rice cooked in coconut milk – including mung eta kiribath and imbul kiribath. However, that Sri Lankan willingness to experiment around ingredients hasn’t translated into original and creative fusion cuisine. Uga’s General Manager Roshan Dylan and Executive Chef Vichalya are reintroducing ingredients otherwise considered so mundane that they are even fading away from Sri Lankan kitchens.

One ingredient stealing the limelight is kos ata ( jackfruit seeds). Chef Vichalya uses jackfruit seeds in an earthy soup complete withkalu pol (black coconut curry), as a starch substitute in some main courses, as a garnish in salads and as a nut substitute in the carrot cheesecake on the dessert menu.

Experiments go beyond main dishes. Uga Residence has also come to be known for its seeni sambol and sprats ice cream. While this is not for the faint-hearted, Roshan says eight out of 10 guests have loved it. Everyone who has tried the passion fruit and chili ice cream has also been won over.

Returning to Sri Lanka after 16 years of working overseas, some of it at Michelin star restaurants and hotels like the Four Seasons, Roshan says the lack of finesse in Sri Lanka’s restaurants and the service standards surprised him. To bridge the gap between customer and service staff, all waiters at Uga Residence have tried every dish and the menu has been kept vague enough to catch diners’ attention, but require a waiter’s assistance to make an informed choice. Located in the central business district of Colombo, Uga Residence is the former Park Street Hotel refurbished into a luxury 11-suite city hotel. Faithful patrons of this iconic property will be pleased to find that seclusion and old-world charm have been preserved, with modern touches. Uga Residences is the newest hotel by Uga Escapes, which owns and operates three other resorts around Sri Lanka.

Roshan feels food plays an essential part in promoting tourism. Thailand, he says, is a prime example. People have fallen in love with Thai food just as much as the country’s attractions and culture. Uga Residence’s lamb sous vide is a guests’ favourite and the high point is its juxtaposition of ingredients on a plate. Sous vide is a French method of sealing food in airtight plastic bags and placing in a water bath or temperature-controlled steam environment to cook the items evenly. Chef Vichalya garnishes the lamb dish with chopped kohila leaves and a sweet potato puree with jackfruit seeds for a crunchy effect, and completes the dish with sweet onion jam. The team also makes a salmon steak with spinach and manioc (cassava) puree, topped with a thithbatu mallum (wild eggplants).

Ingredients take centre stage in Uga Residence’s beverage menu too. Its signature cocktails are named after each ingredient – Veralu, Raw Mango, Ginger and Uguressa. This way, guests get to know the ingredient as well as enjoying the drink.