Suan Bua serves up tantalising Thai cuisine at Centara Ceysands Bentota

By Marianne David

Serving up authentic Thai cuisine with a contemporary twist, Centara Hotels & Resorts Group’s signature restaurant Suan Bua opened its doors to discerning diners at Centara Ceysands Resort & Spa in Bentota last week.

Celebrations began with a relaxing cruise on the river with cocktails at sunset, followed by Softlogic Group Chairman and Managing Director Ashok Pathirage and Thai Ambassador Nopporn Adchariyavanich cutting the ribbon to declare the restaurant open and then it was time to dine.

Walking into the beautifully appointed restaurant with its immaculately set tables, it was evident that a lot of time and attention had been paid to ensure perfection. This feeling was further reinforced with the well-planned menu, interesting and appetising presentation, delicious dishes and exquisite service.

A simple menu, designed to delight

Giving hotel guests and visitors something exciting to look forward to in Bentota, Suan Bua, which means Lotus Garden, offers up many popular Thai dishes via a simple menu formulated by Thai Chef Thanida Amornvatin.

Amornvatin has close upon 20 years of experience in the industry and has worked extensively overseas, including in Korea, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and so on.

The concept for the restaurant is contemporary, she explains, while maintaining Thai authenticity. “The taste is authentic Thai and many of the products are sourced from Thailand. The food is easy for everyone to eat – it’s not too spicy and ideal for the European palate. I selected all well-known and popular items for the menu, from appetisers to pad Thai and tom yum soups,” she said.

The a la carte menu features 24 items while the restaurant also offers seven set menus for the seven days of the week.

Our meal began with a starter platter of Thai style marinated chicken skewer served with spicy tamarind sauce in a cucumber cup, deep fried crispy prawns with sweet chillie sauce and green papaya salad.

Delicately and carefully presented, the starters were a delight to the senses, especially given the attention to the tiniest details. Of the three, the salad definitely stood out while the tamarind sauce also deserves a special mention.

Next up was a Tom Yum Goong spicy prawn soup. For those of us who expect the spicy and milky version when Tom Yum is mentioned, this will be quite the surprise as it is what Chef Amornvatin describes as the “original” version and is a clear soup. While I didn’t enjoy it as much as I do the other (which is also available on the menu, worry not!), it had its own appeal and once again was served up beautifully.

Then came the rice, which was presented garlanded with flowers, and the fragrance of the rice and the flowers filled the air the moment they started to bring out the plates. Little touches such as this take the dining experience to a new level and Suan Bua knows this well, serving up every dish with something special to make it stand out.

Accompanying dishes were a delicious Thai green curry with chicken, eggplant and basil; grilled beef sirloin with spicy chillie, garlic and hot basil sauce; stir fried mixed seafood with mushrooms and roasted chillie sauce; and steamed fish with spicy lime sauce. To further satisfy the Sri Lankan palate, an amazing chillie paste was also served.

Two hours (of delightful dining and conversation) later, it was time for dessert – and what a dessert it was! A yummy ice cream served in a lovely edible platter; mock pomegranates (water chestnuts coated in jelly) in coconut milk – a must-have dish, this is unusual and delicious!; mango sticky rice – always popular and served up just perfect; plus a skewer of fruits. This divine dessert platter was an excellent end to a great meal.

Offering diners something different

Suan Bua was opened with the intention of offering something different to diners, asserted Centara Ceysands Resort & Spa General Manager Riaan Drever.

“We opened Suan Bua in order to offer more dining variety to guests on the property and people from Colombo, Galle and also from neighbouring hotels. There’s nothing in the area like this. The closest other Asian restaurant is a Chinese restaurant. It was also important for us to show that we are a Thai company which is in Sri Lanka,” he asserted.

Commenting on the menu, he said: “We have a simple menu on offer mainly because we want to execute every dish perfectly every time. The menu can be adapted according to the availability of vegetables in the local market.”

Chef Amornvatin is based at Centara in Maldives and has trained the staff here extensively for over a month, while the hotel will appoint a fulltime Thai chef soon. Until then, Executive Sous Chef Upul Amaratunga will manage Suan Bua along with his team.

Amaratunga worked extensively with Amornvatin for some 40 days and received full training in preparing and serving up the dishes on the Suan Bua menu. “Guests need more variety, they want more dining options and that is what Suan Bua is offering them,” he asserted, excited about the new venture.

Suan Bua will open only for dinner from 7 to 10 p.m. at present while a lunch opening will be considered later on. The restaurant is able to accommodate about 60 people in one sitting, but the hotel plans to limit this to about 40. It also flows out into the garden so guests have the option of dining inside or outside.

Enhancing the Centara experience in every way is the staff at Suan Bua and across the property. They certainly stand out in terms of service, which comes not only with a smile but also immediate attention to guest needs and faultless delivery. Cheers to the Centara team and warmest congratulations to the Chef!