Divine desserts and exquisite artisan teas at Mews

By Madushka Balasuriya

There is surely nothing more contemporarily Sri Lankan (at least in Colombo) than a satisfying dessert. The last few years have seen a boom in home-bakers focusing, more often than not, on the sweeter side of things and, as a result, more traditional restaurants have found themselves following suit and increasing their own focus on creating wider selections of delicious desserts. 

This creative spurt has no doubt been pushed on by an ever more clued-in public who, with their choice of cooking shows on television, have become dessert connoisseurs in their own right.

It is therefore rather perplexing that the Park Street Mews Restaurant’s dessert menu has remained somewhat of a hidden gem. Long known for its consistent and delicious savoury items, and with its neighbouring sister establishment Curve doling out exquisite cocktails, the Mews Restaurant’s selection of desserts has gone rather under the radar. 

Not for much longer though, I suspect, as it has now announced a new ‘Dessert & Tea’ pairing unlike any other in Colombo.

Dessert

Pastry Chef Chaminda has for the last four years been the purveyor of finely-concocted end of meal treats, studying cooking shows for inspiration and scouring the internet to perfect his craft. And though the Mews Restaurant has been making their renowned home-made ice cream well before he came to the fore, he has expanded on the variety of flavours, while also ingeniously incorporating them into several items. With prices ranging between Rs. 450-Rs. 600 for the 12 dessert items on the menu, it’s also less expensive than some of their competitors.

On to the food itself, I decided on the Passion Parfait with Lemon Mint Coulis. Presented in a glass, the dish was visually appealing with the yellow passion fruit, white parfait, and green coulis neatly segregated and stacked one on top of the other. Taking a spoonful of all three is an explosion of textures and flavours; the slight sourness of the parfait is countered exquisitely by the sweet passion fruit, while the lemon mint coulis offers a refreshing, cooling balance. The real genius however is in the addition of three miniature pancakes, lightly lathered with white chocolate, on the side – a textural element that lifts the dish from good to great.

My dining companions tried a few other dishes such as the Blueberry Soufflé with Cheese Ice Cream, Sticky Date Pudding with Kithul Syrup and Curd Ice Cream, White Chocolate and Yoghurt Soup with Strawberry Sorbet, and the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice Cream Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce. While I can’t personally vouch for the taste of each of these dishes, it’s suffice to say they all vanished in quick time, replaced with smiles all around. When it came to presentation however, it was plain to see Chef Chaminda’s diligent study of his craft paying off, with scarcely a dish that would be out of place on your cooking show of choice.

Tea

At the end of our dessert excursion, in true Sri Lankan fashion it was time for tea. Tea at Mews however is done a little bit differently, courtesy TEAELI, an artisan Sri Lankan tea brand which offers “the most hip and exciting tea blends”. 

If that comes across as an odd description, a list of flavours might clear things up: Chilli Chocolate, Ginger Honeycomb, Passionfruit & Pineapple, Almond Truffle – and those are just the black teas; TEAELI also has a selection of green teas, as well as infusions, all of which have real ingredients such as white chocolate or freeze dried pineapple juice incorporated into them. Mews at the moment only sells a limited number of flavours, with a pot for two prices at Rs. 550; their entire selection can be found online (www.teaeli.com).

We were offered a tasting of six teas from which to choose our cup of choice: Chilli Chocolate, Passion fruit & Pineapple, Almond Truffle, Golden Pekoe 1, Pink (green tea), and Relax (infusion). What was striking on each tasting was how they had managed to get each to have a unique flavour, whilst still unapologetically retaining its core essence of tea. 

“There is a lot of trial and error in getting the flavour profile right. In fact we do on average about six different trial runs before we end up with the right ones. But the most beautiful aspect is that we’ve kept that tea flavour, so as you’re sipping it doesn’t feel like you’re drinking something that’s not tea,” explained TEAELI Managing Director Dushyantha De Silva.

“It’s a blurring of categories really. I feel there are a lot of people that want a dessert-ish tea that isn’t too heavy, and this is actually less than one calorie per cup. So it’s a very healthy way to enjoy something sweet after a meal.” 

The two that were most intriguing were the Pink – a strawberry and jasmine blend – and the Chilli Chocolate – the name says it all! The Pink brought forth memories of chewing bubble-gum as a child, while the Chilli Chocolate offered a most exotic hint of chilli that lingered on the palate but did not overstay its welcome. I eventually plumped for a full cup of the Chilli Chocolate, and would heartily recommend sipping on a cup with one packet of sugar – just enough to bring out the sweetness of the chocolate before your taste buds are walloped by that delightful chilli aftertaste – an effect that De Silva says was not so easy to achieve.

“The Chilli Chocolate was especially difficult to create because it had to give you a chilli hit when you took a sip but also it couldn’t be overpowering, while at the same time giving you a chocolatey feel.”

Recommendation

On the whole, Chef Chaminda, with guidance from Executive Chef Rohan Perera and Operations Director Rizwan Nazir, has put up an outstanding selection of desserts, the quality of which will come as little surprise to those who have been ‘in the know’. However for the uninitiated, it is unquestionably an experience not to be missed, with the combination of flavour and presentation arguably unparalleled in and around Colombo. 

When you add the unique artisan teas into this already formidable mix, a late afternoon/early evening tryst at Mews might be the best decision you end up making – over, and over, and over again.

Pix by Indraratne Balasuriya