Eastern Wok – the best of Arabian, Indian and Chinese cuisine

By Cheranka Mendis

Tom Yum soup should be fiery. It should be spicy, perfectly salted and full of chewable ingredients. That would be the ideal scenario. Sadly, most restaurants seem to think otherwise. The soup turns out pale in colour with so little spice mixed in, that emptying the small dish of chilli paste into it seems to be the best idea.

But at Eastern Wok, our dining pick for the week, Tom Yum was the ideal start for a satisfying dinner. It was spicy, filling and delicious.

“We try to give the best to our customers,” Operations Manager M. Z. Azzam said, explaining that the restaurant offers Arabian, Indian and Chinese cuisine for its patrons. Located down Walukarama Road, Eastern Wok offers some 115 dishes spread across the three categories.

With specialised chefs for each area, the food at the restaurant is excellent although service perhaps could be better.

From the extensive menu which includes the likes of sesame prawn toast, fried prawn balls and battered prawns for starters of which the latter should be pinned down as a must-try, we were served the wok special noodles beef, hot butter cuttlefish and the Arabic dish grilled shrimp with rice. A dish titled chicken 65 was also included.

Out of the dishes presented the best was easily the hot butter cuttlefish. ‘Excellent’ would be a good way to describe the mouth watering cuttlefish. It was not too rubbery, chewable and crispy with enough spice and taste.

The Arabic dish, grilled shrimp with rice, had a distinct smoky taste to it which set it apart from the rest of the dishes. It was unique and the portion was just right. Another must try for those who wish to visit the restaurant anytime soon.

The wok special noodles with beef had a slight sweet taste to it which we soon rectified with a spoonful of chillie paste. The chicken 65 had a peculiar taste which came as a bit of a disappointment after the other dishes. It had a bit of a tandoori feel to it but the taste never settled right.

However overall, the food is great here and it is one of those restaurants where you can sit back, relax and eat your heart out.

Some of the other dishes that are offered at Eastern Wok are Arabic sandwiches such as Shish Tawouk, Awousal and Shish Kebab while the grills include grilled Shish Taouk with rice or noodles, grilled Aousal, pepper steak etc. Iranian rice, Sayyadiya rice are also part of the Arabic cuisine.

Azzam revealed that an open Arabic kitchen will soon be added to the set up so that customers could watch their dishes being prepared by the able hands in the kitchen.

The Indian delicacies such as the biriyani, navartana korma, goar fish curry (seer fish), beef masala, chicken kadai murgh and naans and chapathis are included while the part of menu that lists out the Chinese food notes mee goreng, wok fried specials and a host of meats and sea food which includes chicken to mutton to beef to jumbo prawn, crab, lobster, prawn, cuttlefish an fish.

Catering primarily to the Muslim community, Azzam added that there are four private rooms within the building as well as a prayer room. “Many Muslims prefer a private room to dine in. especially those who cover their faces at times feel uncomfortable to eat when there are others around. Therefore we wanted to create an atmosphere for them to come and enjoy.” The food prepared and served is Halal.

The restaurant also has a VIP room and two halls that can be used for special functions.

Azzam also stated that the restaurant was previously known as Eastern Dragon which was located at Deal Place before. Coming under a new management, the name was changed and the Arabic cuisine was introduced.

“The response since we opened in April 2010 has been very good. Our customers speak very highly of our food and many tend to come only for our Tom Yum sometimes.”

There are many plans for the future he said, including opening up the rooftop for dining.

Eastern Wok also undertakes outdoor catering and delivery within Colombo.

Pix by Cassandra Mascarenhas