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Saturday, 5 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By David Ebert Colombo hasn’t got much of a choice when it comes to places where you’d like to spend some quiet time with good friends while enjoying a spiffing meal and a few drinks.

Most of the upscale bars in town offer quite the opposite in terms of ambience, preferring to position themselves as what I term “bars in disguise”; which is a bar that has everything that a bar should have, but instead works at attracting the younger clubbing fraternity who see every place they visit as a place to get drunk and dance all night. Hence, extremely loud pop/electronic music will usually be found blaring through the speakers, making conversation quite impossible. 41 Sugar, however, I found to my surprise, has gotten its priorities right.

Ambience Situated on the top floor of the CH&FC pool complex building and overlooking both the rugby grounds and the surrounding Cinnamon Gardens locality, it has everything you would want – a focus on prompt service for starters, an ambience that speaks to a more mature crowd and the right type of entertainment planned throughout the week that allows you to have a somewhat quiet and undisturbed evening. 41 Sugar offers you a choice of seating – out on the patio at the tall tables, at the Hennessy branded bar, and inside the non-smoking area that consists of plush leather couches, a very random collection of books lining the walls in little pigeonholes and a bandstand that plays host to some really great entertainment throughout the week that includes a really energetic South African jazz and soul band – Mzansi. This is one band that you really should experience if you haven’t already by now. Starters 41 Sugar’s menu comes across as quite eclectic, which I guess reflects its overall feel. It has a mix of Mediterranean tapas for starters, while the mains consist of an interesting mix of mouth-watering Western and Asian options. To start off, from among its Tapas selection, I chose to try out the Tempura Mussels with Wasabi Hollandaise and the Tuscan Grilled Prawns with Feta Lemon Dripping, both of which turned out to be equally flavourful and well presented. As a fan of Japanese food, the Tempura Mussels was something that immediately caught my eye. Mussels aren’t the easiest of seafood to prepare, with a lot of time and care needed to properly trim and clean them individually prior to battering and frying. The magic in this dish comes down to the Wasabi Hollandaise. Slightly tart and not too overwhelmingly wasabi flavoured, it adds the perfect balance and neutrality to the ocean flavour of the mussels. The Tuscan Grilled Prawns with Feta Lemon Dripping were heavenly. Perfectly cooked prawns are very hard to come by at restaurants in Sri Lanka and you most likely would get a dish full of overcooked or tempered prawns. What struck me most with this dish was how fresh-tasting and juicy the prawns were, having managed to retain most of their natural flavours and juices in the cooking process. A definite must try. Mains Deciding on the mains was quite a hard choice with a range that caters to vegetarians, carnivores and seafood enthusiasts as well. In this instance, I decided try out two of the restaurant’s newest additions to the menu, as pointed out by 41 Sugar co-owner/Director Dinesh Wijesinghe, the Grilled Filet of Norwegian Salmon with Ginger Glaze served with wasabi mash and sautéed beans, and the Prime New Zealand Lamb Chops with Cilantro Mint Sauce served with mash and sautéed carrots. Now I’ve had lamb chops in Colombo before and most of the times they tend to arrive at my table overcooked and rather tough. Hence one of my reasons for ordering this dish especially was to see how this one stands out from the rest – and it did. You know you’re on to a good thing when you make that first cut and your knife doesn’t need much effort to go through the meat; that done, you then look for the pinkness in the middle. This one didn’t disappoint. Tender, juicy and full of flavour, this lamb chop done medium rare was perfect in all areas. I have had a lifelong love story with salmon and it remains one of those dishes that I reserve for when I feel like spoiling myself. To explain further, each mouthful of well-prepared salmon makes me hear choirs of angels sing to me as I close my eyes and savour its rich flavour. Trying out 41 Sugar’s Grilled Filet of Norwegian Salmon with Ginger Glaze was every much as delightful as I imagined it to be. Again, as with the other dishes served up, it was grilled to perfection – just enough on both sides to lock in its natural juices and that nourishing but slightly fatty aftertaste of great quality salmon. The ginger glaze that accompanied it made quite an interesting addition to its already exquisite flavours. Desserts Now after a meal such as that, I needed some help again from our host Dinesh. He recommended the Homemade Mexican Churros served with Tequila-infused Chocolate and Berry Drippings. Churros are also called “Spanish Doughnuts,” which is a fried dough pastry – a predominantly choux-based snack popular in Spain, Latin America and even as far east as the Philippines. Sugar-coated and not too heavily sweet, it was surprisingly light for a fried snack, and dipped in the Tequila-infused chocolate for a little extra sweetness or the berry drippings for a little tartness I think we could soon see this becoming a favourite here in Sri Lanka too. The next of Dinesh’s recommendations that I tried out was the warm Molten Chocolate Fondant Pudding with Strawberry Sorbet, which is another ‘must-try’. Very chocolaty, warm, gooey and when tasted along with the strawberry sorbet, reveals itself as a wonderful combination – sweet mixed with a slight sourness and again as with the previous dish, not too rich so you can actually finish one.

Conclusion 41 Sugar is to me very much a success all round as it ticks all the right boxes for me. Attentive service, a vibrant atmosphere and ambience, a great view and tasteful entertainment combined with most importantly great food – all for a classier and more mature clientele.