Imaginative flavours at PRIMO

PRIMO, Colombo City Centre Food Studio’s newest deli, offers its menu, curated with care and taste, mixing flavours to create unique combos catered to entice the Sri Lankan tongue.

PRIMO has been open for around two months now and is gaining attraction for its one-of-a-kind subs, sandwiches and milkshakes. 

Food Studio Director and CEO Nadeem Rajabdeen said, “PRIMO, for us, is one of the freshest food choices under our umbrella. Our commitment to quality starts with sourcing the freshest produce locally whenever possible, ensuring that our customers receive only the best ingredients in their subs and sandwiches. Crafted by our in-house chefs, the buns and breads are freshly baked daily at the outlet.” 

Rajabdeen added that PRIMO especially caters to value-conscious consumers who prefer nutritious and flavourful food. 

“With the brand’s attractive price point, PRIMO gives them a licence to indulge. It’s been only a few weeks into our soft launch and customers are already appreciating the access, the ease of ordering and the tastes that appeal to their individual palate,” he explained. 

The restaurant showcases an easier-to-navigate ‘point and order’ menu which includes a range of seven hot seller subs, five melt-in-your-mouth ‘toasties’ and six thick shakes, some of which have been crafted with the Lankan palate in mind. These include Colombo roast chicken, sardine and cheese and chili fillings and Ceylon vanilla and strawberry faluda shakes with Baklava. Other items on the menu cover a range of flavours from around the world, such as butter chicken (India), banh mi (Vietnam), grilled cheese (America), classic Italian, and of course, vegetarian options. The “ease of ordering” was well-proven as the staff helped with the orders with suggestions and explanations at our request. Besides receiving the orders fast, the open kitchen gave us a view of the chefs at work which made our experience more interesting. 

I tried the cheese and chili and grilled cheese sandwiches, the chicken banh mi and Halloumi salad subs and the double chocolate milkshake.

Toasties

The culinary staff knew what they were doing when they made the ‘cheese and chili’ toasties,  priced at Rs. 1,450. The pairing of green chilli with cheese toast to bring in a local flavour was satisfying from the first bite– it was soft, cheesy and tasty. It was also quite filling! 

The grilled cheese sandwich priced Rs. 1,500 was similar, though it lacked the distinct and strong taste of the cheese and chili toasts. However, it was still perfectly good– especially with the inviting herbal fragrance of the filling.

Submarines

I really enjoyed the chicken banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich/ submarine which highlighted the uniqueness of Asian flavours. It was lightly tangy and the combination of veggies–cucumbers, carrots, spring onions and jalapeños, with fragrant Vietnamese chicken and dressing made for a fresh and crunchy sandwich was healthy and delicious at the same time. The 6” sub was priced Rs. 1,000 while the 12” one was Rs. 2,100.

The Halloumi salad, priced Rs. 1,150 for 6” and Rs. 2,250 for 12”, was my favourite. This was an imaginatively designed sub that was both sweet and sour with the fusion of tomato chutney, pickled onions, labne, rocket leaves, roasted pumpkin and Halloumi cheese. It was fresh and flavourful, and the mouth-watering fragrance of rocket made it delicious.  

What’s more, both subs only had a measured amount of dressing that brought out the taste of the carefully-made combinations of veggies and meat/cheeses. The planning and creativity put into perfecting the taste of each sub was impressive. 

Customers can also choose from three types of bread– semolina bread, brown bread and Italian cheese bread. We tried all three and they were all freshly baked with a perfectly soft and firm texture. 

Shakes

The milkshakes at Primo were amazing, I had heard. But I stuck to my go-to choice, the double chocolate milkshake. I’m happy that I waited until I had finished the food before I tried the milkshake, it was heavy and filling, but completely worth. 

It was a thick blend of dark chocolate ice cream and sauce, with wafers on top and chocolate chips in every mouthful. It was exquisite. Though I found it hard to finish the entire milkshake in a first go, the chocolatey aftertaste of the milkshake was definitely satisfying and exactly what I wanted as I left the deli. 

Overall

PRIMO is the place to go if you want a unique and enjoyable meal that is refreshing, affordable and nutritious as well. Plus, the food is not only delicious and fragrant but it is made to look good and enticing! 

PRIMO is the brainchild of Jesse Aston, Director of ‘Big Studio Inc.’, the subsidiary of Food Studio for F&B concepts and retail ventures. This is the fifth new food concept introduced to the Food Studio food courts in the recent past.

Food Studio is strategically laid out to bring together the right mix of eateries with the tastiest, ranging from the adventurous to the nostalgic, from street food to fine dining, and from East Asian sushi to artisanal gelato. Customers can be assured of quality, variety, affordability, and comfort, all under one roof.

Food Studio is located on the 3rd floor of Colombo City Centre and the lower ground floor of One Galle Face mall.

https://www.instagram.com/foodstudiosl/

www.foodstudio.lk

DT

– Pix by Upul Abayasekara