Authentic Sri Lankan Food

Rice Boat is one of the newer additions to the bustling food scene here in Cambridge. It serves Kerala cuisine, a state in southwestern India. As both my supervisor and course mate were Sri Lankan, rest assured it should be the authentic stuff I'm trying.

On the menu, you find some familiar items from Malaysian cuisine like Biryani rice, Chapatti, Pratha and assorted curries. You can check out the menu here. This is something I tried with the recommendation of my supervisor. It is called Puttu, which is ground and powdered rice, steamed in a bamboo tube, with a pinch of salt and a little grated coconut. Sounds pretty healthy eh? It is made of wild/red rice, hence looks a bit brown as shown below. I have just scooped a tablespoon of curry on top of it for picture purposes :) Apparently the way to eat it is the crush it with the back of your fork till it is mashed up and mix it with curry. Don't underestimate this little thing, it is REALLY filling!

But it was an excellent experience trying out a new cuisine, broadening my food horizon again :D

Casual Calais (Part 2)

After lunch, we walked around to check out the town. When one (for me at least) visits a new place, it's always a must to track down the local supermarket as it's the easiest way to find out what are the local specialties, don't you think? We went to a local supermarket called 'Champion', instead of the larger Carrefour, and we stumbled upon a few treasures - chocs and alcohol!

As I was rummaging through the stack of dark chocolates (I need at least a 70%), guess what I found? The new trendy Chilli Flavored Chocolate by Lindt! Have tried a small chunk before in a market in Spain, but think I preferred the ones with crystallized ginger pieces in Green & Blacks, despite being a chilli lover. :P Nevertheless, P got the one with lychee flavor whilst XJ got the chilli one just to check it out.

Next up is time for the French coast. We were hanging about too long around the supermarket hence this was a rather rushed affair. Here's a cool pic of the P&O ferry that we took across the English Channel, with XJ taking one of it at the same time. Sandy beaches and gentle breeze, how I wished we did lunch the french way with a crusty baguette, cold meat and a chunk of good brie, just by the seaside. The sand was really smooth and soft, just like the ones in my hometown ...

Dinner was at a restaurant near the seaside, and here's a snapshot from our dining table of the beach, it's probably about 30m away.

This is a really colorful picture of the Salmon pate salad that XJ and A shared. Slices of hardboiled eggs, celery hearts, prawns, Salmon pate, on a bed of mixed leaf salad. Pretty good stuff especially given the simplicity :)

P and I ordered Salmon with special cream sauce which was recommended by the hostess. Served with rice and some salad, their mushroom cream sauce went really well with salmon, although it's nothing out of the ordinary nor special.

A ordered something more unique to satisfy her seafood cravings. Turns out to be sting ray (ikan pari in Malay) in a creamy mustard sauce. Mustard was too spicy for her, but its overall good. Must say the only way I knew to do a ikan pari was ikan bakar style - wrapped in banana leaves, marinaded with loads of chilli and spices before grilling/BBQ them upfront.

After dinner, it was time to rush back to Cambridge before we ended up stranded in Calais, missing the last ferry back, hehe. It was a fun road trip and my first ever in the UK, looking forward for more to come, perhaps visiting British towns this time, like Cornwall, for more seafood and authentic Cornish Pasties!

Casual Calais (Part 1)

What do you do when you have a car for the day in Cambridge (UK)?

Yup, you can easily just have dîner and be a mordu de la plage (beach bum) by the French coast.

And yes, we did just that. This is probably what post exam euphoria does to you ...

The choice was between Brighton and Calais for a road trip to a seaside. And com'on, the idea of going to France for a day trip just won hands down!

Geez, such a posh French snob I hear you say :P

Hence, Calais we went. Hopped across the coast by a ferry at Dover.

Seagulls were aplenty and thankfully they didn't go around screeching 'MINE MINE MINE!'. Here's a cool snapshot of them, taken on the deck of the ferry where they were struggling against the strong gust of wind.

Calais is just a tiny town that hustled and bustled probably due to the port and transport connection with the UK. This is the colorful and rather medieval looking town hall and it was madness as a wedding was going on at that time and the car drivers were just yanking their honks which drove noise pollution to a whole new level.

It was way past lunch time upon our arrival hence déjeuner was a rather rushed affair to maximize our time in France. Nevertheless, we managed to try out a few interesting dishes at this place called L'Hovercraft, starting off with XJ's french makeover of the classic British ham and cheese toasties ...

A piece of toast buried under layers of bacon and ham, topped with a bursty sunny side up egg, covered with cheese and baked till pipping hot, sinful but beautiful.

Next up was xY's gammon steak (jambon), which is nicely chargrilled to perfection, with french fries and salad for sides. It's somehow totally different from the British version which is too salty for me, and this was just the right level for me.

I've ordered something more conventional for fun, just to see if the French can do better in terms of roast chicken and steamed green beans than my college. While you may say that's not a fair comparison, surprisingly from the color of the green beans, you'd know that it's super overdone and soft as a lifeless jelly. However, the roast chicken was nicely done with crispy skin, so its all forgotten, haha

Beach side was great as well, with a postcard-like photo of a sweet French couple by the sea...

Wii went for formal

Been catching up with sleep lately, and I think I'm finally charged up to enjoy the post exam celebration. Doesn't help with the gloomy and cooling British weather that encourage drowsiness even at 11am in the day. Anyway, this is the post exam formal that I hosted for Yan who is visiting in Cam, introducing her to the art of drinking and penny-ing. Hehe

Terribly sorry for the sub par photos, but taking photos was not allowed during the formal with the Fellows around, hence the the secret snapping may not be optimal. This was the best menu of Easter term for Selwyn's formal in my opinion, so its good that we manage to secure tickets especially during the post exam season.

Starter was Beef Tomatoes with Mozzarella and Basil Vinaigrette. The melted mozzarella was pipping hot and goo-ey, perfect dressing to a rather light starter.

Highlight of the day was the Blackened Pork Chop with Herb Butter, pieces of pork chop seasoned with black pepper and herbs, pan fried till crispy and dressed with a generous chunk of herb butter, as you can see below. Side dishes were new potatoes, sweet corn and pepper slices, which make the whole plate rather colorful and nice.

I like this shot of Pecan pie in particular, thanks to P's skilled photography skills. I've never eaten Pecan Pie before and heard about it ages ago from Yan, so this was rated sub par by her, which I agree as it was too sweet for my liking really. Think Selwyn's gotta stick to what it does best, Bailey's/Raspberry/Strawberry cheesecakes. :)

After formal, we were a lucky bunch of Wii-tards and managed to secure the Wii for a whole night of boxing, fishing and tennis action :D

Last TRIPOS ever

WiiPeDidOooOooOOo!

It's over. Finally
Very surreal and it only began to sink in Tripos is REALLY over (forever) a few hours later ...

Nevertheless, I can hardly imagine a life not being a student anymore!

No, this is not a post about quarterlife crisis :P

Imagine all your life you've been just going to school, handing in homework, slacking off, skipping classes, juggling squash balls, drawing smiley faces in exams (out of desperation to write something), and only working your butt off when necessary ... Now this is ending so soon, ironically when it's probably your childhood dream come true of not having to study LOL

Anyways, let's divert the sentimental emotions to our beloved topic of food, yea? Better allocation of resources and energy (oh, you economist) :)

Post exam celebration lunch was at d'Arry's Wine Shop in the center of the Cambridge town. This is what British cuisine is all about, despite it's understated reputation of only beans on toast and fish and chips.

d'Arry's reinterprets British cuisine with a refreshing twist. It brings simple British favourites like Fish & Chips, Shepherds Pie, and the basic chips to a whole new level. The decor is quite unique, offering the dining in or al fresco (outdoors) option, but I prefer the indoors with the cozy tables and cute candle light holders made out of wine bottles. It boasts a large wine collection, which I have not tried unfortunately.

I was feeling adventurous and tried the 'Spinach, Mushroom and Blue Cheese Crepe Wrap' (£5.50), which is spinach sautéed with mushrooms wrapped in a crepe with Gorgonzola. It was served with thick cut chips (which I absolutely loved!) with a light salad and salsa as sides. It was pretty light although the cheese was strong, counter balanced with some good ol' chips fried till brown and crispy. I like how the way they stack it up too.


Another dish we tried was 'Bacon and Barbeque Chicken' (£8.95), which is chicken breast wrapped in bacon, BBQ sauce and melted Cheddar cheese, served with chunky chips and lightly steamed sugar snaps and green beans. Great balance in terms of flavours, I suspect a hint of pineapple juice in with the BBQ sauce, tasting slightly like sweet sour sauce but with a tinge of cheesy goodness, all baked till perfection.


d'Arry's strongly promote their home made puds (short for puddings) all over the restaurant signboards and menu, so we decided to check it out, ordering the 'Double Chocolate Brownie with mixed berry compote and white chocolate sauce, topped with Vanilla Ice Cream' (£4.95).

True to its name, it lived up to it's expectations. One phrase to describe it -- out of this world! The brownie was generous and warm, filled with bitter sweet chocolate and ooze the aroma of good quality cocoa, buried under a melting scoop of Vanilla ice cream, dressed in the mixed berry compote which consists of blue and black berries. Impressed with the effort at flavour mixing, as the slightly sour compote balances the sweetness of the brownie and ice cream, whilst slight bitterness of the choc came into play as well.

It's a nice place to go for a meal. But given that it's pricier than the average restaurants, save it for special occasions :)


Time for a good rest and hibernation to recuperate. Though I never believed in sleep debts ...

d'Arrys
2 - 4 King Street
Cambridge
CB1 1LN
United Kingdom