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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Kaema Sutra (Everybody calm the F down)

So Jacqueline Fernandez (I'm a fan) has opened a new restaurant Kaema Sutra at the Independence Square arcade with the overseeing of Dharshan Munidasa of the Nihonbashi and Ministry of Crab fame. When I initially heard of it, the name stuck and I thought, hmm pretty clever and cute actually. I was also pretty excited about a restaurant which claimed to serve high-end Sri Lankan food. If you really look at it, Colombo (I'm only taking Colombo here) has a few good restaurant serving local food, namely Green Cabin (Great hoppers, very small curry dishes), Akasa Kade and Raja Bojun which serve an OK but extensive buffet. Better places would be Ape Gama (authentic villagey experience, pricey but great food as always- thanks Cinnamon!) and perhaps Semondu (I love!), which serves up Asian Fusion cuisine with a lot of local ingredients. I also found HVN (Casa Colombo) to have interesting dishes using local fare for a very decent price.

So where does Kaema Sutra fit in? Perhaps its a place I would take my business partner from abroad, or a very good friend, whome I'd like to have a taste of Sri Lankan food with an interesting experience thrown in. This is why I don't get the negative hype people are stirring up about the place.

Firstly, my MIL was tut-tutting the name (Kaema means food in Sinhala, its a play on Kama Sutra, the ancient sexy book) saying "Kaema Sutra... wena namak aththema nadda? Hamuduruwanta liyumak liwwoth mona wei da danne na"... I actually have no idea which 'hamuduruwo' she was talking about but I really wanted to let her know that HEY, you know what...I've been the temples in NEPAL (Where Lumbini, Buddha's birthplace is BTW) where there are ancient and intricate carvings of the Kama Sutra all around it. (HERE) So really, the Sutra has been around for centuries in this region and its really nothing to be too ashamed or all OMG about right? -.- In fact, I applaud our ancestors from India who wrote about the great and fun ways of doing it. Clap clap clap. Thank you for that.

Plus, again... I have no idea why Sri Lankans are so frigid about sex man. I mean, its not like babies are born by thinking about them, and its the FIRST things people ask about AFTER the wedding so SUCK IT. (No pun intended.)

And then, I get an email listing out the prices of the hoppers (apparently Rs. 200 each?) and thambili (Rs. 200) and a few derogatory sentences saying "Oh, so THIS is Jacky's new "place" where rich people eat Rs. 200 hoppers and feel good about themselves)... You know, maybe this is why Sri Lanka will probably take decades to reach the level of economic success as Singapore. Its the blatant NEGATIVITY. Yeah, so maybe Rs. 200 is a little pricey for a rice flour based dish that you can find for 1% of the cost a a smaller kadei by the side of the road. But then again, you ARE paying for overheads/ labour cost (is that a kadei man you see behind the kitchen? No.) and ambiance. And you really don't need to step into the place if you don't think you can afford it right?(For example, I still haven't gone to Ministry of Crab but I'm hoping to! I suppose its like an aspiration, and I don't really want to put down the place saying Oh, the ever so rich Mahela and Sanga are serving roast paan and crabs for prices that are sky high. Instead, why can't we just appreciate the hard work the two have done (on the field and off) and be happy that our little city has a few good restaurants which have even been ranked in the Miele Guide (giving this dumb country better hype than what our politicians ever create in the long run)?

I also think Jacky has worked her @ss off in the Bollywood industry (NOT an easy shell to crack)...she's a household name in India and its an honour that she should invest her hard-earned money in creating a restaurant that serves local delicacies to those who can afford it. We should be happy. Anyway that's what I think. Haters gonna hate Jackie, but seriously... I know this is the last thing people in this country should be worried about [lack of water in the dry zone/ BBS & ethnic tension/ Malaka in politics (say what)] but really, such negativity. People should seriously calm the fuck down and chill the fuck out.