Seasons, a place for all tastes
Opened recently, the restaurant that now serves Indian dishes and local rice and curry, will soon offer Chinese, Thai, Arabic and Western specialties as well
For an all new, refreshingly diverse gastronomic experience head over to the Liberty Plaza shopping complex in Kollupitiya. Tucked away on the second floor of the building ‘Seasons’ is for the soul weary of the same old cuisine on offer in Colombo.
Don’t let its rather generic name and location deter you; Seasons, part of Liberty Plaza’s 600 million rupee renovation project defines itself as a ‘super specialty multi-cuisine restaurant’. While that may sound like a mouthful what it actually means is that the restaurant specialises in a selection of international cuisines whipped up by experts. More importantly, they’re highly affordable. Right now they’ve got Indian, South Indian and Tandoor menus, along with special Sri Lankan rice and curry combos for lunch; soon you’d be able to enjoy Chinese, Thai, Arabic and Western specialties as well.
Dishing it all up: Faiz Basheer has a word with his chefs. Pix by Susantha Liyanawatte
The Basheer family from India who own and run the venture have complete faith in their eclectic menu. While they haven’t begun advertising yet-they’re already drawing in quite a lunchtime crowd. Catering to the taste buds is a century old family business for the Basheers, who made the natural transition to Sri Lanka for their first ever international venture.
Faiz Basheer who heads operations in Sri Lanka is the man who introduces us to the concept of the restaurant. The six different cuisines from around the world they will eventually offer are whipped up by international chefs hailing from those regions. For example your Indian will be prepared by chefs hailing from North India, while Arabic will be prepared by a Syrian chef and the Chinese from-well, you get the idea.
Seasons opened about a month ago; they only offer the Indian specialties at present but be prepared to venture beyond your comfort zone. When we’re asked what we usually order in an Indian restaurant it’s the predictable butter naan and chicken and maybe a side of black dhal. While the Basheers don’t look too impressed, they good naturedly offer you that choice as well but suggest you “try the Panjabi stuffed naan and see, eh?”
Indeed we do. Muhammed Qayyum, the quintessentially Indian chef in the open kitchen bombards us with a massive spread of their best. We try the herb naans-possibly one of the restaurant’s best offerings despite the simplicity-and the promised land of Punjaabi Naan, bread made with seasoned stuffed dough. With it we have the Laal Maas-an extremely spicy red meat curry of succulent mutton and subtle spices. The Subzi Gol Muttol, Murgh Lazeez (chicken curry done Lucknow style), and other delicacies (albeit of mountainous proportions) are all laid before us and soon we’re playing pick n’ mix as per Qayyum’s suggestion. With the subtly flavoured biriyani we have a side of the jumbo prawns-literally the biggest you will ever see this side of a fishing boat.
Make sure you try the mutton dishes; Indian cuisine is resplendent with mutton cooked to perfection. You could go for the Mutton Pepper Fry or Seasons’ Special Chicken Friend Kebab, a famed dish from Bangalore. These regional specialties are must-tries for their novelty, says Mr. Basheer.
For dessert-and even though we can barely breathe we’re persuaded to try this out-they serve among others Zufrani Kheer and Shali Takda, two creamy concoctions that are definitely not for the faint of stomach. One dish is deep fried bread soaked in sugar syrup and floating in condensed milk (abandon all diet aspirations) while the other is a lighter, rice based dessert.
Seasons is only open for lunch and dinner at the moment, but the Basheers hope to introduce a breakfast menu as well. During the day they trade mainly in the corporate crowd who often drop in for a quick bite or a longer business lunch. They’ve even got a cafe open during the day for those in need of a fast food fix. In the evening, Seasons is exclusively for those who prefer to sit back and relax after a hard day. This is when it becomes a fine dining restaurant and stays open till midnight on all seven days of the week, 365 days a year.
Seasons is on the second floor of the Liberty Plaza shopping complex. The restaurant is open seven days of the week from 10 a.m. to midnight and they also offer takeaway, catering and delivery options. Call them on their hotline 0711534422 for inquiries.
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