IT'S HARD TO GET AHOLD OF SRI LANKAN STRING HOPPER.Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic The search for Sri Lankan food in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. ends at the Sri Lankan Cafe in Tarzana. But it's not always an easy task to actually sample the food. The little two-story restaurant doesn't always live up to its hours of service, with the doors opening more spasmodically spas·mod·ic adj. 1. Relating to, affected by, or having the character of a spasm; convulsive. 2. Happening intermittently; fitful: spasmodic rifle fire. 3. than regularly. Two initial lunchtime visits ended up as fruitless journeys. Finally, on a third occasion, the woman chef-owner said we could have some of the ``short eats,'' which are Sri Lankan stuffed pastries, and that we could consume them on the premises, actually upstairs in a small dining room. A try at having dinner here resulted in our ordering at the counter and also eating alone upstairs with takeout food in plastic boxes with plastic cutlery. Evidently this 6-month-old cafe is going through some difficulties, but new investors are trying to straighten things out and reorganize, so hope is on the horizon. Meanwhile, the short eats list is fairly minimal each day, one time offering pastries stuffed with bacon and egg (60 cents each), with monkfish monkfish Any of 10–12 species (genus Squatina, family Squatinidae) of sharks having a flattened head and body, with winglike pectoral and pelvic fins that make them resemble rays. The tail bears two dorsal fins, and behind each eye is a prominent spiracle. (60 cents each) and with mutton mutton, flesh of mature sheep prepared as food (as opposed to the flesh of young sheep, which is known as lamb). Mutton is deep red with firm, white fat. In Middle Eastern countries it is a staple meat, but in the West, with the exception of Great Britain, Australia, ($1 each). Shrimp pies ($1.10 each), spicier and crunchier than the others, were also on hand the second time. This was when the tasty white, patty-shaped, thin rice noodle creations known as string hoppers with chicken curry, pol sambol chutney chut·ney n. A pungent relish made of fruits, spices, and herbs. [Hindi ca  n and egg kiri hodi, a yellow-toned milky sauce with a whole hard-boiled egg in it, arrive as what is known here as a string hopper packet ($5). This was preferred over a chewy beef curry with rice, mint chutney and potato in a compartmentalized com·part·men·tal·ize tr.v. com·part·men·tal·ized, com·part·men·tal·iz·ing, com·part·men·tal·iz·es To separate into distinct parts, categories, or compartments: "You learn . . . takeout box with a plastic cover called a biriyani packet ($7). These ``packets'' are similar to Japanese bento A data structure used to store embedded documents in an OpenDoc compound document. Bento, which stands for lunch box in Japanese, provides a "container" to hold the data and a format for defining its contents. boxes, and five of them make up the entree part of the Sri Lankan Cafe's menu. Not available have been the rice and curry Rice and curry is the de facto national dish of Sri Lanka and is also popular in several parts of India. The banal name hides a range of delicately spiced dishes. packet ($5) with a lentil lentil, leguminous Old World annual plant (Lens culinaris) with whitish or pale blue flowers. Its pods contain two greenish-brown or dark-colored seeds, also called lentils, which when fully ripe are ground into meal or used in soups and stews. curry cooked in a banana leaf and a couple of other occasional options. Because of the shortage of Sri Lankan fare, the kitchen is often busy making large orders of string hoppers, which are often sold by the hundreds. Consequently, it has trouble efficiently handling small walk-in orders. So it would seem to be wiser at this time to order food to go in advance by telephone from the Sri Lankan Cafe than to expect to be served properly on the premises as a sit-down customer. THE FACTS The restaurant: Sri Lankan Cafe. Where: 19662 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana. Phone: (818) 343-0828. When: Open for snacks, packet plates and takeout from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Recommended items: Short eats (shrimp pies, fish pastry, bacon and egg rolls), string hopper packet. How much: Appetizers from 30 cents to $1.10, main-course combinations from $5 to $7, dessert $1. No alcohol. Cash only. Our rating: Two Stars for food; Three Stars for value. |
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