Virundhu Restaurant, Eastcote, serving Sri Lankan Food

After trying Sri Lankan food at Pradha in South Harrow, I was interested in trying other Sri Lankan restaurants. My family found Virundhu in Eastcote. The restaurant's name is Tamil for feast.

I went on their website and saw they had lassi. Not just mango lassi. Rose lassi. Carrot drink.

I had found a restaurant I must try. You can sit indoors, or outdoors on the pavement.

Did they have Prosecco? Yes, at £9 for 20 cl. That would be for me, if I had not seen the lassi. Rose lassi.

Maybe both.

On arrival we asked for water, just plain tap water. It was served from attractive copper coloured jug.

The table lights were mechanical, not candles. Good. I think candles are dangerous and a nuisance because every now and then they set fire to something small like a table napkin. I prefer everything clean.  So far, the restaurant has several plus points. To read the menu, we were a foursome, we took a second light from another table.

I also liked the strings of flags.

Rose Lassi

The rose lassi was thick. Served in a copper colour metal container, with a thin straw. 

The Food

Starter Hopper

I ordered a hopper with egg. That was a novelty for all of us. Within the bowl an edible bowl made of crispy rice for the central egg which looked like poached egg. A contrast in textures. Soft boiled egg with a crispy outside.

My main course choices were 

chicken, 

potatoes.

 And a rice item. A thick white disc 

Two members of staff  asked if the food was okay. We all smiled and nodded. Although, my husband said we didn't have much in the way of vegetables. I found the chicken and potatoes too spicey and didn't want to fill up on rice to counteract the spiciness. Next time I shall order at least one vegetable dish. And ask for a less spicy option.

Desserts

Only two of the desserts were available.  In any case we were full. We wanted the leftovers wrapped up to go. This was done efficiently and promptly.

With the bill came a small glass of ginger tea, on the house. I really liked the ginger tea. Sweet, satisfying, refreshing, lovely ginger flavour.

As Shakespeare said in the title of is play, all's well that ends well

Website for Virundhu Restaurant Menu 

https://virundhurestaurant.com/DrinksMenu.pdf

https://virundhurestaurant.com/pdf/dessert-menu

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Special Meals on airlines - should you order them? What you get - or don't get!

Problem
I often forget to order a special meal.

Solution
On my most recent flight I ordered a special meal. That was a mistake.

Special Meals
I had ordered a special meal, no fish. I won't do that again. I don't eat crustaceans nor molluscs. But I love smoked salmon. Once I ordered the no fish meal and was denied a meal with a smoked salmon starter!

Another year went past. I didn't order a special meal again. However, every now and then I'm on a flight where everybody gets prawns in the starter, and sometimes shellfish in the main course too. So I think, I must remember to book a special meal.

What's the advantage? You can be sure of getting what you need if you have an allergy.

Your meal should come up slightly quicker!

On the other hand, you have only one set meal. If you stick with the regular menus you have a choice of two or three main courses, and two types of breakfasts.

What was wrong this time (November 2017)? I had chicken plus a spicy sauce or puree vegetable. Hey, man, woman, chef, those of us who are allergic to shellfish are sensitive types. We are likely to be sensitive to spicy food as well.

The rest of the passengers, the uncomplaining, easygoing no-fuss passengers, who accepted regular meals, were offered the opportunity of Chicken Kiev - my favourite!

Luckily I was travelling as one of a couple, so I did a bit of nifty shifting, food swapping. I said, "I'll give you half my food, which is early, if I can have half of yours later?"

What was good? My special meal ended with a fruit salad. I have become a fruitarian. Fresh fruit. When I was a child I considered that dull. Now, I'm careful, after two members of my family have been on special diets. One late relative was on a diet to combat late-onset diabetes, no sugar in desserts. Another relative is in remission from cancer, no processed foods.

Speaking of which, as a mid-flight snack, I was offered crisps, pastrami - which is a processed meat. No chocolate or cereal bar. No piece of fresh fruit.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

The Essex Arms, an Ember Inn, Watford - all great, except the spicy tomato juice

Everything about The Ember Inn was great - except for the spicy tomato juice.

Tomato Juice
The tomato juice I was given, brand name Tom, was spicy. I have an intolerance of spicy food. I had it by mistake, having told a friend who was ordering that I didn't want spicy in my tomato juice.

My reaction got worse and worse - I thought I was going to have a serious reaction.

When I went to the bar to ask if they could change it for non spicy, they had no alternative. I had chosen a tomato juice because I thought it was the drink most likely to be free of spices and sugars and additives. I was not pleased.

I think pubs and restaurants should stock a non-spicy tomato juice. And a juice with no additives. Large numbers of people who eat out are retired and so a proportion of them will have an intolerance of spicy food.

I used to avoid eating at Indian restaurants and places which served seafood. I realised that I was also avoiding places where I had had a bad experience, even though I did not make a conscious decision to reject them. I opted to eat or drink somewhere else.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Much later, I told somebody the history of my experience at a particular restaurant. I remembered one bad incident. I carried on with my account, but found the same story reappearing in my mind. I then realise that I had been subconsciously heavily influenced by one half-forgotten event.

Menus and Tables
I had looked up their menu on line in advance. A group of eight of us sat around a long table made of two tables for four pushed together. We had a lovely secluded area where nobody else disturbed us and we did not disturb them.

Chicken
I ordered a chicken option. I had a choice of three types of chicken, one with rice, one with chips, but the diet police in my family ordered my chicken with salad instead.

I did try a couple of chips from other people, which I exchanged for my battered onion rings, also not on my diet. For the benefit of American readers, what we in the UK call chips are chips as in fish and chips, large, fat French fries.

Others had ordered the ribs. They had a large portion of ribs on a large plate.

Breakfast
If you can arrive before noon you might be able to enjoy the breakfast platter. Four of us chose that before we realised that it was not available at lunch time.

On the bar in or by a goldfish bowl you will find cards which ask you for your feedback online. If you give them feedback within three days of a visit you are likely to win something for your next visit.
tellus.emberinns.co.uk

The Essex Arms, Langley Way, Watford
WD17 3EG
Tel: +44 (0)1023218031

www.emberinns.co.uk
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Garam masala means what? Hot and spicy, hot, why hot?

I see it so often on 'Indian' restaurant menus in UK and Singapore run by people from the 'Indian' continent (often Pakistani or Bangladeshi owned) restaurants in London. I have it in the spice rack. On the menu from a Eurasian restaurant in Singapore I came across the single word m a s a l a (not nasal -predictive text tried to insert that).

What does a Google search reveal? First, Wikipedia.

Garam masala (Hindi: गरम मसाला, Urdu: گرم مصالحہ‎ garam ("hot") and masala (a mixture of spices)) is a blend of ground spices common in North India, South India, Pakistan, and other South Asian cuisines.^[1] It is used alone or with other seasonings. The word garam refers to "heat" in the Ayurvedic sense of the word, meaning "to heat the body" as these spices, in the Ayurvedic system of medicine, elevate body temperature.

Cooling Cucumber
I used to be puzzled and sceptical about the idea that certain foods heat you. I thought it was metaphorical. But now I think it is practical.

I have noticed that I often feel cold when tired and hungry. After eating I feel warm.

 Obviously an iced drink is cooling. Cucumber is liquid and refreshing and used as lubrication in Victorian style sandwiches in summer to counter the gluey effect of white bread.

Back to masala. Hot spice. Hot in the sense of spicy, hot in the sense of raising your temperature.

Why is Indian food hot and spicy? Why drink hot tea in hot countries?

Admittedly, in Spain they tend to serve soups and drinks tepid. What about warm beer? Iced drinks? In Singapore people often ask for tepid water. (I hate hot drinks made with boiling water which burns me. I add cold milk to coffee. It adds calcium the chance of burning your mouth is reduced.

The English tourists to Spain like their food to have been heated to a high enough temperature to kill the bugs. That is what we are used to at home and what we are expect. Tepid food suggests to us that it has not been sufficiently heated to kill germs, that it has been heated but left lying around, exposed to flies, while we, the customers have been kept waiting, ignored by so-called waiters, that neither the cook nor the serving staff have any concern for the freshness of the food, or the physical and mental health of the customers.

When the British and Americans visit Singapore, Indian and and other Asian countries, it takes some adjusting to understand the varieties of temperatures of food offered.

One member of my family refuses ice in Coca Cola because it waters down the flavour and enables the staff to pass off a small glass as a large one.

I would reject ice on the grounds that ice in India and Thailand and Singapore has been found to be contaminated in the past. On one occasion the bride and wedding party were all sick after drinking drinks made with ice from a supplier who had re-used ice previously used to cool raw fish.

So, up to you, hot or not? At least you now know that garam means hot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speech writer, speech trainer, speaker.