Ottawa Foodies

Ceylonta's still good but maybe a tad unreliable. A big pile of take-away from here recently left me drooling and fantasizing about going back for weeks. I went back, and...nothing bad, but I wasn't wanting to move into the basement like I had before. Different chefs? Or was it the lousy service we got in person?

When they do it right, it's lovely stuff...

I was super-excited to try Ceylonta (Somerset location) and was looking forward to having lunch here for a couple of weeks, having heard good things about the food. Maybe I was a bit too excited. I went there today for the lunch buffet and it was good, but not mind-blowing.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my food. The pappadoms were above average. There was very tasty green, spicy creamy stuff (sorry - don't know the name, but it was displayed next to the yogourt.) I also enjoyed the beef curry which was spicy-hot, although the beef itself was a bit tough.

For dessert there was rice pudding and tapioca custard. Yummy. I especially liked the tapioca custard - real comfort food!

The service was fine - water glasses were always full - but when it came time to get our bill we, well, didn't. After asking and waiting, we had to take matters into our own hands and line up at the cash. Maybe that's how it works there?

I plan to go back again for dinner sometime. I've heard good things about the roti and don't want to miss out!

Just a small note about the artwork on the walls - all the pictures seemed to be of comely Indian women batting their eyelashes or carrying water jugs. My friend and I were sitting under a pair of pictures that made me wonder if it's cold in Sri Lanka. Not a big deal, but it made me feel like we were eating in some East Indian version of a gentleman's club. Wacky.

We ate at Ceylonta last Friday night. The restaurant had maybe a dozen patrons at about 7 o'clock. We ordered a chicken rotti, beef stringhoppers, basmati rice, a roasted eggplant dish and an appetizer. The food was fabulous!

We found the service to be a bit off. Maybe they were shortstaffed? Cultural differences? I don't know what was going on but the service was really rushed and in some cases non-existant. Hopefully this was just a one-time thing... it wasn't terrible, but it put a bit of a damper on what was otherwise a wonderful meal.

It’s my first time been to their new location. Food remains good!!
Veggie Thali is still my fav. ! Love the curried eggplant!!
My boyfriend ordered Mutton Kothu Rotti, which is curried mutton stir fried with chopped rotti bread, onions, and other spices, not so crazy about this.
We also ordered Devilled beef, it’s cooked in a tomato based sauce, sour and sweet taste, not bad.

Overall, food tasted great, service was quick and attentive. There is only one thing …. I found their food is not delivered hot…maybe it has something to do with the pre-cooked meat, all their meat is pre-roasted, not fresh cooked.

Did a take-away from the new Carling location last night, and am happy that Ceylonta (and its new location) remains on my fav. list. Had the veg Thali and another veg main, Vegetarian Kothu Rotti.

The Thali provides an excellent way to sample 5-6 different curries / dishes, prepared in the "drier" S. Indian / Sri Lankan style (a little less gravy and a bit more use of coconut and other spices).

Not quite as keen for the Kothu Rotti, but it definitely sticks to the ribs.

One thing you notice w/ take-away is the amount of oil used (visible b/c of the residue left on paper bags, etc.). Maybe they could reduce the amount a bit, but hey, it was good tasting oil.

We took my brother-in-law to the new Carling location for his birthday lunch today. As zymurgist said, the food is as great as the Somerset location but the atmosphere is cozier and nicer. Sri Lankan food is a fantastic choice when you want something a little more interesting than the standard Northern Indian fare. I tried something new -- little salty deep-fried whole chilies. They were fairly spicy and had the flavour of whole salted sunflower seeds (without the chewy shell).

The flat bread is dense and chewy with an awesome taste. Really, all the choices are excellent, and your mouth will rejoice in the symphony of flavours. I'm really thrilled to have this place so close to where I live!

I saw they were open yesterday evening and there were people walking in. It looks extremely cosy, aside from the gaudy flashing palm trees outside. ;-)

Can't wait to try the new location, especially now that zymurgist has given it his blessing.

Just got back from the new location on Carling in Bayshore. The guy said it was their 2nd day open. It's my wife's birthday and this is an annual event for us, so we figured we'd try the new place.

It's smaller than the other location but much nicer. The old location is very industrial whereas this one really feels like you are being invited into someone's home. And the food is as good as the original - same great spread for the lunch buffet. Oh, they gave us complimentary mango lassies - nice touch!

undoubtedly friendly staff at the somerset location, but completely, perhaps even blissfully, oblivious to contamination and allergy issues. Fish smelling Idlis, and a hard time understanding that someone can have a tamarind alergy misleading us to believe that they would have non-tamarind food when we phoned ahead to check.

Fresh Foodie: Thanks for the update!!
this is awesome! love their food! can't wait to go to their new location :)

by the way, I am going to try "Little india cafe" this Sat, heard their Butter Chicken is the best in town!?

Went on a Sat. Excellent buffet until 2pm. Love their fried buttered chilis. We ordered mutton rolls for the table. You really must get the mutton rolls. Deep fried with breadcrumbs. Comes with a tangy red sauce. Delish!

Their naan is average. Tandoori chicken average. But you don't really go to Ceylonta for that. Try ALL the other dishes. Everything's very good to excellent. The curried chicken used to be excellent but they've toned down the spice level a few years ago and it seems like something's missing.

You can opt for the dosa option too. They'll bring you a huge dosa (fried rice flour crepe filled with spicy potato stuffing) with sambar. It's worth the extra price.

I didn't try everything that came with this, and I don't know the names of what I tried, but it was good! There is enough variety in this dish that it's good for sharing and every part will be liked by someone.

Their lunch-time buffet usually has excelletn tandoori chicken.

String Hoppers is one of my favourite traditional foods from Sri Lanka. It is delicious with curry chicken or mutton. My husband and the two sons love it too. I am a good cook, but I could not get the proper consistency when I make string hoppers myself, but, hey, I have no trouble getting my supply when I need it, I call CEYLONTA RESTAURANT, it is just a phone call away. I am loving it. Noeline, Ottawa.

Frozen 'mixed vegetables'...! Peas, corn, diced carrot, a couple of green beans.

I'm not so snobby as to write off everything made with once-frozen veg, but it's always a letdown when it's that ubiquitous, blah blend where the carrots are invariably mush, the corn dry, the peas shrivelled and the beans blah.

Okay if you ignored the veg, but...

[This review is for Vegetable String Hoppers Kothu]
This was a very great dish. There was no sauce but the flavours were great and it soaked up sauce from other dishes and complimented everything.

This dish was just ok. It wasn't bad but it didn't "wow" me either. The chicken was extremely lean which I really admire.

This was outstanding. The flavours were rich yet not overpowering and the shrimp was perfectly cooked.

Oh, adding the (Goat) to the end is a great idea.

And, yes, the red sauce is amazing. Sauces like that are why you have to order naan or dosai or whatever bread-thing you can imagine.

I don't think it's *too* too spicy, but I may be losing my sense of taste.

Thanks guys. You're right of course! I added a "(Goat)" to the title for clarity...

Now I'm intrigued... and that angry sauce sounds most appealing!

I can confirm that the mutton at Ceylonta is goat :-). I think that Momomoto is right... it's common for South Asians to call goat "mutton". My favourite Sri Lankan restaurant here in Toronto, at least, does the same thing!

Because of this, for the longest time, I didn't know that mutton was sheep.

:) It's definitely confusing, particularly for people who come here *from* India, ask for mutton, and get old sheep instead of goat!

Tough thing to standardize, for sure.

Weird! Maybe they should call it chevron instead of mutton then. ;-) (In case you don't know french: mouton == sheep and chevre == goat. The word "mutton" comes from mouton.)

Based on how it tasted and the shape of the pieces I'm pretty sure that it was goat. It's common in south Asia to call goat mutton, and the description they have for their mutton roll appetizer says that it's goat.

I pity the poor sheep that has to live so close to the equator! More sensible for it to have no woolen coat ;)

Mutton is sheep not goat! The angry red curry sounds great, but can you please let me know whether it is mutton OR goat so I can correct it? Thanks :)

I just picked up an order of this for takeout in order to stretch the rice and dal that I've been eating recently.

This type of curry sauce takes really well to the intense flavour, and slightly rough texture, of goat. It's got a dark, nutty, almost coffee-like flavour from the roasting of all the spices, as well as having that spicy kick that comes in after the fact, to clear your sinuses and remind you that life is good.

I'd definitely order this one again, particularly if I were having a sit-down meal.

This was OK. It seemed that it was store-bought and heated. It wasn't the best I've ever had, but not the worst eiher.