Saffron Spice Kitchen – 459 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5V 2A9
Country: Sri Lanka 
Must-try dish: Kabali Kothu Roti
Dinner guests: Curly Guy, Pornstar Sam, Suited Sebastien and Young Matt
Seating: Even in non-covid times, Saffron operates as a takeout spot. 
The high: The Kothu Rotis are a generous portion, so come hungry! 
The low: The website doesn’t have a written menu, only a handful of photos so it’s easier to order a meal through Ritual or UberEats. 

Mandrea Bike is now two years old and running stronger than ever. Due to numbers and restrictions, a modest celebration ensued with Sri Lankan delights. 

Saffron Spice Kitchen has been on our radar for quite some time, and a birthday gathering felt like the ideal time to learn about and taste Sri Lankan cuisine. The dishes are easily shareable in family-style, facilitating the sampling of as many dishes as possible. Although Sri Lanka is geographically close to India and there are similarities between the cuisines, it still has its own unique flair to food. 

If you feel like taking a trip to Sri Lanka one night, here’s what you should order:

• Mutton Rolls: These deep-fried bites are stuffed with lamb and spices. No sauce is required as it’s already bursting with flavour. 
• Jaffna Style Chicken Curry: The chicken was covered in more of a rub than in a sauce, but that didn’t take away from the taste. Out of all the dishes, this one is the most approachable for people who are new to Sri Lankan food as it’s essentially grilled chicken over rice with spices. 
• Roasted Eggplant Curry:  This smoky eggplant dish was a small portion of eggplant over rice. It was one of the lighter dishes and went quickly. 
• Palak Paneer: This dish tends to be more Indian, but there’s no going wrong with paneer, which is a cheese that has the consistency of tofu and it’s often used as a base in curries. It’s a vegetarian option that also gives the impression of being healthier as it’s made with spinach – the only green item in the entire meal. 
• Curry Lamb Kothu Roti: This roti looks similar to stuffing from a turkey dinner, but obviously tastes completely different. Despite being medium heat, it was spicy without completely losing the flavour. A roti is a flatbread, and there were pieces of it among the meat and spices. 
• Kabali Kothu Roti: A chicken and mutton mix named after a Bollywood actor of Tamil background. Again, there are pieces of roti flatbread among the meat and spices. Although it’s close to the Curry Lamb Kothu Roti, the duo of meat certainly enhances the flavour. 

The entire meal was made to be medium in spice, which was good enough for our group. The curries were topped over rice, but Garlic Naan was still enjoyed as a vehicle to pick the food up from the plate, and let’s be serious, this flatbread is simply a crowd pleaser! 

The whole meal was washed down with Sinha Stout, an imported beer made in Sri Lanka that you can purchase from the LCBO. It pairs well with the food, but beware of the high alcohol content. 

Patios open on June 11th for outdoor dinning across Ontario, and Mandrea Bike cannot be more thrilled. It’s about time to share meals with friends, and also that food establishments start getting more business to make up for lost time. But until then, please support these local restaurants by getting takeout for a picnic or to enjoy in your own home. 

Eat with you soon,

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)