SIGIRI

91 First Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 614-9333

You don't get to have Sri Lankan food all that often, but if you've had Indian, it comes really close. Nevertheless, I've been kinda feeling that this blog has been weighed down by my Franco-American preferences and that it's long past the time to expand my range and expound my experiences. Sri Lankan, a suggestion by Mr. Dogz, hit me from out of nowhere and my immediate reaction was "let's go". Go we did and go should you.

We were met by Gloron, who arrived late from his Brooklyn abode. He was met by a full glass of wine. One nice thing about Sigiri is that it's BYOB. This cuts the price down considerably, since your $20 bottle of wine will actually cost $20 instead of $40. Two doors down is Tinto Fino, a very nice wine shop run by a very nice woman, and I picked up my $20 of wine in the form of two $10 bottles of organic Spanish vino.

If you can't tell from the photos, Sigiri is postage stamp small. No fatties. You won't be able to sit at the table. When we got there, I had to move the table six inches just to squeeze into the seat.

Though our waiter was very nice, the service at Sigiri left much to be desired. If he wasn't telling new customers that they had a long wait ahead of them (the place was packed), then he was missing in action. When a far longer amount of time elapsed than should have with bone-dry glasses, we asked for a whole pitcher of water. Note to owners: hire more than one guy.

We started our evening off with two types of appetizers, Sri Lankan Vegetable Spring Rolls, and Sri Lankan Fish Spring Rolls. In my humbles of humble opinions, they were flat out great. Mr. Dogz concurred. Gloron did not. The vegetable spring roll was a deep fried blend of potato and vegetable, while the fish spring roll tasted very similar but with a notable fish flavor (allegedly salmon). Both came with a mildly spicy dipping sauce. Dogz and I relished both, though his preference was for the vegetable one and mine was for the fish one. While both of us loved these and would recommend them to one and all, Gloron had a decidedly negative view. In his humblest of humble opinions, they were no better or worse than the toaster treats you find in the frozen food aisle of the supermarket, and he described the dipping sauce to Heinz with some Tobasco. Ouch. Still, I loved them and I can honestly say that if you're someone who feels compelled to spend $20 on an appetizer at some celebrity-chef run shoppe to prove to yourself that you're eating out, then go right ahead. You're a sucker, but you're a sucker who keeps the lines shorter at places like this.

Next up were a round of Sri Lankan Vegetable Soup, a spicy lentil and coconut milk based vegetable soup that we would have had three of, but for our waiter forgetting that three meant more than one. Oddly enough, when the other two came, they were of a different consistency. Mine and Dogz's were thinner and saltier, while Gloron's was far thicker and more peppery.

For dinner, I ordered Chicken Kottu Roti, a dish of stir-fried doughy bread, vegetables, onion and egg. Actually, I ordered beef kottu roti, but got chicken. Another service problemo. Either way, it was damn good. Dogz ordered the Chicken String Hopper Kotthu which was pretty much the exact same thing my dish, except that instead of fried bread, the meal fries rice noodles. Similar, but different. Smoother. Dogz preferred it, I preferred mine.

Gloron opted for the Chicken Lamprais, a rice dish with fish, chicken, plantains, and a whole egg, baked slowly in a banana leaf. This is enough for two. It' s an extremely heavy entree that Gloron managed maybe a dozen bites of before he brown bagged the rest.

For dessert we three split a Watalappam, a rice pudding with coconut milk. I know that you might think I've been critical of Sigiri, but I had an awesome time here and this dessert was the perfect ending to what had really been a great dinner. It was as smooth as butter with hints of vanilla, brown sugar and coconut.

Went back with Dudeman for a quick cheap bite. We tried the Pol Roti, the Sri Lankan Spring Rolls, and the Beef Curry. The Pol Roti, a spicy Sri Lankan bread, was quite good, but stiff like a stale pancake. Not something you can really wrap your food in taco-style. The spring rolls were phenominal. And not spring rolls like what you'd get from another Asian place. These were 3x3 inch squares of fried, spicy, pocket bread. You get four. The beef curry was somethat disappointing, as was the fact that rice was an extra $3, but in the end that's only because everything else was so good. Besides everything paired together well and was only $15 each plus tip. So go there already!