It's a village in the heart of the bustling city of Colombo. Nuga Gama, within Cinnamon Grand hotel, is a restaurant that transports you to simpler times since it recreates a rural setting. Oil lamps hang from trees to light up your path, traditional live-band plays soulful tunes. And smack in the centre of the restaurant lies a banyan tree. Little wonder that Nuga Gama translates to ‘banyan village.’

A lavish buffet is laid out under a thatched roof, and served in earthen pots. The spread is huge consisting of everything from meats—chicken and mutton preparations; fish, which is fried, or curried; vegetables such as tempered brinjal, bread fruit curry, gourd etc. The meal comes with sambol (similar to Indian chutneys and aachars). On the table here, is a spice bazaar of sorts with many different sambol varieties on offer—pol (coconut) sambol, sinni (chilli, Maldive fish and coconut) sambol, fried red chillies etc.

The meal ends with a simple yet addictive dessert that combines the sweet with the sour—a helping of buffalo curd with treacle, in addition to various other Sri Lankan desserts.