Unless you’re a fan of the band Madness’ activist side or a keen follower of London planning permission beef, then perhaps the Norton Folgate redevelopment has so far passed you by.
Set at the intersection of Liverpool Street, Shoreditch and the City, Norton Folgate is a redevelopment project that’s faced significant opposition and legal battles over the last decade. Promising the sensitive restoration of Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian warehouses in an area spanning a network of streets including Blossom, Folgate, and Elder, the project aims to turn Norton Folgate into something of a culinary destination. After dining at one of the first commercial operations to move into the area, Kolamba East, we think these ambitions aren’t quite as lofty as they first seem.
Indeed, it’s on pretty, cobbled Blossom Street and in one of those warehouses that we find ourselves settling in for lunch. Kolamba East is positioned as the sophisticated, slightly more premium sibling of the acclaimed Soho restaurant Kolamba. Whilst the easterly iteration has only been open for three months, the restaurant has already hit its stride.
Established by dynamic husband and wife duo Eroshan and Aushi Meewella in 2019, the Kolamba project is driven by the couple’s profound affection for the food of their childhoods in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, and a desire for the country’s food to be given the same recognition and reverence as Indian fine dining receives in the capital.
Kolamba Soho quickly earned acclaim, with several positive reviews in the national press (and a brunch toastie that really hits the spot, incidentally). Eroshan, with a background in real estate and design, focuses on the culinary and financial aspects, while Aushi, transitioning from advertising to fashion and then hospitality, oversees the restaurant’s design and marketing.
Let’s talk about that design first; Kolamba East is one handsome building, its 90-cover dining room a homogenous, harmonious single entity. Designed in partnership with Annie Harrison of FARE INC, it’s all plush booth seating in various shades of Kardashian, an attractive central bar with swivelling stools that look like they could be a lot of fun after several Arrack Old Fashioneds, and some truly gorgeous handcrafted lotus-shaped lanterns casting a blanket of warming sepia over the whole space. It’s a beautifully designed room and one that really feels like you’re travelling on a private jet, for some reason.
We doubt any Embraer Lineage 1000E could serve up food this downright delicious though, the kitchen here piloted by executive chef Imran Mansuri, who has accumulated years of experience at esteemed Mayfair restaurants Tamarind and Jamavar, the latter of which has a Michelin star.
Expect Sri Lankan ‘homecooking’ with a few flashes of finesse, perfectly exemplified in the string hopper king prawn biryani, which comes with a small jug of intensely flavoured, spiced shellfish stock. Pour that jug over the tangle of thread-like noodles, squeeze the prawn heads into the mix, then muddle. Inside, it’s oceanic alchemy.
Anyway, we’ve got a little ahead of ourselves here, let’s go back to the start. Things open with a couple of cocktails from that imposing central bar, which need to be damn good to justify its posture. A vermouth and pandan iced tea is austere in its presentation, sure, but nuanced and delicate in its delivery. It’s just the ticket on a balmy late summer’s day in London, but if you’re looking for something stronger, the Arrack Old Fashioned is a bracing little number that will put the hairs on your chest. Infused with curry leaf to remind you where you are, and boasting one of the most impressive blocks of ice I’ve seen since Sochi 2014, it’s a confident opener. Puffed shards of pappadum and a properly spicy mango chutney help everything slip down far more quickly than we’re proud to admit. It sets the tone for things to come.
After that, we’re on the beers, with a light, crisp pilsner from the Harbour Brewing Co. clocking in at £6 a bottle. There’s also a two page wine list, with the cheapest bottle priced at £40 (there are a couple of glasses at around the tenner mark, too), but this really does feel like a meal best paired with beer, regardless of the usual “goes brilliantly with Riesling” spiel.
An aromatic dish of just-fried soft shell crab in hot butter hits the table next, its batter keenly dusted with what tastes – in a good way – a little like Wotsit seasoning, and humming with chilli paste. Thick slices of the green of a spring onion and pickled pink shallots both perfume that butter and lighten things up. A great dish, but also one that will ruin your white T-shirt in a splash if you tackle it too enthusiastically. We speak from experience.
Another starter of black pork ‘mas paan’ (literally translating as ‘meat bread’) hit the spot too. A fluffy glazed bun arrives generously filled with tender braised pork that sings with star anise. A dish that was in danger of being dry, it’s refreshed by a superb pineapple chutney, all fine dice and careful chilli heat. The kitchen at Kolamba East have a wicked way with pineapple, as we’re soon to find out.
Our cheerful, attentive waiter suggests enjoying the main course family-style, and with this kind of food, there should be no other way, with each larger plate, sambols and sides all playing off each other to realise flavours much fuller than the sum of their parts.
So, the focus now falls on that string hopper biryani, as well as a Jaffna lamb shank that’s rich and intoxicating from so much whole cardamom that the pesky things become a danger, especially as the moody lamb curry braise also houses crispy peas (like wasabi peas that have been dusted of their coating). Crunch through the spherical little things at your peril – sometimes, you’re going to get a mouthful so floral that you’ll need to reset everything.
Go looking for relief and contrast in a couple of gold-standard egg hoppers, a broccoli mallung that’s perhaps a little one-note-savoury, and something that, on the menu, is prosaically listed as ‘roasted pineapple’. It turns out to be the hero dish of the day.
In actuality, it’s a pineapple curry of sorts; a roasted and caramelised side of the fruit that can be cut with a spoon, served bathing in a warming curry sauce that’s sweet and tart and redolent of the aromatic nuttiness of mustard seeds and toasted chilli oil. Also bobbing about in that sauce are sweet pickled whole baby onions, which offer another soothing counterpoint. Though it’s just £13 (compared to the £33 of the biryani and £29 of the lamb shank) and buried deep in the nether reaches of the menu as a supporting act, it turns out to be the sun that the rest of the meal orbits. It’s one of the best dishes we’ve eaten this year, and in the context of the wider spread, expertly positioned to balance out the larger, more umami-rich dishes.
It’s been a ride and it’s been a riot, and only something creamy and soothing will do to finish. Enter the all-vegan payasan, a celebratory Tamil Sri Lankan sweet-treat of rich set coconut cream, topped with pistachio chunks and grated fresh coconut flesh. It’s light, gentle and comfortably tackled one-handed with a spoon. After the barrage of flavours earlier in the meal, it’s an easy, breezy way to close things.
All in all Kolamba East manages to pull off a fine balancing act, of being classy and refined but also full throttle in terms of flavour. As the headlining opening of this new, sometimes controversial development, the restaurant needed to make an impact. It’s certainly going to put Norton Folgate on the map.
Website: kolamba.co.uk
Address:: 12 Blossom St, London E1 6PL