Zahrah Z.
Yelp
To start off, I'm Sri Lankan. I'm a good cook of Sri Lankan food, and I love good food in general.
We were thrilled when Kurrypinch first opened. I have been frequenting the older Sri Lankan restaurants in the valley and Orange County (still good - no shade here!) but had long hoped for an elevated Sri Lankan dining experience. We dined in a couple of times, and ordered takeout/ catering as well. The food was excellent and authentic, and I introduced many of my non-Sri Lankan friends to our cuisine thanks to Kurrypinch. It was sad to hear of the first iteration closing.
Fast forward to a few months ago. I see Kurrypinch on Eater LA, on Instagram, get forwards from my friends. We're all ecstatic and can't wait to go. We finally pick a day and visit for dinner - tried to make a reservation but there weren't any available, so we call. We're told that it's full but they can seat us at the counter. That worked for us.
We ordered the baduma for starters, followed by rice and curry with beef, the coconut risotto with mahi mahi, the deviled chicken and fried rice, and the hot butter calamari. With the exception of the hot butter calamari, which was tasty but way too greasy, everything was absolutely delicious. My favorites were the coconut risotto and the deviled chicken. The workers cooking the food in front of us were friendly and looked like they were doing a great job under directions from Chef Shaheen. Service was excellent! Chef Shaheen recognized me from my previous interactions with him. We even saw the inimitable Helen Mirren walk in and sit at the bar! The decor was clean and the restaurant was bustling with activity. It felt inviting.
My next visit was with my husband and son for Mother's Day dinner. I love the food here and wanted to introduce them to an elevated experience with Sri Lankan food. When I called beforehand, I was told that they would be pretty full but could seat us at the counter or outside. That was fine by us. When we walked in, the hostess ushered us to a table - one of many that were empty. She had to clean it down before she sat us, even though the table looked like it had been sitting empty for a while. We sat down and waited a few minutes for our server to take our orders. They were definitely understaffed, and the table space looked slightly untidy.
We started with drinks. Knowing that there was no bartender, I told my husband to get a beer, but he wanted a cocktail. He asked for the honey lychee vodka cocktail. They didn't have it, so he ordered the apricot whiskey highball. We ordered the mackerel croquettes. The croquettes took a while to come out, but they came well before the drink did. When the drink came, it was shockingly mediocre. A layer of apricot pulp floating on top of what looked like cloudy water - I don't know what was in it but it didn't look appetizing at all. My husband could not taste the whiskey. Cocktail making is a skill that has been somewhat overlooked here.
We ended up ordering stringhopper pilau with chicken for my husband, kottu roti with chicken for my son, and the coconut risotto with mahi mahi for me. I had been dreaming of the risotto from my last visit, and specifically asked to go here for Mother's Day for it! Several dishes were unavailable.
The food took so long to come out even though they weren't busy. We had quickly finished the croquettes, which were delicious. Those are a Sri Lankan staple (called cutlets), and it would be absolute sacrilege if they weren't good. We were still hungry, though, so when the food came out we definitely went all in. The stringhopper pilau, chicken curry, and kottu roti were very good. My husband and son loved the food. As a native, I was pretty relieved that my non-Sri Lankan husband was happy. I cook Sri Lankan food at home, but the dishes and my style of cooking are different from the food here as my family is from a different region in Sri Lanka.
The dish I had been dreaming of was a letdown. It needed more salt, and the rice, which had been creamy and cooked perfectly the last time, was undercooked. The risotto dish is a twist on what Sri Lankans call "kiribath", essentially a creamy, savory rice pudding that can be eaten with curries and sambols, so eating something that was undercooked was pretty jarring. The fish was tasty but the curry sauce surrounding the fish on top of the rice had a layer of oil I had to skim off.
Finally, three of the dishes we were served on were chipped, large chips on plates that were dark colored, so it showed pretty easily. Normally, I wouldn't criticize something like this, but we were here for an elevated experience and it just didn't feel that way. They seem short-staffed and maybe inconsistent with the quality of food.
I am a staunch supporter of Chef Shaheen and love Kurrypinch food. There are things that need to be fixed in order to preserve this as an elevated experience. It would be wonderful to see a Sri Lankan success in the Hollywood restaurant scene.