Gundu dosas
There is plenty of properly spiky Sri Lankan spice at this new place in Borough Market.
Rambutan has an open kitchen counter while most of the seating is big tables with big wooden benches to suit 4 to 8 people. Decor is spartan, adding to the street food vibe, and with a big echoey ceiling and music cranked up the atmosphere is definitely buzzing (read: be prepared to shout your conversations).
We loved every bite of the food. The snack of apple and kohlrabi acharu really will blow your socks off. Gundu dosas are light and tasty fried dough balls with a bright green herbal dipping sauce. Jaffna lamb ribs are fun, jam-packed with flavour and warm spicing but pretty fibrous to chew down. For meat I enjoy the black pork curry more, really fiery and earthy, mopped up with roti. Their roti needs a special shout, being so soft and many-layered, like unleavened bread clouds for soaking up curry.
Lamb ribs
Red pineapple curry is my favourite, with enough bitter caramelised notes to make it anything but a purely sweet dish, again a very fiery curry with a colour to match. Sticky pongal rice with chicken is the only just-normally-spicy dish on the table, and it’s very satisfying and soothing. Hm. Okay, so I guess the coconut and pandan dal also isn’t too hot. It’s also wonderful, love the coconut flavour in the satisfyingly warming dal.
It might be £25 each for a satisfying meal before drinks. Rambutan is excellent value, and excellent Sri Lankan cooking, but make sure you’re in the mood for a superabundance of spice and a short stop in a noisy dining room with hard wooden seats!
Roti like clouds
