I have an affinity for novelty and searching for things off the beaten path; this applies to travel and food experiences. It doesn't always turn out to be a good experience, but nevertheless it's usually memorable in one way or another. When I found myself in Flemington, I stumbled upon Grandeez Restaurant and my curiosity was piqued.
The restaurant is primarily a takeaway restaurant but it does have limited seating if you choose to dine in. They're serving up Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine and I could see how popular it was with the locals watching them come in for the snacks and pastries in the bain-marie and the two giant dosas at another table. I also saw heaps of fresh string hoppers coming out of the kitchen. However, what caught my eye was the chicken biryani and the chicken kottu.
The chicken biryani comes topped with this big tandoori chicken maryland and tons of fragrance and flavour in the rice. Sri Lankan biryani is typically spicier than Indian biryani and you could really feel the heat in this dish. They give you a side of yogurt to ease the spice and it's mildly sweet and quite nice. While I enjoyed this dish, I enjoyed the chicken kottu more.
Kottu is a uniquely Sri Lankan dish that consists of chopped roti, a meat of choice, scrambled eggs, onions, greens, and chilies. The texture is half omelette and half noodles, it's really something else. It doesn't look like much, but you can call it ugly delicious. You might be familiar with the roti used, as it's essentially roti canai, so envision a chopped roti canai omelette and you can already taste the deliciousness inside your mouth.
The chicken biryani was $16.50 and the kottu roti was $12.
I'll take this experience as a win, and it's easy on the wallet as well with large portions.
If I'm ever in the area again I'll definitely be coming back.
