Fresh flavours and an electric atmosphere make dining at the restaurants of Sri Lankan businessman Lal Alvitigala and his wife, Priyanthi, an unforgettable experience.
Their third and largest restaurant, Chef Lanka Restaurant and Fine Dining in Tullamarine, opened earlier this year catering especially to the corporate market.
Chef Lanka is a celebration of sweet, sour, hunger-enticing and sense-alluring Sri Lankan dishes and highly professional catering services.
They attribute much of their culinary success to their food theme, “a taste to remember”, which is common to all their venues.
The new venue can seat 200 people and is ideal for corporate functions, wedding receptions and dinner dances – events for which the couple has already been catering through their restaurants in Glenroy and Melbourne’s CBD.
“We regularly cater for functions of more than 400 people, cooking all the food at our restaurants and transporting it in special containers to the venue to keep it warm,” Lal says.
Lal is a qualified chartered accountant with 20 years’ experience as a finance controller in the hospitality industries of Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Seychelles.
Priyanthi spent as many years as a commercial chef.
Both pride themselves on promoting the taste of Sri Lanka to an ever-growing Melbourne audience.
“One of the customers’ favourite dishes is egg plant moju [deep fried and cooked with red capsicum, onions and other herbs],” Lal says. “Other popular dishes include lamb curry and crab curry and hoppers – a flat crispy bread [to which can be added egg and other accoutrements] – which is our Sunday night theme.”
Another favourite is devil chicken served with saffron rice and deep fried eggplant.
To enjoy a memorable dining experience at the other venues visit Chef Lanka in Bourke Street, Melbourne and Chef Lanka in Wheatsheaf Road, Glenroy.
Chef Lanka, 217 Mickleham Road, Tullamarine. Opens 9am-late Tuesday-Saturday. Inquiries: 9300 1155 or www.cheflanka.com.au
