A Humble Australian Beach Kiosk Serving Authentic Sri Lankan Curries (and Golden Gaytimes) – by ROHAN SILVA

Source : broadsheet

“I made curry pies – people loved them. One lady, she ate seven in one go!”

It’s fair to say that chef Nisantha Columba Perera – aka “Colombo” – has built a cult following among Perth’s curry fanatics.

For the past five years, Colombo has been cooking up some of the most sublime curries we’ve ever eaten, and quietly selling them in an unlikely spot: a humble beach kiosk in Coogee that also hawks chips, Golden Gaytimes and sausage rolls.

The only clue that something special is going on is a little chalkboard – nestled among bigger signs displaying ice-creams and hot drinks – that quietly lists today’s curry offerings.

When Broadsheet asks Colombo how devoted his curry customers are, he smiles abashedly: “One guy drives from Mount Lawley every week just to buy my dal.” (That’s roughly a 70-kilometre round trip.)

Using fresh herbs and home-ground spices, Colombo makes his curries from scratch in the back of the kiosk and serves them frozen in vacuum-sealed packs, to be warmed and eaten at home.

There are typically half a dozen curries available each day, ranging from a soulful Sri Lankan chicken ($22 for a kilo) to a barnstormer of a palak paneer ($18 for a kilo).

We’ve tried several – all wonderful, with an artfully complex combination of spiciness and flavour – but if we had to recommend just one, it’d be Colombo’s magical goat curry ($25 a kilo), which deserves to be ranked among the best curries in Western Australia.

Among the crowds of beachgoers and parents buying fish’n’chips and babycinos for kids at the nearby playground, it’s easy to spot the folks who have made the pilgrimage to Coogee specifically for the amazing curries. The last time Broadsheet visited, one bloke in the queue was hurriedly buying 10 of them, clearly anxious to get his order in before supplies ran out.

Colombo is disarmingly matter of fact about why his curries are so good, putting it down to the fact he “cooks with love” – although, with a twinkle in his eye, he does admit it might also have something to do with the way he fastidiously home-blends his spices to create flavours that “no one else knows about”.

Colombo started working as a cook in Sri Lanka when he was 16 years old; he emigrated to Perth in 2006 after marrying his Australian wife, Laurel, who runs the kiosk alongside him. Before taking over the kiosk, Colombo spent many years helming a stall at the Fremantle Markets and running a food truck. Now with Laurel by his side, the kiosk is a true family affair with their three teenaged children pitching in at weekends.

Laurel deserves a hefty share of the credit for our favourite dish on the menu: the utterly joyful giant samosas. While Colombo conjures up the filling, packing it with fresh methi (fenugreek) leaves and coriander seeds, it’s Laurel who lovingly wraps it with a quintessentially Aussie crust – something you’d normally find on a meat pie, not a samosa. The delicious coming together of South Asian spice and homely Australian pastry is beautifully unpretentious and entirely unexpected – just like discovering excellent Sri Lankan curry at a West Australian beachside kiosk.

Woodman Point Beach Kiosk
Nyyerbup Circuit, Coogee

Hours:
Mon to Fri 8am–2pm
Sat 8am–7pm
Sun 8am–6pm