By Marianne David

Mintage Restaurant Kotte – which has been around for a few years – is flying the Mintage culinary flag quite high, serving some excellent food and consistently living up to its reputation for flavour.

While some may believe the restaurant is only popular among its bar patrons, that’s quite the mistake given how good the food is! Boasting an extensive menu and delivering in style when it comes to taste, Mintage Kotte certainly doesn’t disappoint diners.

The Meatless Mondays team decided to try out some of the vegan dishes on offer at Mintage via UberEats and had quite a few options to choose from – a positive sign, indeed.

We chose the Hong Kong Style Vegetable Noodles, Indonesian Style Bean Curd in Thick Spiced Gravy, and Pak Choy with Garlic Sauce. The dishes come in small and regular sizes and while we selected the small portions, the servings were more than sufficient for three people.

Hong Kong Style Vegetable Noodles

The Hong Kong Style Vegetable Noodles (Rs. 1,008), laced generously with diced and sliced cabbage, carrot, spring onions and more, is a dish that can be enjoyed on its own or paired with anything else.

None of the flavours are overpowering, which makes for a lovely combination, while the noodles are coated generously in sauces and cooked just right and the colourful veggies retain their crunch and colour. 

This is a great carb option for any meal that holds everything together and tastes comforting, ensuring diners digging in will definitely be satisfied.

The fact that it can be enjoyed on its own without any side dishes – and shared with a friend or two – means you won’t be breaking the bank to enjoy this Mintage culinary delight. 

It is freshly-made, filling, yummy, and reasonably priced – what more could one ask really for?

Indonesian Style Bean Curd in Thick Spiced Gravy

The Indonesian Style Bean Curd in Thick Spiced Gravy (Rs. 1,208) is the ideal choice for vegans who crave spice in their meals. 

A great plant-based protein choice that’s also low in fat and calories, the bean curd soaks up all the full-bodied flavours of this thick gravy and is literally oozing with flavour. 

Despite being delivered instead of enjoyed in-house, the bean curd arrived steaming hot and, spooned generously over the noodles, it made for quite the comforting meal. 

Dig into this dish with any carb you please; it will surely lend itself very well to some fresh bread or steamed rice. One cannot help but wonder how Mintage gets the gravy to taste so good! This is the kind of dish you will dream about long after it has been devoured.

Pak Choy with Garlic Sauce

While it’s too easy to overcook vegetables, in turn losing their freshness, goodness, colour, and crunch, the Pak Choy with Garlic Sauce (Rs. 1,008) served at Mintage is everything a vegetable dish should be. 

Bite into the pak choy – which has ‘superfood’ status for its nutritional value – and slurp up the garlic sauce, served steaming hot, and your taste buds will sing.

it’s not just the flavours – the colours of this dish will also please diners, enabling feasting with the eyes before satisfying the taste buds. Hats off to Mintage for doing veggies right!

Other options

Some of the other interesting options for vegan diners include Fried Brinjal in Soy Sauce, Hot Butter Mushroom, Stir Fried Kankung in Samba Chilli Sauce, Pak Choy with Black Mushroom, Chinese Style Mixed Vegetable Curry, and Sizzling Bean Curd with Vegetables.

The place

Mintage Kotte – present on Instagram as @mintage_restaurant – is located at No. 254 Pita Kotte -Thalawathugoda Rd, Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte. Open for lunch and dinner, it is also available via food delivery platforms. Mintage also has branches in Marawila and Galle, while the main outlet is located at Kynsey Road in Colombo.