Thalis is an Indian restaurant that serves completely vegetarian dishes and it is located at Park road, Colombo 05. Thalis serves both North and South Indian dishes and it has become vastly popular as it serves authentic and delicious Indian cuisine.
The Meatless Monday Sri Lanka team paid a visit to Thalis on a Monday and was able to enjoy a heart vegetarian lunch full of delicious dishes.
The Food
The menu of Thalis is expansive with a whole range of South Indian food such as dosais and vadais, to North Indian dishes such as a variety of naans, parathas and masala curries. They also have a few Chinese dishes representing the menu as well.
Our team decided to savour both South and North Indian dishes, and we started off with a paneer butter masala (Rs.750), a mushroom dopiyaza (Rs. 750) along with some butter naan (Rs.190). The paneer butter masala scooped up with soft and buttery naan was a match made in heaven; the tomato gravy of the paneer butter masala was beautifully flavoured with the paneer pieces giving a nice texture to the dish. The mushroom dopiyaza is a dish with button mushrooms and garlic and tomato gravy. It did not have the intense sweet and tangy tomato gravy that you will find in a butter masala dish but it contrasted well with the paneer butter masala and made a good accompaniment to the butter naan.
We also ordered a Kulcha (Rs.225), which is also like naan but fluffier than the usual naan. The Kulcha at Thalis also had some coriander mixed into the roti, and it was brushed with some butter to give it some extra flavour.
The vegetable buriyani (Rs.550) was served with a small dish of cucumber raitha on the side. The vegetable buriyani had generous servings of pieces of carrots, peas and beans stir –fried which made the dish well flavoured with a bit of heat from the chillies seeping through the dish. The raita with its tangy and cool curd mixed with pieces of onions and chillie gave the buriyani more flavour and, overall we were very happy with the dish.
To give the south Indian side of the menu a try, we ordered a Chilli onion dosai (Rs.350). The dish was a big piece of paper dosai filled with pieces of onions and raw green chillies. It came with two small bowls of sambar and a spicy dhal curry. The dosai was very filling and the sambar and spicy dhal curry were very well flavoured and partnered well with the dosai; although we did feel that they were too generous with the amount of onions and chillies they had put into the dosai.
The Drinks
For drinks we ordered a Mint lime juice (Rs.250), a sweet lassy (Rs.400) and a lime with soda (Rs.250). The Mint lime juice and the lime with soda were wonderfully refreshing drinks for the Sri Lankan heat. And the sweet lassy with its combination of sweetened curd was a great contrast to all the spicy food we just ate. The combination of sweet and tangy flavours was delicious and the drink was very filling.
Mint lime juice
Sweet lassy
Conclusion
Thalis is a wonderful addition to the local Indian restaurant scene as the food is delicious and prone to make you happy. The prices can vary but it is possible to have an affordable meal if you order accordingly. The service is quick and prompt and the servers are well knowledgeable about the menu and are happy to answer any question you have regarding the food. The Meatless Monday team highly recommend Thalis is you are looking for delicious meatless Indian food.