The menu was a jumble that didn’t provide much direction, but since we were eating at the tail end of a forgotten Northridge strip mall, we didn’t mind. This worked out for the best, since it gave us an opportunity to ask co-owner Nihal Dissanayake for his recommendations…which led to my best Sri Lankan meal in Southern California.

The food was well spiced but not mouth numbing thanks to chef Priyani Dissanayake’s deft touch in the kitchen. The couple opened their humble restaurant in November 2008, and C. Thi Nguyen let the masses know about Priyani in their LA Times review.

We started with a colorful but ultimately extraneous salad that combined sliced tomatoes, fresh chopped peppers, cucumber and pineapple, then transitioned to a surprisingly delicate fried platter.

Priyani formed a well-spiced mix of tuna, potato and onions to fill crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside rolls, cutlets (croquettes) and flaky patties (baked Sri Lankan empanadas). The appetizers would have been good on their own, but every bite was taken to new heights with the application of a peppery tomato-based sauce.

Priyani found a creative use for the thin-sliced flatbread known as roti, stir-frying strips to a pad see iew-like consistency with gamy mutton, carrots, onions, peppers and egg.

The showstopper was lampreis, a banana leaf-wrapped mound of rice topped with distinct heaps of paprika, well-seasoned onion-rich chicken and intensely-flavored caramelized eggplant. The flavors were uniquely delicious, and when combined, created culinary fireworks.

Priyani produced a deeply-flavored pork that was infused to its core with caramelized onions and black peppercorns.

The only dish that was relatively mild was the biryani, the spice-soaked fried rice dish that was studded with cashews and chicken and partnered with more of that concentrated eggplant.

A plateful of fluffy rice came with dishes of earthy yellow dal, a third serving of eggplant and chile-flecked shredded coconut sambal.

The four of us were nearly catatonic after consuming so many rich stews, but couldn’t resist ordering two squares of watalapam, a molasses-like jaggery pudding that was studded with peanuts and caramelized at the base.

Priyani offered a nearly unrivaled ratio of flavor to value. Our Sri Lankan feast cost $80, including tax, a generous tip and two boxes of leftovers.

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3. Itzik Hagadol Grill - Encino, CA – June 20, 2009
4. Chopan Kebab House - Northridge, CA - January 10, 2008
5. Puro Sabor – Van Nuys, CA – June 12, 2009

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This entry is filed under California, Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, Southern California, Sri Lankan.