AD – My meal from Sayan Sri was gifted in return for this review.
It has felt like a hot minute since I sat down and wrote a full-blown blog post review! Lockdown has changed everyone’s dining habits considerably and with plenty of amazing independent food vendors offering takeaway in Milton Keynes, we have been so spoilt the past few months with delicious food. I thought it was about time I wrote a full review of one of the lockdown takeaways we tried this week. Spoiler: It was good!
In this post, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Sayan Sri, a family-owned Sri Lankan food vendor and caterer based in Oldbrook, Milton Keynes.
Like with many local businesses, Sayan Sri, has had to adapt to the current situation. With big weddings and events cancelled, there is little market for catering right now, but a growing market for takeaways and deliveries in MK. They kindly gifted Dan and I a meal to try so I could share it with you guys!
About Sayan Sri
I’ve not really eaten lots of Sri Lankan food before – it is a country that is very much on my bucket list of places though. I went to a fantastic Sri Lankan restaurant called Sigiriya in Cheshire just after Christmas and it was fantastic. But other than that my tastebuds have not experience much Sri Lankan cuisine!
Sayan Sri is a family run business. The head chef, Srinihila (or Sri for short). Sri was born and raised in Chunnakam, Jaffna (North Sri Lanka). The youngest of five children, she grew up learning how to cook various dishes that you will find on Sayan Sri’s menu.
Sri arrived in the UK in 1986 with her husband and first son, Sayanthan and the company was born out of her love for cooking. On the menu, you will find Sri Lankan dishes as well as South Indian curries which share similar aromas and flavours. You can order your food via JustEats or UberEats for delivery.
The food
I chose the Sri Lankan dishes on the menu for our meal. I was tempted by a South Indian curry, but I wanted to sample the Sri Lankan delights! Sayan Sri recommended two short eats, a starter and two mains to give us a good taste of the menu.
We ordered lamb samosas (£2.75) and Sri Lankan spring rolls (£2.25) for our ‘short eats’. These samosas are of course an Indian appetiser. These particular samosas are made from savoury filo pastry stuffed with a choice of filling (veg, chicken or lamb). They were very tasty – Crisp pastry filled with flavoursome meat.
I’ve eaten a lot of spring rolls in my time, but never Sri Lankan spring rolls! We ordered the vegetable ones. They are made from Filo pastry and filled with your chosen filling (chicken, fish, mutton, paneer, prawn or veg) They are coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. I really loved these – Dan wasn’t so sure. The filling was smooth and almost had a Mexican flavour about it.
The samosas and spring rolls were served with a spicy chilli dip which had a big kick to it. So watch out if you aren’t good with spice!
We had ‘The Devilled’ as a starter. This is described as a ‘sizzling devilishly red-hot starter’ and comprises of peppers, chilli flakes, onions and a fusion of Sri Lankan and Chinese spices. We chose the paneer for our Devilled dish (£5.50) but you can choose other meats or veg too.
A word of warning if you order this – it is very hot. Dan and I are pretty good with spice, but I’d recommend leaving this as the last thing you eat instead of the first. Although it is packed with flavour, anything else we ate after tasted quite bland. We ate the leftovers the next day and realised everything did have flavour, the Devilled just killed our taste buds!
The paneer was so delicious though – probably some of the best paneer that we’ve eaten from a food vendor. It was just the right amount of chewy. Yum.
For mains we had the Sri Lankan Harischandra Noodles (£7.50). Again you can choose your meat, so we had chicken. This dish is stir-fried noodles cooked with mixed veg and authentic spices. This was the only dish we weren’t that mad about. It wasn’t packed with flavour (though as I said above, after the Devilled, anything tasted a bit bland!) The chicken was good and I liked the noodles, but wanted a bit more texture and flavour.
Our favourite dish was the Kothu Roti. This is a street food dish that is apparently very popular in Sri Lanka. It had the most beautiful flavours and amazing textures. The dish comprises of Soft, flaky paratha flatbread chopped into strips and stir-fried together with your choice of filling (we had mutton – £8.95) fried egg and a fiery mix of gravy and authentic spices.
It’s a dry dish, but the textures are amazing. The roti gives it an al dente texture which is unlike anything I’ve ever had before. I loved the egg and the gentle heat spread across my palette after a few mouthfuls. This feels like proper homecooked comfort food, we loved it!
Overall, we really enjoyed our takeaway from Sayan Sri! The food arrived on time, it was hot and nothing was steeped in that classic takeaway grease. I thought it was excellent value too – all this food came to just over £26, which I think for two people and the amount of food we had, is great. Plus we had some leftovers for lunch which we gladly enjoyed.
I’d definitely recommend Sayan Sri if you’re looking for a new takeaway to try in Milton Keynes.
Sayan Sri is open from 5pm for takeaway. You can find out more about Sayan Sri on their website: www.sayansri.co.uk. To place your order, head to Just Eat or Ubereats. Delivery radius is MK1 – MK15.
Have you tried Sayan Sri before?
Other posts you might like:
- My Favourite Lockdown Takeaways (so far!)
- How to make Bao with Sriracha Fried Chicken
- Lunch at Olé Tapas Bar, Wolverton
DISCLAIMER: This meal was complimentary in return for an honest review on my blog. This does not affect my opinion. Click here for my full disclosure policy.
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