The word ‘apprehension’ was probably written all over my face in big bold letters as I was being led to the edge of a precarious cliff. “Are you good?” my escort, the restaurant’s maître d’hôtel, holding a lit paper lantern, asked me for the second time in five minutes. But, I had good reason to be spooked as such.
There I was, walking into an almost pitch-black Sri Lankan evening in Weligama at the southern end of the country. An evening I had very little idea about. All I was told was that this was going to be a dinner I “wouldn’t be forgetting in a while”. And yes, “come with an appetite”. The fact that I had watched the ‘restaurant slasher’ (hello, new genre!) movie The Menu on my flight in to Sri Lanka the previous night, only exacerbated my anxiety.
But the minute I stepped into Tableau, all my fears were allayed. I felt the warmth and beauty of the space envelope me. With the generous smile of chef Gunendra Pushpasiri, banishing all thoughts of Ralph Fiennes’s murderous chef Julian Slowik to oblivion.
Located in a standalone wooden and glass gazebo-meets-cottage like structure at the edge of the aforementioned cliff face, this 12-seater chef’s table is the Resplendent Ceylon’s Cape Weligama resort’s signature fine dining experience. Perfectly in sync with the Relais and Châteaux philosophy of luxury as a member property. Affording breath-taking views of the twinkling Indian Ocean down below from its many glass windows, Tableau charms you even before you’ve had a chance to taste a morsel of the food it has on offer.
Conceptualised as a seven-course dinner menu (£114, per person) that’s prepared live by chef Pushpasiri and his team, Tableau has two sittings per evening. One at 7pm and another (based on demand) at 9pm. Curated daily, the changing dinner menus are said to emphasise the freshness of seasonal produce and balancing natural flavours, while taking diners on a journey of sensory discovery.
My personal journey of discovery started with the delicate amuse bouche that consisted of a curried crab bon bon in a mango and passion fruit sauce. All this, topped with flaked coconut and Beluga caviar. Indulgent and insanely delicious!
Paying homage to Sri Lanka’s Portuguese colonial legacy was the rather unusual and addictively moreish, freshly baked duo of Portuguese-style pao buns with chopped curry leaves baked into them. Served with a tangy ambarella (hog plum) dip, they were the perfect way to begin a meal that championed Sri Lankan ingredients, within the construct of a more Western style of technique and presentation.
Generally used to marinate tuna, the black ambulthiyal spice paste was seen jazzing up a tender morsel of chicken breast, this time. This was served with pureed cauliflower, flaked almonds, a goraka (garcinia cambogia) leaf garnish and a side of pol (fresh coconut) sambol. The last one being the King of all sambols, which are spicy, semi dry condiments – similar to Indian chutneys – that can be found all over Sri Lanka.
For my soup course, placed before me was a bowl holding forth a delicate, Cantonese style lobster dumpling atop which a mild tasting saffron-infused fish broth was poured. But the minute it met the fiery lunumiris (an onion and chilli sambol), it was transformed into a punchy, but still elegant dish.
At the Tableau experience, drinking of cocktails are discouraged to keep the palate neutral for the food extravaganza. Though, a glass or two of bubbly prosecco is permitted, to aid digestion. I was told to expect a cocktail surprise for later, and so I moved onto the next course.
This one turned out to be my favourite of the seven. A goat curry stew, served atop a bed of heirloom Sri Lankan suwandel rice, a daub of kirihodi spiced coconut sauce with a purée of seeni sambol (a sweetish onion condiment), was almost my undoing, as I was tempted to ask for more. I didn’t, luckily, as the meat course was a generous slab of sliced, perfectly medium-rare beef fillet accompanied by a white bean stew, truffle mashed potatoes and drizzled with a lemongrass jus. The latter allegedly having foie gras in it, that I couldn’t taste, unfortunately.
My dessert was to be an ‘off site’ event, I was told. And so, off I was to the adjacent Surf Bar where the most beautifully presented dessert was awaiting me. Fashioned to resemble a tiny coconut half, the coconut mousse in a chocolate cup was served with bibikkan, a Portuguese-Lankan steamed cake and a cinnamon-pineapple compote.
I ended my evening of intrigue with the mysteriously named ‘Santa Claus’ layered digestif cocktail. This one was the sum of a local Sri Lankan coconut liquor called arrack, coffee, Kahlua and coconut milk layers. And it was as delicious, dark and memorable as my evening at Tableau had been!
Factbox
Address: Tableau at Cape Weligama, Abimanagama Road, Weligama, Sri Lanka
Phone: +94-41-2253000
Website: relaischateaux.com
