On Tuesday I spotted a new restaurant in Middle Street, Cleveland when picking up my takeaway from the Little Indian Palace. I took this photo of Cloves Sri Lankan Restaurant and vowed to come back soon and sample the Sri Lankan Cuisine. I did some research and found their website which had a photo of a crab cooked in curry. Yumm. I rang up on Friday night and made a booking and my husband and I made our way to the restaurant on a brisk Autumn night.
The restaurant is small but cosy and we were seated quickly. The specials for the night were Crab curry ($18) and Goat curry ($18) and we decide they sound great. I'm a huge seafood fan, especially crab. Goat is something we don't eat very often but will order when it is on the menu.
I took some photos of the interiors whilst we wait for our meals. I love the painting on the far wall. My photo doesn't do it justice. A nice agricultural scene with golden lighting. Very pleasant.
The restaurant is full and the patrons chat happily. The smells coming from the kitchen are amazing. It is making us hungry and we are very happy when our meals arrive. First to reach our table is the crab in curry sauce with tomato and cucumber ($18)
The aroma is strong of Sri Lankan Curry and I am so excited to break into the sweet flesh of the crab that I tear off one of the legs before Phil's curry goat arrives. I put it back in place to take a photo of the two meals together, along with the red rice we ordered to go with it. I then break apart the legs and claws to discover the sweet meat and become very messy with curry sauce covering my fingers but so happy all the while. The curry adds to the clean seafood flavours and I really enjoyed the merging of flavours.
The goat curry is very dark and tastes amazing. It is very strong in flavour and goes well with the red rice. If I was at home I would accompany with some greek yoghurt or sour cream. The goat meat was very tender and tasty.
The red rice is supposed to be healthy and it was very nice. I would definitely order it again.
The restaurant isn't licensed so we ordered some teas. A lemon and ginger tea in the red teapot and a green tea in the black teapot. Both went well with our meals and cleansed the palate.
As I finish the tea I spy the Tiramisu desserts in the second dessert cabinet and decide that I just had to try one It has been a while since I have had Tiramisu and I wasn't disappointed.
The hard chocolate outer crumbled away to reveal the layers of sponge, coffee liqueur, and mascarpone. Delicious! Every bite is heavenly. A lovely end to the meal.
As I was waiting to pay for our meals I can't help but peruse the POD chocolate display cabinet.
Intense Caramilla
Cointreau - Dark Chocolate ganache infused with orange liqueur
Tiamo - Flavour of Wild Strawberries
Cappuccino
After a while I choose a Granny Smith chocolate with apple liqueur, and a Cappuccino chocolate, to take home.
Altogether the bill comes to $56 and I pay happily. We are very sated and make our way home after thanking the owner. I later tried half of the Granny Smith chocolate and couldn't really taste the apple liqueur but then again I only had half. The Cappuccino chocolate was very nice. I will definitely be back.
Cloves Sri Lankan Restaurant
Shop 7, 18-24 Middle St,
Cleveland, Brisbane QLD 4163
Phone: (07) 3488 2417
