Black Pork Curry With Roast Paan – The Exchange Pub & Restaurant
Black Pork Curry and Roast Paan – it's one of the best food combos you can come across. The Exchange Pub & Restaurant knows this, and they make a superb one at that, which is why it's one of our favourites. Boasting rich notes of pepper, tamarind and goraka, these pork pieces are cooked with a firm rind and has only a very few fatty bits. Plus, they make good use of tomato and rampe leaves in it, which enhances the flavour even more.
Smoked Pork – Smokestacks by Licensed to Grill
Smokestacks by Licensed to Grill is a specialist in smoked meat. So obviously, this is where you find the best-smoked pork in Colombo. Smoked for hours using cinnamon and jack woods, then rubbed with salt and pepper, the pork here has layers and layers of pink shades spreading through it. This pink colour grows brighter as it reaches to the outer layer, while leaving lighter shades in the middle. Make good use of the nai miris sauce they offer on the side, it's the bomb!
BBQ Pork Chops – M'eat US
Firm on the outside, juicy from the inside, M'eat US's BBQ Pork Chops are a treat indeed. The slathering of BBQ sauce on the meat gives a wonderful tangy kick, these pork chops are tender, easily cut through, and has a smokey, mesquite type of flavour which gets even better with the charred bits.
Sweet & Sour Pork – Ming Han
Known for the cheap, yet delicious Chinese food, waiter Wijepala and the hole-in-the-wall kinda interior, Min Han is THE place you should go for a good plate of Sweet & Sour Pork. It's a colourful assortment of crispy pork, vegetables and cubes of pineapple, soaked in a sauce, which is every bit as sweet and sour as promised.
Jack Daniels Ribs – TGI Friday's
Presenting a beautiful sticky glaze, the Jack Daniels Ribs at TGI Friday's is a sweet and smokey delight. With lots of meat, sauce, and flavour, it's definitely one of the best racks of pork we've had in Colombo. You might want to keep an eye on the consistency of its quality though.
Crispy Pork Knuckle – Bavarian German Restaurant
Bavarian has been the holy grail of German food in Colombo, and we love, love, LOVE their Crispy Pork Knuckle. So much so, we wrote a YAMU Loves feature about it. With a crispy crackling, and tender meat and fat rendered perfectly to the point where it just melts in your mouth, this is brilliant! It comes with the sides of parsley potatoes, salad, sauerkraut and a brilliant gravy which improves its flavour to a whole another level.
Kalupol Pork Curry – 1979
1979 in Boralesgamuwa is where we found this delicacy – the Kalupol Pork Curry. With a thick gravy infused with a delicious blend of roast coconut scrapes, and a number of spices (cumin seeds, dried chillis, and mustard seeds etc.) this one goes very well as a tapa too.
Crispy Hoisin BBQ Ribs – Monsoon
Perfectly cooked meat, smothered in a thick, and sweet sauce, the Crispy Hoisin BBQ Ribs at Monsoon is a pleasure to indulge in. Ribs are generally hard to eat in polite company, but the meat here flakes easily off the bone, so it's not much of a hassle.
Sweet and Sour Crispy Pork – Golden Palace (Hotel Sapphire)
This is another excellent Sweet & Sour Pork dish we discovered over the years. The Golden Palace at Hotel Sapphire in Dehiwala cooks this deliciously tangy treat with crispy pork, and large pieces of pineapple, and vegetables.
Pork Curry – Kaala Balan – Maha Gedara
Apologies for the horrific picture, but the blob of something black in the top corner of this buth wattiya is Kaala Balan's magnificent pork curry. Oozing with distinct hints of pepper, tamarind and goraka, it drives towards the black pork curry aspects of things, but not exactly that. So even if you're not the biggest fan of black pork curry (umm, what's wrong with you?), this one should work fine for you.
So, what's your favourite pork dish in Colombo? Please do let us know in the comments.