{"id":113732,"date":"2021-04-21T16:07:33","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T23:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=113732"},"modified":"2021-04-21T16:07:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T23:07:33","slug":"why-melbourne-is-called-little-ceylon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/04\/21\/why-melbourne-is-called-little-ceylon\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Melbourne is called, \u201cLittle Ceylon\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>By Dr harold Gunatillake-FRCS,FICS,FIACS,AM(Sing),MB,BS (Cey) \u2013Health editor<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p> Hoppers described as the love-child of a crepe &amp; crumpet. It has  become a very popular  street food in Sri Lanka,  in big towns and rural  areas. It is now  considered as a special  \u2018super staple food\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hoppers at the Sri Lankan Street Food in Glebe, Sydney, Australia\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wCmOKth4YEE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hoppers at the Sri Lankan Street Food in Glebe, Sydney, Australia\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wCmOKth4YEE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When Australia opened doors for Southern Asians in the late fifties and early sixties, it was  a great opportunity for most Sri Lankans to migrate to Australia, those who disliked  SWRD\u2019s Sinhala only within 24 hour policy\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This gave a great impetus specially for  the burgher community then, contributing to the good of the country, excelling on  sports, athletics, trade, law enforcement, and so on, to leave her shores for greener  pastures in Australia, and the loss this enterprising community is felt, even today in  that developing country.  Melbourne was the place preferred by many Migrants at the time, whilst a few  professionals and others settled down in Sydney. Today, if you walk along the streets  of Springvale in the city of Dandenong, Glen Waverley, Noble Park, Broadmeadows,  no matter which way you turn, you are bound to bump-into\u201d a Sri Lankan with a  warm smile and a greeting of, Hello Machang, how are you?\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Sri Lankan food industry in Melbourne is flourishing like no other; both Sydney  and Brisbane run a poor second. In Sydney, to enjoy treats like hoppers you need to  travel many miles, there is one place called the \u2018Blue  Elephant\u201d in Pennant Hills, where you need to give  them prior notice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a few food caterers for  home parties making hoppers on a circular device  where at least ten hoppers could be cooked in one go.  There is one lady by the name of Kumarika\u201d fairly  famous, catering hoppers cooked on the spot for home  parties, in Sydney.  Ask Dallas Achilles a talented musician, settled down in  Melbourne for many decades, about Sri Lankan  Courtesy: Walawwarestaurants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He would say, Those living in close proximity to Clayton are blessed  with an abundance of restaurants specialising in Sri Lankan Cuisine.\u201d His favourite  spots are Walawwa Restaurant, Caf\u00e9 Ceylon, Kites, Merqury Inn, Fab and Cake Point,  La Festiva under new management serving a variety of Sri Lankan and International  Cuisine, Merqury Inn may have got their spelling wrong: It should read Mercury\u201d.  Sri Lankans love Pizzas just like the way they love hoppers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Visit La Festiva in Springvale, they serve the best special Sri  Lankan flavoured Gourmet Pizza, and for their dishes like  Ambul Thiyal, Chicken devilled, Curry chicken and potatoes  and Lamb Korma.  Then there is the Corlam Kitchen in Glen Waverley for  lunch. They serve a special Awadhi Dum biriyani, also  called Pukka\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breath in the aroma of this princely  mutton biryani, cooked the royal Awadhi style, a perfect delicious meal for your lunch or dinner feast with your  family and friends.  This spot\u201d is available for birthday parties, celebrations,  Graduations, weddings and Anniversaries, etc. The Chef\u2019s  special at Corlam kitchen is Chilli Crabs\u201d only a few other restaurants, if any, serve this  spicy dish.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Dallas would recommend \u2018The Fab Curry &amp; Pizza in Centre Road in Bentleigh for hoppers  and pizzas. This is a rather little shop\u201d at the far end of Bentleigh\u2019s Centre Road, and  primarily a take away\u201d Business. It is fairly rare to see a combination- Sri Lankan  Shop\/Restaurant which serves both Hoppers\u201d and also a Combination Curry Pizza\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you visit this little place, you are always welcomed by a friendly Sri Lankan lady  while being overpowered, at the same time with the enticing aroma of exotic spices. Dallas says that they serve 5 hoppers, an egg hopper and a bowl of chicken, beef or fish  curry with sambol for $9. There are very good reviews on this Fab Curry &amp; Pizza joint, and a  worthwhile spot for a delightful tasty cuisine experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Awadhi Dum BiriyaniCaf\u00e9 Ceylon in Centre Road, Clarinda is another  eatery. On their Menu\u201d they feature Roti,  Parata, Pittu with curry, wafer and Masala  Thosai with fish, beef, chicken and vegetable  curries. Vegans would love to patronise this joint. The nearby restaurants are- Champion in Clayton, Clayton Fish, Merqury Inn, Clayton and  Kites in Clayton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Walawwa\u201d- \u2018The Bungalow\u2019 at Sandown  Regency, Noble Park This is a favourite Eatery\u201d, says Dallas. The best  street foods of Sri Lanka are served here, at best  prices in Melbourne for $ 25, and you could enjoy  all you can eat. They have a dinner buffet with live  music and entertainment. They have Set Meals\u201d  too, beginning with Starters\u201d and snacks, soups,  Main dishes like savoury rice, curry pasta with  small pieces of roti stir fried with spicy vegetables  and cheese, Chicken seafood and deserts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They recently organised a Baila Masala Boogie Night with live music on one Saturday There are many other restaurants owned and run by Sri Lankans in Melbourne. Ask Dallas\u0002he will direct you. Dallas mentions a good Hopper Eatery next door to Curry &amp; Chips\u201d It is called Yamu\u201d  owned by Upali. There are many other Eateries\u201d by Sri Lankan chefs other areas of Melbourne and outskirts,  not visited to write about. Sydney as was mentioned earlier, boasts just a few Sri Lankan eateries and not within close  proximity of each other, although they DO have more Chinese Restaurants than Melbourne. Is it any wonder then, that Melbourne has been nicknamed\u201d Little Ceylon\u201d? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What about Sydney Sri Lankan restaurants? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sydney is also flourishing with Sri Lankan spicy food restaurants, focused to certain suburbs,  such as Toongabbie, Seven Hills, Blacktown, Parramatta, where most of the recent Sri  Lankan migrants live. Sri Lankans from all over Sydney make that long drive to these treat outlets, during  weekends for a hearty spicy meal, to bring back memories of the foods cooked by their  mothers and archies, at home.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dr harold Gunatillake-FRCS,FICS,FIACS,AM(Sing),MB,BS (Cey) \u2013Health editor Hoppers described as the love-child of a crepe &amp; crumpet. It has become a very popular street food in Sri Lanka, in big towns and rural areas. It is now considered as a special \u2018super staple food\u2019 When Australia opened doors for Southern Asians in the late fifties [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113732\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}