Munch

Beyond Bites

What: Sri-Lankan street food

Price: $14.50–$15.50

When: 9:00a.m.–5:00p.m., Monday-Saturday

Tuck yourself away in here for an easy and comforting plate. 

⭐⭐⭐

Capital Market on Willis Street has (I desperately hope) seen better days. I wouldn’t know, I’ve only ever walked past it. So have most people, which is part of the problem. The tightly shut windows of the stalls that back onto the street near Capital Hall don’t seem inviting. However, push through the heavy plastic flap-curtains next to Punjabi Cafe and you’ll find a very tidy little foodcourt. 

A three-year-old Reddit post suggests this place is being run into the ground by its management, which isn’t hard to believe. Only half the stalls were operating and it’s an overwhelmingly pigeon-and-concrete space, like a parking garage in a cheap disguise. But there’s an air of steadfast dignity inside. The shared dining space–-formica tables and plastic chairs in bright, commercial colours—was actively kept clean and neat; the open stalls were all filled with approachable people bent over steaming stovetops. There were only a handful of families and travellers in on this Sunday evening, but a steady trickle of custom flowed in and out off the street. 

Beyond Bites is in the corner of the stalls still open, to the right when you walk in. The two staff there were all smiles and even said they’d bring my meal out to me at the table. Sucks that they can offer this—that there’s little enough foot traffic that everyone gets this time and care, instead of a buzzing fidget spinner to take their table. 

Bites offers a range of Sri Lankan dishes: roti wraps, kottu, and fried rice, as well as three inexplicable pasta options. Aiming for a literally-middle-of-the-menu option, I ordered a small Chicken Kottu, to go for something I’d never had or heard of before. Described as ‘classic Sri Lankan street food’, the kottu was a mix of stir-fried roti pieces with vegetables, egg, and spices with meat or tofu. The Small portion would (allegedly) feed one person, and set me back $15.50. This turned out to be less value than I hoped it would be. 

I want to start by saying that the food, albeit small, was great. Incredibly tender chicken in a soft, savoury mix of onions, carrot, egg, and chewy roti pieces soaked in curry gravy. It was similar to a mie goreng, but with bigger, fluffier flat bread noodles. There wasn’t much complexity to the flavours of the spices but it was warm and a little oily, comforting despite the dreary surroundings. Having smiled with the chef herself behind the counter and found some very roughly chopped spring onions throughout, this easy-to-shovel-down meal felt almost like a home-cooked plate—something my grandma might put in front of me that I wouldn’t doubt for a second was delicious. 

I’m sure Sri-Lankans don’t mess about with spice, so I opted for my kottu ‘medium-spicy’. This was just enough to make me pause–strategically–as I ate, and go ‘hoo’ like an asthmatic owl every so often. It was the kind of spicy that I’d enjoy with a cool drink; if I wanted a quick bite to fuel me, I’d ask for ‘mild’ next time. However, a drink here is not a bank-breaking addition: they have soft drink cans for $2.50 and bottles for a dollar more. For around $5, you could get a ceylon tea or a virgin mojito. 

In fact, a lot of their menu was quite cheap; only four items were pushing $20. That said, a ‘Small’ is not a filling single-person’s serving, using only my single self as a frame of reference. For a substantial meal next time, I’d pick a mild Vege Kottu, which I could bump up to Regular size and still only pay $14.50 for. 

It’s a peculiar place, Capital Market, where you can be looked in the eye by someone’s mother wielding a hot wok, while also sitting in anonymity, out of the wind and rain and away from the traffic of the street. It’s a bit grubby, but it does what it needs to do with tenacity. And of course, it struck me as a trove of quality cheap feeds. Duck a head inside and see what you find; I’m definitely coming back here.