Dining In: Tucked away in a Barrhaven strip mall, Ayini brings the South Asian heat

Ayini
605 Longfields Dr. Unit 5, 613-823-8860, ayini.ca
Open: Monday to Thursday 4 to 9 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m, Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Prices: most dishes between $7.99 and $15.99
Note: Dine-in by reservation only

Since the pandemic began, I’ve visited very few restaurants in Barrhaven. But the ones I did try made me wonder if the southwestern suburb, despite its glut of franchise eateries and fast-food joints, has become a bit more diverse and spice-positive.

In the summer of 2021, I popped by Khokha Eatery, and was won over by its potently flavoured Pakistani fare. More than a year later, I tried and liked the superbly seasoned and solidly smoked meats from Moyo Grill, a no-frills West African eatery.

This year, I’ve picked up dishes from Ayini, a South Asian restaurant in the same Longfields Drive strip mall that includes Khokha Eatery. While the menu at Ayini is lengthy, we homed in a few of its snack offerings and specialities of Sri Lanka. By the way, that island nation south of India last weekend marked the 75th anniversary of its independence from British rule.

If you’ve been following Ottawa’s restaurant scene long enough, you’ll know that for decades, the distinctively spiced joys of Sri Lankan food were exclusive to Ceylonta in Centretown. That humble but enduring restaurant opened in the mid-1990s and went on to spawn locations on Carling Avenue (now closed) and Dalhousie Street (the takeout nook Kothu Rotti).

While I’ve never reviewed any of the Ceylonta businesses during my decade doing this gig, I did eat now and again at the Carling location, loving the heady flavours, and especially the chicken curry, from its luncheon buffet. I’m very glad that in recent years, several Ottawa eateries serving Sri Lankan fare have followed in Ceylonta’s footsteps. I’m thinking of Karuna Cafe, which opened in Chinatown in 2016, the slightly fancier and more curated Dhruvees, which opened a year ago in New Edinburgh, and Ayini, which opened in 2021.

At Ayini, my must-order is a massively portioned container of “string hoppers,” which are steamed, chopped and fried rice noodles of remarkable thinness. For me, there’s a never-gets-old appeal to their delicate, comforting texture, resolute spiciness and tidbits of chicken and just-cooked onions, all perfumed by a liberal scattering of curry leaves, which add a beguiling, complex flavour that has nothing to do with curry.

A heartier treat is a helping of kothu rotti, which repurposes bits of flatbread in a stir-fried mish-mash. I went for a butter chicken kothu rotti, which gave that North Indian favourite a brusque Sri Lankan bulking-up, making for a spicier, starchier, heftier dish.

More unadulterated with the chicken biryani from Ayini, which shrouded its bone-in chicken pieces under compellingly spiced rice. There are fancier chicken biryanis in town, but Ayini’s rice dish did do the trick.

By the way, I’ve ordered my dishes medium-spicy or occasionally very spicy from Ayini, which has not shirked when it came to providing South Asian heat. While the dishes may well be fine if ordered mild, I thought the point was to transport myself with some spicy thrills, even if it involved a bit of masochism.

I’ve ordered three curries here. Chicken curry was an earthy, warming winner, although I recall, perhaps nostalgically so, that its equivalent from the steam tables of Ceylonta and Kothu Rotti was even better. Because Ayini was out of lamb curry, I opted for mutton curry and didn’t feel let down. Eggplant curry, however, did less for us. Perhaps the flavour synergies weren’t there. Or, I could just have been missing meat.

Had I wanted to sample more curry preparations, I could have had one of Ayini’s seven thali platters, which would have included tastes of multiple dishes. I would have been keener to go that route had I eaten in Ayini’s modest dining room.

On its menu, Ayini also has about a dozen or so dosas, the south Indian savoury pancakes that usually get a big thumbs-up from me.  Based on the masala dosa I took home, Ayini’s dosas warrant further tries. While its curried potato filling was intact and tasty, my crepe’s texture likely suffered from too much time in the car. A better dosa would surely have been had on site.

From Ayini’s range of snacks, I ordered mutton rolls, bonda (deep-fried South Indian potato balls) and chicken samosas. All were ruggedly deep-fried items that engaged us with fillings that were spicier than anticipated. I wanted to try a seeni sambol bun filled with caramelized onions, but Ayini had run out.

Given how far one’s dollars go these days, it’s harder for me to be exhaustive in my sampling. Still, enough of what I tried from Ayini made me think that it’s a veritable spice haven worth returning to.

phum@postmedia.com

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