Tonight’s dinner was at Copra, a new Sri Lankan restaurant where Dosa used to be. We were very saddened when Dosa closed and haven’t found any decent Indian restaurants (Bibi Ji in Santa Barbara was very good, but not great). For us, it’s often about the quality of the spices and of course the preparation, etc. The space was very nice and we were seated in the upper seating area which gave us a catbird’s view of the lower dining area and bar.

We were literally the first table seated and were told that we only had 90 minutes to dine because of the reservation behind us. However, the initial service (drink orders for the first round and then for food in the second round) was a bit slow and we didn’t have our first dishes until about 35 minutes after bring seated. It appeared as though there was only one server for the upper serving area, a person in training who was shadowing him, and then several others.

Cocktails all looked interesting and I started with the Clarified Lassi Punch and Andrea had the Lemon Chili which was easily the spiciest cocktail we ever had…a bit too much for the first sip, but as the ice melted, it was more pleasant.

The menu is broken out in 3 sections, Kadi (small bites), Little plates, and then Large entree plates. For Kadi, we started with half a dozen oysters, seasoned with chili, tamarind, and soy. These were more about the seasoning and personally I prefer a very simply oyster presentation (even with nothing) if the oysters are very fresh, so this was more about the seasoning, which I did find quite tasty.

For our Little plates, we went with the Shrimp Vennau Roast and the Slow-cooked Octupus, both of which were recommended by our server. The shrimp was good and the octopus was excellent. Both had very tasty seasoning.

For our Large entree plates, we went with the Koncan Crab Curry and the Lamb Shoulder Chettinad. The lamb was very good thanks to the seasoning/sauce and came with a dosa which was handy for mopping up the tasty sauce. The crab curry had an even better sauce/curry, but has to be the messiest dish we’ve ever eaten (even compared to chili crab in Singapore)…this is not a first date kind of dish, but it was really tasty. The crab curry also came with an egg appam, which was also helpful to pick up some of the curry. Given how messy this dish is, the wet hand towels they provided were de rigeur.

We were already coming up on our 90 minutes, but there was no pressure to kick us out, so when our server asked about dessert, of course we obliged. We went with a coconut iced dish which was very good (and for me, the coconut has to be very fresh) as well as a pineapple cake type dish which was fantastic. Most desserts are a bit of an afterthought to the meal, but these were both fantastic and some of the best desserts we’ve had with any meal.

All in all, it was a great experience, great flavors and dishes and drinks and there were so many more we wanted to try. So, we’ll definitely be back!