Tushara Swaminathan, co-founder and owner of Sri Lankan restaurant, Thambapanni in Dubai, is not new to the industry. She co-founded award-winning Sri Lankan restaurant, Thushanis with friend and co-owner, Ruwani back in 2015. Expanding on that knowledge, Swaminathan founded Thambapanni Restaurant in Lulu Hypermarket in Al Barsha food court along with her husband. She branched out to Al Nahda but for logistical reasons decided to sell it off.
Yet another friend of hers, Neomi Jesudasan who showed interest in the Al Nahda franchise then bought and started running the restaurant in Sharjah. A passionate young lady and budding entrepreneur, Jesudasan wished to retain the name Thambapanni as a franchise. Belonging to a large family of food lovers she was a natural at picking up the ups and downs of the food business. As a standalone restaurant with full dine-in facilities they have introduced the weekend buffet, which is quite popular.
Legend has it that Thambapanni was the name given to Sri Lanka by Vijaya, a prince banished from his original kingdom in north India. Vijaya is said to have married a queen native to the land before capturing the island and proclaiming himself king.
Today, Thambapanni the restaurant pays homage to Sri Lankan history through its food, serving authentic Sri Lankan cuisine at an affordable price.
Sri Lankan food is becoming popular globally now due to a burgeoning tourism industry and the migrants who now call it home. Swaminathan says there are customers who come and ask for specific items that they tasted during their holidays and even though some are not in the menu they always ensure to satisfy the customer’s needs.
She also emphasised on the different regions and ethnicities along with the traders who visited the island for centuries, as well as how colonisation by the Portuguese, Dutch and British enhanced Sri Lanka’s culinary flavours. In keeping with the times, Thambapanni has also developed an app to serve customers better and that is in operation from today.
Both Swaminathan and Jesudasan are confident that Sri Lankan cuisine will gain in popularity in the near future.
