Today I checked out Short Eats, the new pop-up inside Ten Tigers Parlour, which offers Sri Lankan roti, a flaky stuffed pastry sort of like empanadas and Compass Coffee. And they are pretty delicious.
The roti are designed to be eaten on the go, which is traditional in Sri Lanka: they come in a little paper sleeve so you can take them with you. They’re open 7am-10am Monday-Friday and offer pork sausage, ground turkey, and veggie, all with potatoes, poached eggs and spices, plus optional pol sambol, a spicy condiment. I got the sausage, it was nice: a crispy, brown pastry with a bit of kick and all the ingredients. I almost got a second but decided not to.
I spoke with owner Yohan Ferdinando, who organized it along with Jonathan Beyoghlow, who said that the sausage is their nod to American breakfasts while the veggie is the most traditional. Ferdinando was born in Sri Lanka but moved to the US as a kid. DCist writes that he’s using his family’s traditional recipes.
Along with the rotis, they have Compass coffee, cold brew Ceylon ginger tea, mango juice and water. The rotis are $5.50 or $7 with a drink. They have wifi too.
They’re also selling them at the Petworth Farmers Market, Saturdays from 9am-1pm.
Ferdinando said they’d see how business goes until the end of June, and might also keep serving at Ten Tigers.
