MY first act at Rambutan was to witness the restaurant equivalent of a brutal left-swiping on Tinder. Two female friends strode up towards this brand-new spot in Borough Market, cooed excitedly at its mango yellow frontage, approached to peer at the menu of appealing, mid-priced contemporary Sri Lankan dishes in its window, and then, um, abruptly hurried off in the opposite direction.
As an image, it stuck with me because of its unexpectedness (let us be generous and presume that they both had acute, rare allergies to affordably-priced mutton rolls and pandan-scented dal) and also because it emphasised the snap judgments that will seal the fate of many hospitality businesses in the coming months.
