Colombo’s authentic Turkish restaurant, ANKARA informs the general public that it has filed suit against Indi Samarajiva (Director/Founder of Yamu.lk), a food blog and content based company in Colombo. The suit for 150 million rupees is for defamation of character in an article written regarding the restaurant on the Yamu.lk website. The complaint was filed at the Bambalapitiya Police station under complaint number CIB – 1 – 194/32.
Chief Executive Officer of ANKARA Ramzi Ali commenting on this occurrence noted, “Yamu.lk has used a writer named Halik to run down the restaurant calling it’s an “up market brothel in reference to its unique interior designs. The work was done by a gifted artist and has been appreciated by our frequent clientele. We were extremely surprised when our investors in the UAE came across the blog post during a web presence assessment, and were highly taken aback by the unprofessional reference in the article”.
Mr.Ali just returned from Istanbul and Tehran, where he was gathering knowledge and ingredients to introduce a new range of authentic dishes to ANKARA’s menu. The restaurant also has plans to expand to Kandy and Galle while also setting up mobile units at high-end malls in Sri Lanka. A further plan to take the franchise to Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan through a one million US dollar investment is also on the cards.
“Such unprofessional reviews by those with no qualifications in food reviewing are extremely detrimental to businesses. I would like to personally therefore call on restaurant owners who have suffered the same fate at the hands of such errant establishments to come together and ensure that the reputation of Sri Lanka’s hospitality industry itself is not tarnished by incompetent websites with no culinary experience in the likes of Gordon Ramsay or Frank Bruni. ANKARA is patronized by the cream of Colombo and our food has been highly commended as has our service and ambiance. I am extremely surprised at what ticked off Mr.Halik in to writing such nonsense”, Ramzi Ali added.