Sri Lanka is a haven for rice and curry enthusiasts, offering a nutrient-packed meal full of colours, vegetables, herbs, and more. While most hotel buffets and eateries across Colombo will offer this staple meal, we find Upali’s by Nawaloka a front-runner, celebrated for its homely recipes and simplicity and is an excellent ambassador for quality local rice and curry as well as most other local cuisine like hoppers, string hoppers, rotis, and kottu. The Palmyrah at Renuka City Hotel is a close counterpart with the addition of a Jaffna-twist and offers good quality service. Nuga Gama at the Cinnamon Grand, albeit at five-star prices, offers not just local cuisine but village fare in an ambiance that would transport you deep into rural Sri Lanka.
Lamprais is an interesting variant of the local rice and curry, found wrapped and freshly baked in little packs of banana leaves. Mainly a lunch offering, the delicious meal is famously credited to the local Dutch burger minority; thus naturally, we find it at its most flavourful at the Dutch Burger Union. A more convenient and easily accessible alternative visit The Fab, or Green Cabin, widely available café-type eateries that offer local savoury pastries and stuffed snacks that are referred to as short-eats.
The Tamil community adds the rich flavours of Jaffna and South India to local cuisine. The most popular form of it is across small restaurants and eateries that dot the streets, referred to by locals as Saiver Kade. We find ideal breakfast options and quality offerings in restaurants such as Shanmugas, Thali and Junior Kuppanna. The unique spice mixes and tastes of Jaffna are offered all day by The Palmyrah restaurant, the Odiyal Kool (a form of seafood stew) being a must-try. The Yaal Restaurant on Marine Drive, a modest no-frills eatery nevertheless packs a punch with its authentic Jaffna style seafood curries. An honourable mention, is the Coffee Colombo for it’s flavour bomb- Crab Pittu Kottu.
Sri Lankan Biriyani or Buriyani as it is named colloquially, hailing from Moorish and Malay influences, is hearty, spicy, meaty and could possibly make you want to skip meals for the rest of the day. Local eateries Kandoori and the Malay Restaurant offer excellent and authentic versions of the dish while Al Hambra, at Ramada Colombo, provides creature comforts for a more discerning traveller. Certianly not for the faint-hearted but for the bolder foodie is the Malay favourite – Pittu and Babath (a curry made of cattle or goat tripe), found at the Malay Restaurant or among the street food of Aluth Kade.
