Sri Lanka Food

Rice and curry, boiled rice with curried vegetable, shaped with spices is the typical Sri Lankan food. It can be served as lunch and dinner or sometimes as breakfast as well. Sri Lankan curries are usually hot and spicy, but demands for softening its taste can be done to cater tourists' palates, especially the Westerners'.

Sri Lanka endows various regional foods of which many are influenced by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Malays, the Arabs, and the South Indians who have left their culinary characteristic. Sri Lankan rice and curry usually includes a variety of small curry dishes made of vegetable, meat, and fish. Chicken and fish is very popular meat used in curries, but beef and mutton are also available. In a meal, it must have an accompaniment such as parripu (red lentil dhal), mullung (ripped green leaves with spices, lightly stir- fried), and sambol (a mixture of grated coconut, chilly, and spice).

Other unique specialties of Sri Lanka include hoppers usually served for breakfast or snack. It is a kind of flat pancake with crispy edges and soft middle whereupon fried egg or sweetened scraped coconut is added to make them more delicious.

When it comes to desserts, Sri Lankan cuisine offers a wide variety of them to choose from. Kevum or oil cake spiced flour and treacle and cashew-nut fudge. Kiribath is a made of rice cooked in coconut milk, usually eaten with sambol; this kind of dessert is usually served on ceremonial occasions such as wedding. Wattalappam, a Malay-origin-dessert, is an egg pudding. Curd and honey known as kiri peni is also good; curd is yogurt from buffalo milk, very tasty.

Fruits are also abounding in Sri Lanka owing to its sub-tropical climate. Mangoes, papayas, bananas, jackfruits, durians, rambutans, mangosteens, to name just a few can be found everywhere in local markets according to seasons.

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Restaurants

Colombo's restaurant industry is starting to buzz. New restaurants are opening each month and the quality of food is improving all the time. Some of the cooking is innovative too, making clever use of Sri Lankan flavours within traditonal western classics. Adventure Lanka Tours has selected its favourite restaurants to help you plan your evenings. Whether you are hankering after a simple masala thosai for lunch or a romantic three-course dinner, we hope the following list will help you choose.

Palmyrah Restaurant
Hotel Renuka
Tel : 2573598

The Palmyrah, serves you traditional Sri Lankan gourmet with an emphasis on classic Jaffna fare. The Sri Lankan dining table is laden with an assortment of curries, sambols and pickles so if you want the complete dining experience, we recommend you try at least one of each. The more adventurous diners should dispense with cutlery and eat with the tips of their fingers, it’s the best complement to the flavours offered. Dinner should set you back Rs. 2500 without drinks.

Tao
Cinnamon Grand Hotel.
Tel: 2320001.

The fusion menu, which balances the classical techniques of the west with the vibrant flavours of the east, is imaginative and comprehensive. The food is consistently high standard and the prices surpringly reasonable. Expect to pay Rs.2500 per headfor a three-course dinner.

The Lagoon
Cinnamon Grand Hotel.
Tel: 2320001.

The Lagoon opened in 2004 and soon established a reputation for being the best seafood restaurant in the city. An exhaustive list of fresh shellfish and fish is available, all cooked in a variety of ways with a selection of sauces. The décor is smart, chic and modern. Outside dining is also possible overlooking the hotel pool. Highly recommended. Expect to pay Rs.2500 upwards for a three course meal without drinks.

Sakura
15, Reinland Place, Colombo 3.
Tel: 257 3877

Sakura is well-loved by Colombo, offering good Japanese food at very reasonable prices. Guests sit cross-legged on low tables. The service is speedy and friendly. The menu helps Japanese beginners order with simple photos of each dish. Expect to pay around Rs. 1000 per head.

The restaurant now has an additonal branch about 10 minutes outside Colombo city in Battramulla which is less crowded but offers the same standards in food and ambience.

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