Premier choice
Dumplings Café
A Galle Fort café pairing dumplings with house-roasted coffee, known for cold brew and V60 pour-overs.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Cold brew
- Pour-over
- V60
Avartana
Progressive South Indian tasting menus with Sri Lankan touches at ITC Ratnadipa, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in Colombo.
- Luxury
- Restaurant
- Fine dining
- Tasting menu
- South Indian
Capital Bar & Grill
Shangri-La Colombo’s steakhouse, with premium meats and seafood, a show kitchen and an ocean-view terrace.
- Luxury
- Restaurant
- Fine dining
- Steak
- Seafood
Coffee Brunch Galle Fort
An upstairs café inside Galle Fort serving locally grown specialty espresso and a creative brunch menu.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Specialty coffee
- Sri Lankan coffee
- Brunch
The Gallery Café
A stylish restaurant and gallery in Geoffrey Bawa’s former office, known for elegant Sri Lankan and international dishes and famous desserts.
- Upscale
- Restaurant
- Black pork curry
- Prawn curry
- Desserts
Hotel de Pilawoos
Colombo’s legendary late-night kottu spot on Galle Road, famous for its cheese kottu.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Kottu
- Cheese kottu
- Late night
Grind
A popular brunch and specialty coffee spot at Access Towers, with a strong vegan menu.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Matcha latte
- Mango matcha
- Lychee matcha
t-Lounge by Dilmah
Dilmah’s tea lounge in Fort, with a huge selection of single-origin Ceylon teas, tea cocktails and light bites.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Ceylon tea
- Single-origin tea
- Tea mocktails
Department of Coffee
A calm coffee shop on Colombo Street with an extensive coffee menu and a glass wall looking out over the street.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Pour-over
- Cold brew
- Single origin
The Empire Café
A café in a restored colonial building next to the Temple of the Tooth, serving rice and curry, sandwiches, juices and good coffee.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Rice and curry
- Fresh juices
- Coffee
Devon Restaurant
A two-storey Kandy classic on Dalada Veediya, serving Sri Lankan and Chinese dishes, bakery treats and milk tea since 1960.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Rice and curry
- Bakery
- Milk tea
Café Kumbuk
A relaxed, garden-style café off Independence Avenue known for healthy brunch, local produce and plenty of vegan and gluten-free options.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Flat white
- Sri Lankan coffee
- Brunch
Café Divine Street
A café in a colonial-era bungalow on Colombo Street, known for smoothie bowls and its Divine Burger.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Smoothie bowls
- Brunch
- Burgers
Vito Wood Fired Pizza
Wood-fired pizza with views over Kandy Lake, one of the city’s best-loved spots for a casual dinner.
- Mid-range
- Restaurant
- Wood-fired pizza
- Lake views
Natural Coffee
One of Kandy’s first proper coffee shops, near the Temple of the Tooth, serving Sri Lankan fair-trade coffee, waffles and ice cream.
- Budget
- Café
- Sri Lankan coffee
- Fair-trade coffee
- Espresso
Peppermint Café
A 24-hour, pet-friendly café in Colombo 7, popular with locals for sandwiches, pasta and fish and chips.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Open 24 hours
- Pet-friendly
- Fish and chips
Seed
A bright brunch café on Horton Place with healthy and vegan options and indoor and garden seating.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Specialty coffee
- Single origin
- Healthy brunch
Galle Face Green Street Food
The stalls along Galle Face Green come alive at sunset, serving isso vadai, kottu, devilled seafood and snacks by the ocean.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Isso vadai
- Kottu
- Devilled cuttlefish
Upali’s by Nawaloka
A popular, good-value Sri Lankan restaurant in Colombo 7 for curries, hoppers, kottu and rice and curry.
- Mid-range
- Restaurant
- Rice and curry
- Hoppers
- Kottu
The London Grill
Colombo’s classic fine-dining room at Cinnamon Grand, known for European cooking, cloche service and a big wine list.
- Luxury
- Restaurant
- Fine dining
- Steak
- Wine
Peshawri
ITC’s famous North-West Frontier restaurant, known for tandoor kebabs and slow-cooked dal, now at ITC Ratnadipa in Colombo.
- Luxury
- Restaurant
- Fine dining
- Kebabs
- Dal
KIKU Colombo
A Japanese-inspired café and restaurant on Layards Road, known for matcha lattes, specialty coffee and fresh seafood.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Matcha latte
- Lavender matcha
- Matchagato
Curry Leaf
Hilton Colombo’s Sri Lankan restaurant, with a dinner buffet of string hoppers, pittu, kottu and fresh seafood in a garden setting.
- Upscale
- Restaurant
- Buffet
- Hoppers
- Kottu
Raja Bojun
A big Sri Lankan buffet restaurant in Colombo 3, with dozens of curries, seafood and traditional dishes at a fixed price.
- Mid-range
- Restaurant
- Buffet
- Rice and curry
- Seafood
Barefoot Garden Café
A leafy courtyard café at the Barefoot store, with relaxed brunches, Sunday jazz and a bookshop and gallery next door.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Brunch
- Garden seating
- Live music
Isle of Gelato, Ella
A gelato and specialty coffee bar on Ella’s main street, with flat whites made from a Sri Lankan single origin.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Flat white
- Single origin
- Sri Lankan coffee
Nuga Gama
A traditional Sri Lankan village-style restaurant under a banyan tree at Cinnamon Grand, serving a big spread of local dishes.
- Upscale
- Restaurant
- Rice and curry
- Hoppers
- String hoppers
Cloe Café
A neighbourhood café in Nawala, known for its matcha latte sweetened with honey.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Matcha latte
- Honey matcha
- Coffee
Table One
Shangri-La Colombo’s all-day restaurant, with market-style buffet stations spanning Sri Lankan, Asian and Western food and views over the ocean.
- Upscale
- Restaurant
- Buffet
- Brunch
- Hoppers
The Soya Centre
A long-running vegetarian spot in central Kandy, serving soya-based street food, buns, roti rolls and soy soft-serve.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Vegetarian
- Soy ice cream
- Short eats
Slightly Chilled Lounge
A relaxed hillside lounge and restaurant with views over the lake and temple, serving Chinese and Western dishes and cocktails.
- Mid-range
- Restaurant
- Cocktails
- Lake views
- Chinese
Café Koi
A small café a short walk from the Temple of the Tooth and Kandy Lake, known for homemade cakes and good coffee.
- Budget
- Café
- Homemade cakes
- Coffee
Café Secret Alley
A hidden café at the end of an alley near Kandy City Centre, serving smoothie bowls, healthy lunches and its signature iced latte.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Cortado
- Sri Lankan coffee
- Iced latte
Siri Ramya
A busy, no-frills Kandy eatery and bakery for rice and curry, kottu, vadai and short eats at local prices.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Rice and curry
- Kottu
- Vadai
Butter Boutique
A Colombo cake café best known for its tres leches, plus cinnamon rolls, brownies and good coffee.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Matcha latte
- Hojicha
- Flavoured matcha
Balaji Dosai
A busy, no-frills South Indian vegetarian spot in central Kandy, famous for its crisp dosas and vadai at very low prices.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Dosa
- Masala dosa
- Vadai
The Cauldron
A vegan café blending Sri Lankan flavours with plant-based cooking, popular for creative bowls and comfort food.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Vegan
- Plant-based
- Smoothies
Black Cat Café
A pet-friendly café in a restored 1920s mansion in Colombo 7, known for homemade ginger beer and all-day brunch.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Ginger beer
- All-day brunch
- Pet-friendly
The Commons Coffeehouse
A laid-back coffeehouse on Flower Road with a menu ranging from American breakfasts to kottu.
- Mid-range
- Café
- All-day breakfast
- Kottu
- Milkshakes
Milk & Honey Café
A mostly vegetarian café on Horton Place with an all-day breakfast menu and healthy options.
- Mid-range
- Café
- All-day breakfast
- Vegetarian
- Healthy bowls
Coco Veranda
A popular Colombo 7 café using Italian beans, with a long food and drinks menu.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Italian espresso
- Iced drinks
- Milkshakes
Tea Avenue Jawatte
An old-world tea house with a long menu of Ceylon teas, light meals and a relaxed setting for work or catching up.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Ceylon tea
- Iced tea
- Laptop-friendly
Kandy Muslim Hotel
A no-frills halal eatery in central Kandy for kottu, naan, curries and samosas, popular with locals at all hours.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Kottu
- Naan
- Biryani
Hela Bojun Hala
A government-run food hall where local women cook traditional Sri Lankan dishes, from hoppers and pittu to fresh juices, at very low prices.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Hoppers
- String hoppers
- Pittu
The Garage Café
A fun, garage-themed café on Peradeniya Road with graffiti walls, tyre seating, kottu, burgers, shakes and waffles at budget prices.
- Budget
- Café
- Kottu
- Burgers
- Milkshakes
Kiri Kōpi
A specialty coffee shop in a grand colonial-style building, with single-origin coffees, Sri Lankan beans and an all-day brunch.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Specialty coffee
- Single origin
- Sri Lankan coffee
Buono
A first-floor coffee bar in central Kandy, known for excellent espresso, avocado toast and fresh lemonades.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Espresso
- Avocado toast
- Lemonade
Soul Food
A relaxed, healthy café near Kandy Lake for wraps, bowls, fresh juices and vegan-friendly dishes.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Smoothies
- Fresh juices
- Wraps
Department of Coffee, Colombo 7
A specialty coffee brew bar near Independence Square, with pour-overs, Aeropress, syphon, cold brew and rotating single origins.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Pour-over
- V60
- Aeropress
The Lagoon
A famous seafood restaurant at Cinnamon Grand where you pick fresh fish, crab and prawns and choose how they are cooked.
- Upscale
- Restaurant
- Seafood
- Crab
- Lobster
Isle of Gelato, Galle
Gelato and specialty coffee on Pedlar Street, perfect for a break while exploring Galle Fort.
- Mid-range
- Café
- Gelato
- Specialty coffee
- Flat white
Shang Palace
Shangri-La’s signature Chinese restaurant, with Cantonese, Sichuan and regional dishes, dim sum and elegant private rooms.
- Luxury
- Restaurant
- Fine dining
- Dim sum
- Cantonese
Palmyrah
A long-running restaurant at Renuka City Hotel serving Jaffna-style Tamil food, famous for crab curry and milk hoppers.
- Mid-range
- Restaurant
- Crab curry
- Milk hoppers
- Jaffna food
Ministry of Crab
Colombo’s most famous restaurant, celebrating Sri Lankan lagoon crab in a restored colonial building at the Old Dutch Hospital.
- Luxury
- Restaurant
- Crab
- Pepper crab
- Garlic chilli crab
Hotel Nippon
A historic old hotel in Slave Island, known locally for egg hoppers and simple Sri Lankan dishes.
- Budget
- Restaurant
- Egg hoppers
- Street food
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Eating out in Sri Lanka: what to know
Sri Lankan food is built around rice and curry: a plate of rice with several small curries, sambols and a crispy papadam. Lunch is the big meal, and the busiest local eateries often run out of the best curries by mid-afternoon. In the evening, listen for the clatter of kottu, chopped roti stir-fried on a hot griddle with vegetables, egg or meat.
Local eateries, restaurants and cafés
Local eateries are often called “hotels”, even when there are no rooms. They are cheap, fast and where you will find the most authentic food. Restaurants add table service and broader menus. In Colombo especially, a strong café scene serves specialty coffee, much of it grown in Sri Lanka, alongside brunch and cake.
Tips for eating out
- Many sit-down restaurants add a service charge to the bill; check before you tip.
- Eating with your right hand is normal at local eateries; cutlery is always available.
- Ask for “less spicy” if you are not used to chilli; heat levels can be high.
- Carry some cash: small local places may not take cards.
Good to know
What is rice and curry?
Sri Lanka’s everyday meal: a plate of rice served with several small dishes, usually a dhal, a few vegetable curries, a meat or fish curry, a coconut sambol and papadam. Portions are generous and it is usually best at lunchtime.
Why are local restaurants called “hotels”?
In Sri Lanka, “hotel” is commonly used for a local eatery, whether or not it has rooms. If a sign says hotel and you can smell curry, it is almost certainly a place to eat.
Do I need to tip in Sri Lankan restaurants?
Many restaurants add a service charge to the bill. If there is no service charge, rounding up or leaving around 10% for good service is appreciated.
Where are the best cafés in Colombo?
Colombo 7 (Cinnamon Gardens) and the neighbouring areas have a high concentration of specialty coffee shops and brunch cafés. See our café listings for current favourites.