Sri Lanka food guide
More: When to visit Sri Lanka · Sri Lanka travel guide
Sri Lanka Food Guide: 15 Dishes + Where to Eat Them
Sri Lankan food is distinct from Indian, heavier on coconut, more chili, regional rice + curry variations, fresh seafood from both coasts. Here are 15 essentials.
Rice and curry
Always plural — 5-8 different curries served with rice + sambol. Every meal. Upali's (Colombo) for refined; home-cooked versions are best.
Price: 450-1,500 LKR
Kottu roti
Chopped flatbread stir-fried with vegetables + meat. Loud rhythmic chopping is famous. Pilawoos chain.
Price: 250-700 LKR
Hoppers (appam)
Bowl-shaped rice-flour pancakes: plain or with egg. Breakfast staple. Hoppers @ Galle Face or any traditional breakfast restaurant.
Price: 60-200 LKR each
String hoppers (idiyappam)
Rice noodles served with curry + sambol. Breakfast specialty.
Price: 150-400 LKR
Pol sambol
Coconut + chili + lime relish. Side at every meal.
Price: Free with rice and curry
Kiribath
Milk rice. Coconut milk + rice cake. New Year + Buddhist holiday food.
Price: 200-450 LKR
Crab curry
Spicy crab in coconut curry. Ministry of Crab (Colombo), internationally famous.
Price: 2,500-6,000 LKR
Fish ambul thiyal (sour fish curry)
Tamarind + black pepper fish curry. Galle + south coast specialty.
Price: 450-900 LKR
Lamprais
Dutch-Sri Lankan fusion — banana-leaf-wrapped rice + curry + sambol. Hilton Kandy serves the classic version.
Price: 800-1,800 LKR
Pittu
Steamed cylindrical rice + coconut. Served with curry. Traditional breakfast.
Price: 250-500 LKR
Lunu miris
Onion-chili relish. Side at most meals.
Price: Free with rice and curry
Devilled chicken
Sri Lankan Chinese-influenced spicy chicken. Chinese-style street food restaurants.
Price: 450-900 LKR
Tea at a tea estate
Visit Nuwara Eliya tea country. Halpé Tea + Heritance Tea Factory.
Price: Free at estates + 500-1,500 LKR sets
King coconut (thambili)
Orange tropical coconut. Drink the water from the shell. Roadside stands everywhere.
Price: 100-200 LKR
Wattalapan
Coconut + jaggery + cashew + spice pudding. Sri Lankan dessert.
Price: 250-500 LKR
Tea country calling? Best Tea Cities to Visit
Which dishes did the list above leave out, and what are they?
Eight dishes that appear on almost every Sri Lankan table but rarely on tourist lists are worth knowing by name, because most are vegetable-based and several arrive unannounced beside your rice.
- Parippu: red lentils simmered in coconut milk with turmeric, finished with a tempering of onion, curry leaves and mustard seed. It is the one curry present at nearly every rice and curry lunch.
- Polos: young green jackfruit cooked down in roasted curry powder until it is dense and fibrous. It is the island's meat-substitute curry and is entirely plant-based.
- Gotu kola sambol: shredded Asiatic pennywort with shallots, tomato, grated coconut, chili and lime, served raw as a salad-relish; many cooks add a pinch of Maldive fish.
- Mallung: lightly cooked shredded greens tossed with fresh coconut and a little chili. One or two different mallungs appear at most meals; some cooks add powdered Maldive fish.
- Pol roti: a thick flatbread of flour and grated coconut with green chili and onion worked in, eaten at breakfast or dinner with lunu miris.
- Kiri peni: thick buffalo curd set in clay pots and served with kithul treacle, the smoky syrup tapped from the fishtail palm. It is a southern speciality sold at roadside stalls and a customary dessert at weddings and alms-givings.
- Odiyal kool: a thick seafood broth from Jaffna in the north, thickened with palmyrah root flour and loaded with prawn, crab, fish and vegetables, cooked for special occasions.
- Short eats: the bakery and tea-shop snacks eaten between meals, chiefly fish buns, cutlets, patties, rolls and lentil vadai.
How does a day of eating actually run in Sri Lanka?
Lunch is the main meal, eaten between about noon and 2 pm, and it is the moment for rice and curry; dinner, from around 7:30 to 9:30 pm, is lighter and is when hoppers, string hoppers and pol roti come out.
Read the signs. In Sri Lanka a 'hotel' is very often a small eatery rather than a place to sleep, and it is where the cheapest rice and curry is sold at lunchtime. Bakeries sell short eats through the day with strong, sweet tea. Tourist-facing restaurants in Colombo, Galle and the beach towns keep Western hours and add international menus.
Eat with the right hand if you are eating with your hands; the left is considered unclean. Cutlery is usually available to visitors on request and nobody minds. The relishes carry most of the heat: the curries are often milder than the sambols beside them, so asking for 'mild' and having pol sambol and lunu miris served on the side lets each person set their own level.
Price bands, at roughly 300 to 330 rupees to the US dollar: a rice and curry at a local hotel runs around 400 to 1,500 LKR, a main course at a mid-range tourist restaurant around 1,500 to 4,000 LKR, and dinner for two at that level around 6,000 LKR before drinks. Hotel and tourist restaurants commonly add a 10 percent service charge plus government taxes, so the bill can land 25 to 30 percent above the menu figure. Check the small print before assuming the menu price is the price.
Can vegetarians, vegans and cautious first-timers eat safely?
Vegetarians eat easily in Sri Lanka, vegans need to ask one question, and first-timers need to manage water rather than food.
A standard rice and curry is mostly vegetable: parippu, a jackfruit or other vegetable curry, a mallung and two sambols, with a single fish or chicken dish on the side. Ordering it without the meat dish is straightforward. The vegan trap is Maldive fish, dried and smoked tuna or bonito flaked into pol sambol, lunu miris, katta sambol and some mallungs as a seasoning; it is invisible in the finished dish. Ask whether the sambol was made without Maldive fish or shrimp paste. Coconut milk rather than dairy is the base fat, which suits milk allergies; the exceptions are buffalo curd and milk tea. Cashews turn up in curries and in wattalapan, so nut allergies need the same question.
Tap water is not safe for visitors. Bottled water is cheap and sold everywhere. Ice at upscale hotels and tourist restaurants is generally made from filtered water; at small local hotels and street stalls ask for drinks without ice or take a sealed bottle. King coconut drunk straight from the shell is a safe cold drink anywhere on the island.
For a nervous first meal, choose a busy local hotel around 12:30 when the food is freshly cooked and turning over fast, eat it hot, and peel fruit yourself.
| Dish | What it is | Meal or region | Vegetarian? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parippu | Red lentils in coconut milk | Almost every rice and curry | Yes |
| Polos | Young green jackfruit curry | Lunch, island-wide | Yes |
| Mallung | Shredded greens with coconut | Most meals | Usually; ask about Maldive fish |
| Pol roti | Coconut flatbread | Breakfast or dinner | Yes |
| Kiri peni | Buffalo curd with kithul treacle | Dessert, south coast | Yes (dairy) |
| Odiyal kool | Palmyrah-thickened seafood broth | Jaffna, special occasions | No |
Frequently asked questions
Is Sri Lankan food too spicy for a first-timer?
Usually not, once you know where the heat is. Most of it sits in the relishes, pol sambol and lunu miris, rather than in the curries themselves. Ask for 'mild' when ordering and have the sambols served on the side, then add them a pinch at a time. The coconut milk in parippu and most vegetable curries softens the chili considerably.
Can you drink the tap water in Sri Lanka?
No, not as a visitor. Stick to sealed bottled water, which is inexpensive and sold in every village, and to hot drinks. Ice in upscale hotels and tourist restaurants is generally made from filtered water; at small local eateries and street stalls ask for no ice. King coconut water drunk from the shell is a safe alternative.
What does 'hotel' mean on a Sri Lankan sign?
More often than not, a small local restaurant rather than accommodation. These 'hotels' serve rice and curry at lunchtime and short eats with tea through the day, at a fraction of tourist-restaurant prices, and are where most Sri Lankans eat out. If you need a room, look for 'guest house', 'villa' or 'resort' instead.
