15 Best Foods to Try in Sri Lanka: A Travel Friendly Guide to Local Dishes, Street Food, and Regional Favorites
Discover the best Sri Lankan foods for travelers, including rice and curry, hoppers, kottu, seafood, sweets, and easy local food tips.
Sri Lanka's food is built on coconut, chili, curry leaves, mustard seeds, goraka,
pandan, and a spice tradition that combines Indian influences with Dutch, Portuguese,
and Malay layers accumulated over centuries. Here are the best foods to try in Sri Lanka, and where to find them. The result is a cuisine that tastes
distinctly Sri Lankan even when using familiar ingredients. A simple plate of rice and
curry at a roadside spot can involve six or seven separate preparations, each one
doing a different job.
Eating well in Sri Lanka is not complicated, but knowing what to look for makes the
trip noticeably better. Prices are low by almost any comparison: a full local lunch
at a roadside place costs less than a coffee in most Western cities, and even a mid range
restaurant in Colombo costs far less than you would pay at home. The
fifteen dishes below are the most important ones to try.
A Sri Lankan rice and curry spread, the variety of dishes on one plate is part of what makes it such a good introduction to the cuisine. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
1. Rice and Curry
Rice and curry is the core meal of Sri Lankan daily life, not one dish but a
composition. A plate typically arrives with white or red rice surrounded by four to
eight small curries and sides: dhal, a fish or chicken curry, a coconut based vegetable
dish (like pumpkin or beans), beetroot, pol sambol, papadums, and sometimes a mallung
(wilted greens with coconut). Every combination is slightly different by region,
restaurant, and cook.
At a local lunch spot (called a "rice and curry place" universally), a full plate
costs very little. Restaurants in tourist areas charge two or three times as much
for essentially the same thing. Eat at places where Sri Lankans are eating, the
food is usually better and always better value. The best rice and curry is often
found at the most unassuming roadside spots, especially in the hill country around
Kandy, Ella, and Nuwara Eliya.
Rice and curry at a local Sri Lankan restaurant, the number of side dishes is part of what makes it so satisfying. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
2. Kottu Roti
Kottu is the sound of Sri Lanka after dark, the rhythmic metal on metal clanging of
two iron blades chopping roti on a flat iron griddle can be heard from a street away
in almost any town on the island. Strips of godamba roti (a soft flatbread) are
chopped and stir fried with vegetables, egg, curry sauce, and your choice of
chicken, beef, mutton, seafood, or cheese. It is filling, fast, and deeply satisfying.
Vegetable kottu is the cheapest, chicken or beef costs a little more, and seafood kottu
at tourist restaurants is the priciest version.
Kottu is an evening food, stalls typically start around 6pm. In Ella,
Curd Shop and Chill and several small spots on the main road
serve some of the best hill country kottu. In Colombo, Dematagoda and Maradana
are the neighborhoods for serious late night kottu.
Kottu roti, you usually hear the cooking before you see it. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
3. Hoppers
Hoppers (appa) are bowl shaped pancakes made from fermented rice flour and coconut
milk batter. The edges are thin and crispy; the center is softer and spongy. They
are eaten for breakfast and dinner, almost never for lunch. At a local hopper shop
they are among the cheapest things you can eat, and an egg hopper (with an egg
cracked into the center while cooking) costs only a little more than a plain one. In
Colombo, Rasa Restaurant in Wellawatte and small neighborhood
hopper shops in Pettah serve the real version. In Galle, The Old Dutch
Hospital precinct has decent hoppers but at tourist prices. Eaten with
pol sambol, lunu miris (a raw chili and onion relish), and a thin coconut milk
curry, a plate of three or four hoppers is one of the most complete breakfasts on
the island.
Egg hoppers, crispy at the edges, soft in the center, with a runny egg cooked into the base. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
4. String Hoppers
String hoppers (indi appa) are steamed discs made from thin pressed rice flour
noodles. They look like small white noodle nests and come stacked in threes or
fives. They are almost always a breakfast item and are served with dhal curry,
pol sambol, and sometimes a thin chicken or fish curry. At a local spot, a full
breakfast of five string hoppers with sides is one of the best value meals on the island.
They look delicate but with the right accompaniments they are
properly filling. The red rice flour version (ratu indi appa) has a nuttier flavor
than the white.
String hoppers, thin rice noodle nests that are one of the most common Sri Lankan breakfasts. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
5. Pol Sambol
Pol sambol is grated fresh coconut mixed with dried red chili, lime juice, onion,
Maldive fish, and salt. It is the condiment that ties most Sri Lankan breakfasts
together and appears alongside hoppers, string hoppers, pittu, and bread. It is
rarely sold on its own, it comes as part of the plate. If you want to understand
what makes Sri Lankan food taste the way it does, eat pol sambol with plain bread
and nothing else first. The combination of coconut fat, dried chili heat, and lime
acidity is the flavor key to the whole cuisine.
Pol sambol, grated coconut, chili, lime, and Maldive fish together make a side dish more important than it looks. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
6. Dhal Curry
Sri Lankan dhal is made from red lentils cooked down with coconut milk, turmeric,
curry leaves, mustard seeds, and a final tempering of onion and chili fried in
coconut oil. It is richer, creamier, and more aromatic than most dhal styles
elsewhere, and it appears at almost every meal: in rice and curry spreads, alongside
string hoppers at breakfast, and as a side for bread or roti. A bowl as part of a
local meal costs almost nothing as a side; it is almost always included in any
full plate. One of the most reliable dishes for travelers at any level of spice
tolerance.
Sri Lankan dhal curry is almost always more interesting than it sounds, coconut milk and curry leaf tempering make it rich. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
7. Fish Ambul Thiyal
Ambul thiyal is a dry, intensely flavored sour fish curry, one of the most
distinctive tastes in Sri Lankan cooking. It is usually made with tuna or seer fish
and cooked with goraka (a dried souring fruit), black pepper, and spices until
almost all the liquid has evaporated. The result is dark, concentrated, and quite
different from the creamy coconut curries that most visitors encounter first. It
originates from the south and is a specialty in restaurants around Galle, Mirissa,
and Tangalle. Worth ordering as a side on any rice and curry plate in the southern
coastal region.
Fish ambul thiyal, dark, dry, intensely sour, and one of the most distinctive flavors in Sri Lankan cooking. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
8. Lamprais
Lamprais (from the Dutch lomprijst, "lump of rice") is a meal wrapped in banana
leaf and baked, a Dutch Burgher legacy from the colonial era. The package contains
Dutch influenced rice cooked in stock, two or three meat curries, a frikkadel
(spiced meatball), brinjal pickle (bola), and seeni sambol (caramelized onion
sambol). The banana leaf is sealed and baked so everything inside steams together
and picks up the leaf's faint herbaceous aroma.
Lamprais is specifically a Saturday or Sunday lunch tradition in Colombo, most
restaurants only serve it on weekends. Sails Restaurant in
Colombo and the Dutch Burgher Union dining room are the most
famous sources. A parcel costs more than rice and curry, but it is a full meal.
Lamprais, a Dutch Burgher colonial legacy that has become one of the most distinctive dishes in Sri Lankan cuisine. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
9. Short Eats
Short eats are the Sri Lankan bakery tradition, a collective name for the small
savory snacks sold in glass cases at bakeries, petrol station shops, and roadside
counters across the island. Fish buns, chicken patties, egg rolls, cutlets, Chinese
rolls (spiced minced meat in a breadcrumb coated roll), and plain tea cake are the
most common, and a small bag of them costs very little. Sahan Bakery in Kandy,
Green Cabin in Colombo, and countless unnamed roadside counters
do these well. They are useful for long transfer days when local meals are harder
to time, and they are good food, not just convenient food.
Sri Lankan short eats, the glass case bakery counter is one of the most useful food stops on any travel day. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
10. Seafood on the Coast
Sri Lanka's seafood is best in the towns where it is caught that day. On the south
coast, Mirissa, Tangalle, Weligama, Galle, grilled whole fish,
devilled prawns, crab curry, and cuttlefish are the main draws. On the east coast,
Trincomalee, Passikudah, Nilaveli, the seafood is equally
fresh and usually cheaper. Devilled cuttlefish (stir fried with chili, onion, and
capsicum) is a staple at coastal restaurants, and a whole grilled fish with rice and
sides is priced by size, so ask before you order. At Negombo (the main fishing town, 30 minutes north
of Colombo airport), the fish market and surrounding restaurants offer the
freshest seafood at local prices.
Grilled fish on the Sri Lankan coast, freshest at local restaurants in Mirissa, Negombo, and Trincomalee. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
11. Pittu
Pittu is a steamed cylinder of alternating layers of coarsely ground rice flour and
fresh grated coconut. It is pressed into a bamboo or metal tube and steamed until
firm, then turned out in a column. The texture is crumbly and slightly grainy, with
the coconut keeping it from being dry. It is almost always a breakfast food and is
eaten by pulling pieces off and dipping or mixing with dhal, coconut milk curry, or
pol sambol. Less obvious than hoppers for first time visitors but worth trying,
it tastes more intensely of coconut and rice than almost any other Sri Lankan
breakfast dish.
Pittu, a steamed rice flour and coconut cylinder that is one of the less obvious but most rewarding Sri Lankan breakfasts. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
12. Kiribath
Kiribath (milk rice) is rice cooked in thick coconut milk until it sets into a firm,
creamy cake, then cut into diamond shapes. It is an important ceremonial dish,
made on Sinhala and Tamil New Year (April 13 to 14), on full moon Poya days, and at
auspicious events. If you are in Sri Lanka in April, kiribath appears everywhere
around the New Year period. The traditional accompaniment is lunu miris,
raw red chili, onion, lime juice, and salt pounded together, which delivers a
startling contrast of fire and heat against the rich, mild, creamy rice.
Kiribath, coconut milk rice set into a cake and served with lunu miris. The combination of creamy and fiery is striking. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
13. Watalappan
Watalappan is Sri Lanka's signature dessert, a steamed coconut custard made with
thick coconut milk, kithul jaggery (palm treacle), eggs, cardamom, cloves, and
nutmeg. It has a fudge like density and a deep caramel coconut flavor unlike any
other custard dessert. It is a Malay Muslim contribution to the cuisine and is most
common in Colombo and in the western coastal region where Sri Lankan Malay communities
are concentrated, and it costs little at a café or restaurant.
The best versions are served slightly warm and set firmly rather than loose.
Ministry of Crab in Colombo's Old Dutch Hospital precinct and
several Malay owned Colombo cafes do good watalappan.
Watalappan, palm jaggery, coconut milk, and egg custard steamed together into Sri Lanka's most distinctive dessert. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
14. Egg Roti and Filled Roti
Godamba roti, a thin, stretchy flatbread cooked on a hot iron griddle, forms the
base for filled roti, one of the most practical and satisfying Sri Lankan street
foods. The dough is stretched paper thin, then folded around egg, banana and sugar,
potato and onion, or a mix of egg and vegetables before being cooked until browned
and slightly crispy at the edges. They are cheap, and the price depends
on the filling and the location. In Ella, small shops along the main road sell these from
the evening through to late at night. They are the best option when you want
something filling, cheap, and made to order without sitting down for a full meal.
Filled roti, one of the most useful Sri Lankan street foods for travelers, available all day in most towns. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
15. Tropical Fruit and King Coconut
Thambili (king coconut) is the orange yellow coconut found on
roadside carts across the island. It contains slightly sweet, delicately flavored
water full of electrolytes, costs very little, and is macheted open at
the cart and handed over with a straw. It is the single best drink for hot,
active days. For fruit: the highlands around Nuwara Eliya and Kandy
produce strawberries and avocados that are almost absurdly cheap at local markets:
a kilo of strawberries in season costs a fraction of what it would at home. Rambutan, mangosteen,
pineapple, and woodapple (the hard brown round fruit with a strong, tangy pulp)
are all worth trying if they appear at roadside stalls.
King coconut (thambili), cheap at any roadside cart and better hydration than anything in a bottle. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
How to Eat Well in Sri Lanka
The best food experiences in Sri Lanka come from variety, not from eating the same
tourist menu items every day. A few practical habits:
- Eat at places where Sri Lankans are eating, the food is almost always better and cheaper
- Try a local breakfast (hoppers, string hoppers, or pittu with sambol and dhal) at least every other day, hotel breakfast is not the same
- Use bakeries for transit days; a bag of short eats costs very little and keeps you going between destinations
- Order seafood on the coast, rice and curry in the hills, and kottu in the evenings wherever you are
- If you are sensitive to spice, ask for your food mild or less spicy; the default heat level is hot by most international standards
- King coconut water from a roadside cart is the best drink for hot days and costs almost nothing
The Best Foods to Try in Sri Lanka, in Short
These 15 Sri Lankan foods reflect an island where meals are shaped
by coconut, spice, fresh seafood, and a layered cultural history. Eating well here
is one of the easiest parts of the trip, prices are low, portions are generous,
and the gap between an average meal and a great one is surprisingly narrow. Pay
attention to local eating rhythms, order what Sri Lankans around you are ordering,
and let the food become a real part of the journey.
If you remember one thing about the best foods to try in Sri Lanka, make it this: eat where the locals queue. For the rest of your trip, see the places to visit in Sri Lanka and my Sri Lanka travel budget guide.
If you are starting in Colombo, Pettah Market is a great place to begin eating your way around the island.