What Are the Best Foods in Colombo for a Mouth-Watering Culinary Journey?

Dive into Colombo’s food scene, and you’ll discover a flavour-packed adventure! Taking a cue from its vibrant and varied streets, Colombo serves up a feast of tastes. You’ll be savouring age-old recipes handed down through generations and sampling creative twists that showcase Sri Lanka’s rich cultural vibrancy. Colombo is a true culinary paradise, and missing out on it would be a mistake! So, get ready for a flavourful culinary journey through the buzzing streets of Sri Lanka’s capital!

Rice and Curry

To say that rice and curry is a staple of Sri Lankan cuisine would be an understatement; it’s the heart and soul of the cuisine – a beloved classic that’s ready to delight you at any hour. If you walk into any roadside stall or restaurant and order rice and curry, you’ll be served a heaping plate of fluffy rice topped with a colourful array of curries, each offering a flavoursome journey. The assortment of curries typically includes dhal, fish or chicken, and sometimes beef curries. Vibrant mallung deserves a special mention – it’s a mix of leafy greens jazzed up with coconut, lime, and salt.

String Hoppers

String hoppers, or idiyappam as the locals like to call them, are another key component of Colombo’s food scene. These are steamed rice flour noodles. Light yet satisfying, they make their way onto breakfast and dinner tables. Whether you are dining at a fancy restaurant, a roadside hotel or at one of the 3-star hotel in Colombo, you'll find string hoppers on the menu. It’s often served with creamy Kiri Hodi, which is a savoury coconut milk gravy. Pol Sambal is a zesty addition to this delightful meal, and there will always be a hearty curry brimming with meat and potatoes and loads of spices. Whether you stay at a place like Cinnamon Red Colombo or simply walk into a humble street food stall, be sure to order up a plate of string hopper to start your day or as a final note to a day full of exploration and activities.

Kiribath – Milk Rice

Kiribath, also known as Milk Rice, is a celebratory food in Colombo and across Sri Lanka. When it’s time to celebrate, Sri Lankans rustle up Kiribath. These rice cakes are more than just a dish; they’re a tradition, marking festivals and special moments with their delightful presence. Be it the New Year celebrations, a wedding, a birthday or an anniversary, Kiribath graces Sri Lankan dining tables. It’s complemented by lunu miris, and some like to pair it up with a spicy curry.

Lamprais

A lavish feast of rice, simmered in broth bursting with flavours of meat and spices, served up with an array of curries, golden fried potatoes, and an eggplant salad – this is Lamprais.

But there’s more to it – all these components are brought together in a banana leaf and then steamed to perfection, allowing flavours of different ingredients to meld together. When you unwrap a Lamprais, you’re first greeted with a delectable aroma, a sign of what’s to come next: a bed of rice and its flavourful companions. Lamprais is fragrant, delicious, and satisfying in every sense of the word.

Kottu

Your Colombo culinary adventure is criminally incomplete if you don’t try Kottu Roti, the superstar of Colombo’s street food scene. It’s a feast for both your eyes and ears!

As the night falls, Colombo’s street food stalls settle into their familiar routine of dishing out flavour bombs. The clank of metal spoons coming down hard on flatbread, veggies, juicy meat, eggs, and spices is a familiar sound in the streets of Colombo. These rhythmic chopping sounds provide the soundtrack to a culinary show that goes on until the small hours. Step into a swanky restaurant in Colombo, and you can savour the flavours of Kottu Roti, but for an experience that’s quintessentially Sri Lanka, a roadside stall is a better choice – there, you’ll find yourself at the heart of Colombo’s rich culinary scene.