1A photo like itRice and curry
Eaten all over Sri Lanka
Rice with five or more curries, sambols and papadum.
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What to eat in Sri Lanka
The 10 best dishes in Sri Lanka
Rice and curry, coconut and spice.
1A photo like it
2Hoppers
Eaten all over Sri Lanka
Bowl-shaped rice pancakes with an egg.
3Kottu roti
Best: Colombo
Chopped flatbread stir-fried on a griddle with a rhythm.
4
5
6
7A photo like itFish ambul thiyal
Best: The south
Tuna cooked dry with black pepper and goraka, a sour fruit, so it keeps for days.
8A photo like itCrab curry
Best: Jaffna
Jaffna crab cooked in a thick, very spicy curry with roasted spices.
9Kiribath
Eaten all over Sri Lanka
Rice cooked in coconut milk and cut in diamonds, served at New Year and celebrations.
10Watalappam
Eaten all over Sri Lanka
A steamed custard of coconut milk, jaggery and cardamom.
Where to eat in Sri Lanka
Chef is checking the restaurants worth it here, one by one, and posts each once it's confirmed open. See the list so far
Eat your way through Sri Lanka
Tell Chef when you're going and he'll lay out the days: the dishes, the markets, a walk and dinner, with places that are open.
Next door
Photos: each dish's lead photo on its Wikipedia article (license and author on Wikimedia Commons); "a photo like it" is a food photo of the same kind, not that dish. Cook it opens a recipe in Chef Amazing, or Chef writes one for you. Picked by Chef Amazing, November 2026.
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