The Sri Lankan Cuisine is somehow related to the Indian but has also other influences which make it very interesting. Here we have some tips about food and drinks for you. (Prices from February 2015)
Food:
Rice and Curry is the national dish in most areas. The dish usually offers 3-5 souces / chutneys a big portion of rice and either vegetables, chicken or fish.
On every corner you can find deepfried samosa like Teigtaschen with vegetable fillings or some fish paste. Most of them are a bit spicy but still good to handle for western european people.
Curd and trickle is a very popular desert. It is yogurt with the honey like „trickle“ produced from coconuts.
Obviously on the coast you get a lot of seafood and BBQs. On the beaches every restaurant shows off the catch of the day for you to choose for the BBQ.
The prices for seafood depend on the area you are staying. Mirissa and Weligama are quite ok. Rice and Curry ranges from 400 – 800 rupees (2,5€ – 5,5€) in the middle class restaurants, and the seafood / fish plates are about 700-1200 rupees.
We totally recommend the rotti kotti seafood, in Mirissa at this one quite fancy looking beach restaurant with the balloon lamps it is strangely cheap, just 400 rupees, and tastes amazing. At the other place next to it it was 800, and we have no idea why.
In Bentota or other areas closer to Colombo you will pay 200-500 rupees more for the same dishes. They have a very different price policy compared to the rest of the country somehow. So if you wanna safe money, stay away from these places close to Colombo.
Drinks:
Fruit Juices & Coconuts:
We advise you to drink as many fruit juices and coconuts as possible. Everything is really really fresh and tastes amazing. Coconuts are sold on every beach and on the road. The price ranges from 50 rupees to 100 rupees (0,33€ – 0,66€). You should not pay more (except from restaurants, there it is sometimes 150-200 rupees).
Fruit juices also offer amazing value for the money. Mango, Papaya, Dragon fruit, Passion fruit, Pineapple, Banana, … you name it, they have it. Mixed together or just from one fruit. Prices range from 80-400 rupees.
The Lion Lager Beer is the most common. It is about 200-450 (1,5€ – 3€) rupees at beach bars. Cocktail happy hour starts at most bars from 5 or 6 pm, and then they range from 250-300 rupees (1,7 – 2 €). After that they are about 500-800 (3,5€ – 5,5€) rupees.
There is also coconut schnaps which tastes quite nice, you should try it.
Softdrinks:
Are strangely cheap at the restaurants, Cola is about 100 rupees and usually way cheaper than water, about 200 rupees.
Supermarket:
like most of the guides say you can get almost everything in the supermarkets.
Buy us a beer:
If you found all this info very helpful you can buy us a beer for our next travel 🙂 cheers!