Vegetarian Restaurants in SL
I love meat. However, everyone I date tends to be vegetarian, so I have to deal. I think this may because more women are naturally vegetarian, or maybe I’m just into anorexia. Even at home we don’t tend to get much meat, and meat – especially red meat – seems to be foriegn to the cuisine here. Beef is a bit out of bounds for most people, and I don’t especially want to eat the cows I see walking around in traffic. Never seen a lamb here, and mutton means goat. That leaves these terribly scrawny chickens to eat. As such, people seem to eat plenty of fish, but not much meat. At the same time, however, it is hard to find a good vegetarian restaurant in Sri Lanka. To that end, this is an open thread for Deshan on where one can get the veggie eats and treats.
To the vegetarians amongst you (anyone with vegetarian better halves?)- top five vegetarian eateries in the city? so far we’ve got:
# shanmugah
# mathura
# commons veg dishes
# pizza hut (cf dominos) veg pizzas
# kinjou veg dishes
# flower drum veg dishes
# mackys veg dishes
Personally, I’ll vote for the tomato soup at Mathura, but only that. People on the Wala also recommended Greenlands, but I’m curious as to any opinions people might have.
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Hotshots has a decent veggie section too – I especially like the spaghetti thing they do with olive oil… forgotten the exact name.
also the kadai paneer at Amrith is divine
Hotshots has excellent veggie selection.
Commons, Pizza Hut/Dominoes, and Mackys are all rather mediocre if you ask me. I may be influenced by the fact that the time we went to Mackys I had a blech calzone. The starters were nice but oily. Commons is really only good for milkshakes and coffee and desserts; their Real Food that’s veggie is pretty blah.
Shanti Vihar is pretty damn good, though you’ve got to snag a spot in the A/C section cuz the rest is grimy. Greenlands is delicious but weird ambiance, with green lights and plastic flowers.
Barefoot falafel is always a treat, again oily. They have nice veg quiches but super-oily. Many places have hidden veg specialties on the menu; e.g. nice salads at Clancy’s of all places.
If you can afford it, Tao (at the Colombo Plaza), Il Ponte (Hilton), UBG (Hilton residence) and of course Gallery have nice veg menus. I love Siam House though you have to watch out for hidden fishy bits. You can also do nice veg meals at Cafe Japan and Sakura, though the hidden-fishy-bit issue is if anything worse at those places.
The 88 has fantastic tofu dishes, plus veg mock duck. I give them props.
One time I got a veg-with-cheese roti at Pilla’s, and the chilli just about burned my lips off, but it was goooood.
I could probably go on and on like this, but won’t. There are no non-Indian pure veg places that I know of in Colombo, which is sort of a shame. Back home in Boston the best vegetarian meals are from Buddha’s Delight, a “Buddhist vegetarian” (ie no eggs or dairy, even!) place doing mostly Chinese style stuff.
One endemic problem of the Colombo veg restaurant scene is the obsession with dairy. In the States I’m a vegan (no meat, fish, dairy, eggs, etc) and thus while I eat some dairy and fish here my taste-buds are not eager for them. Here it’s nearly impossible to order a veg dish that isn’t sickeningly smothered in cheese or cream. Too much veg food is thus greasy and heavy. Someone suggested to me that this is because otherwise the veg dishes don’t have “anything special” and therefore the restaurants can’t charge a lot for them. I say, learn how to properly prepare vegetables such that their delicious flavors come out!
A lot of Indian veg is vegan (depending on whether they use ghee and paneer) and that stuff is notably delicious. Tofu and soy products should be far more popular here than the occasional ‘soya meat’ curry eaten at home. One of the best veg places in the country, believe it or not, is the humbly beloved “Soya Centre” in Kandy, home of soya ice cream, amazing lunch packets, and the best short eats ever.
oooh speaking of tofu – the sizzling beancurd at Chinese Dragon is awesome.
The sizzling bean curd at 168 is super – also try the veg stuff at Moonriver – good chinese food, amazing service.. food on the table in ten minutes.. every time!!
Try the following
1. Shanthi Vihar (Thunmulla Junction)
2. Woodlands (Maradana)
3. Annapooranas (sea street)
4. Chetti Naadu (Wellawatte and Sea St)
5. Mango Tree (Dharmapala Mw)
The veg selection at Peach Valley chinese restaurant is excellent. Try the Kankun with garlic- perhaps the best I’ve had in Colombo. Oh and who could forget Dosa King…the poky-little- dark-hole-in-the-wall-place directly opposite Carnival icecream. Yummy masala dosas!
dosa king also has the best chilli-parata in the world. fact.
Wow, new ideas of places to eat! Awesome.
I am now writing an article about this for the LT so I’m probably going to quote you all. Anyone wants to give more lengthy input, please, help me out. Also, take me out to eat.