There’s a lotta decent/cheap places to eat around Colombo. You can also get good street food outside any proleteriat booze joint. These are a few places I know, which is by no means comprehensive. One of my favorites is the New Yarl (Jaffna Kade) in Wellawatte. Just take a right at the Station Road junction, Wellawatte. They have nice crab, cuttlefish, mutton, etc served on a banana leaf for like Rs. 200. They’re renovating now. Hope they don’t make the place look like a bathroom, the typical result of renovation. Here’s what I know about that and a few others.
New Yarl
I’ve always called New Yarl ‘Jaffna Kade’. It’s kinda Jaffna/Tamil food, as far as I know. They lay out a banana leaf and serve rice, various vegetables (dhall, eggplant) and your choice of meat curries. Either the devilled or curried cuttlefish is good. People swear by the crab but eating crab stresses me out. They also have a decent mutton, albeit spicy. The place is great, albeit current closed for renovations.
Amrita’s
If you walk from the New Yarl towards Colombo you’ll come to Amrita’s on the landside of Galle Road. It’s vegetarian fare, and quite nice. Tamil and North Indian food, so decent chappatis, dhose, aloo (potato), what with the usual accompaniments. Served on metal plates, pretty clean and bright place. They have a fresh fruit juice guy up front, the mango juice is quite nice, with a bit of ice cream even.
That Slave Island Place
I dunno what it’s called or if it even has a name, but there’s this place in Slave Island right before the rail tracks which serves some pretty decent banana leaf and metal bucket fare. I’m trying to remember how to find it as I haven’t been for years, I think you take the left into Slave Island (coming up from Galle Road), Malay Street maybe it. It’s not marked and it’s before the road kinda ends, across the street from a grocery. These are pretty crap directions. The food is pretty good for lunch.
Malay Joint – Pittu and Baabath
Off Malay Street, up a little road to the right there’s a small kade. The Sunday Times had more detailed information. It’s run by a lovely Malay gentlemen and the standard seems to be bone marrow soup, pittu and baabath (tripe) curry. I had all of the above and it’s quite nice. The pittu is a bit wider grained than I’m used to, I like both kinds. Over that you pour some bone marrow soup, beef I think, mix it with a bit of reddish tripe and there you go. Tripe is, like, cow stomach, quite nice I think.
Castle Street
This is not a food place but a bar, pictured above. It’s on Castle Street, first left after the rail tracks heading into Slave Island (from Galle Road). It’s a cheap bar, beer, arrack, whatever. Great building but not especially kept up or anything. It’s clean, just is what it is. Why I mention it here is that every working class bar has a cart outside selling delicious bites. Whole fried fish, patties, roast garlic, etc. At other places (in Rajagiriya specifically) they have fresh wades, fried chicken and more. All salty and really good, and really cheap.
I should note that most of these places are primarily male clientele. The food places are fine for women to go, but it would be a bit odd at a bar like Castle Street. Not that women aren’t allowed, they kinda just don’t. In all of these places you can get satisfied food wise for less than Rs. 200 (or $2). Booze may cost more, but besides beer, not so much. This is the vernacular street food as far as I know it. I like.
You missed the shawrma joint at the Malay Street corner. It’s a fly-by-day operation. But the Shawarma used to be fantastic, Kebabs still is. Opening hours 7ish to till that meat thing ends (11 ish i think).
The place at Slave Island is called the Yalpane Bath Kade, it’s right next to the two tire shops on Malay Street.
Check out Mayuri Hotel in Wellawatte, vegetarian banana leaf stuff, galle road, land side.
Also Greenlands! Awesome place for dinner, pretty cheap too. Their paper and masala thosai’s are awesome, and ulundu vadeis too!
mmm.. where exactlyis this jaffna eating place??
Oh god. i have dreams of that slave island kadey…
I find the Yalpane Bath Kade kinda overrated :/
oh and CastleHotel looks shady as hell in that pic man :D
almost like a brothel :P
Buhary’s in Maradana is another good place for a good buriyani – the place is nothing much to look at but taste darn good!
what is the place in Kollupitiya that brings really good food to your car ?
Not as in take away but as in part and eat ?
oops park
Pillawoos
I love the burger joint at Malay street. Oh and try the paper thosei at Thosai King, opposite carnival icecream, kolpetty.
Oh, that place is a true gem! Really took me back to the days in the Middle East! :)
Do they open @ 7 in the morning?
Greenlands’ food is less salty nowadays…much more like as if they are catering to Westerners! :(
Superb Taste