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Galle Face Green's sea wall and promenade in evening light, with the Shangri-La and World Trade Center towers behind

Food in Sri Lanka

Start with the best-known places: Galle Face Green, Pettah Market, Jaffna and Mount Lavinia.

9 guides2 itineraries pass throughChecked 10 Oct 2026

Plan your route

Where to find food

  • Western Province 5 guides
  • Northern Province 2 guides
  • Central Province 1 guide

Top places for food

Map of Food

The 4 places with coordinates in their guides; numbers match the top places.

Map of 4 places
  1. 1Galle Face Green
  2. 2Pettah Market
  3. 3Jaffna
  4. 4Mount Lavinia
Open in Google Maps© Mapbox © OpenStreetMap

Around Jaffna, by distance

Straight-line distance from Jaffna, from each guide's coordinates; the road is longer.

Food in pictures

Photos from the guides, credited on each page.

  • Galle Face Green's sea wall and promenade in evening light, with the Shangri-La and World Trade Center towers behind
  • The red-and-white striped Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque with its domes and clock tower, above shops on a Pettah street
  • The long stone rampart of Jaffna Fort rising from a green moat under a clear blue sky, with a colonial building on the grassy wall top
  • Row of golden Buddha statues at Gangaramaya Temple, with Colombo's high-rise skyline behind
  • The long stone rampart of Jaffna Fort rising from a green moat under a clear blue sky, with a colonial building on the grassy wall top
  • A dried-fish shop in Pettah, Colombo, with foil-lined baskets of small dried fish and chillies in front of a hand-written price list
  • Mount Lavinia beach in the late afternoon, with people on the wide sand, rocks at the water's edge and the Colombo skyline in the haze
  • Matale town spread across a green valley below forested hills, with the painted tower of the Hindu temple rising among the roofs
  • A paved courtyard at the Old Dutch Hospital in Colombo, with low tile-roofed verandas on either side and stone tables and stools

Where to go for food

Itineraries for food

What recent visitors report

Lines from the guides' 2025–26 visitor reports.

Planning guides for food

Frequently asked about Food

Where is Galle Face Green?

On the seafront in central Colombo, along Galle Road, between the Old Parliament building and the Galle Face Hotel. It is about 2 km from Colombo Fort railway station. From the Galle Face Green guide

Where is Pettah Market?

Just east of Colombo Fort, behind the port, next to Colombo Fort railway station and the Central Bus Stand. From the Pettah Market guide

How many days do you need in Jaffna?

Three or four nights: one day for the town and Nallur, one for Delft or Nainativu, and one for the peninsula's north coast. Add two nights on Mannar Island for a full week in the north. From the Northern Sri Lanka in 7 days guide

Is one day enough in Colombo?

For most visitors, yes. One day covers Gangaramaya, Pettah, the National Museum and the sunset at Galle Face Green, which are the city's main sights. From the 1 day in Colombo guide

Is the train to Jaffna running?

Yes. After repairs following Cyclone Ditwah, the Jaffna Intercity and the Night Mail returned on 9 April 2026, and the Yal Devi on 11 May 2026. The journey from Colombo takes around eight hours. From the Jaffna guide

What is the national dish of Sri Lanka?

There is no official one, but rice and curry is the everyday meal: rice with several small curries of fish or meat, vegetables and dhal, plus sambols and papadum. From the Sri Lankan food guide

Before you go

Header photo: Thilina Alagiyawanna / Pexels.