01 Food tours
Original food tours, curated with our local tastemakers to showcase the neighbourhood kitchens, markets and family-run eateries that define Colombo.
No tours listed for Colombo yet — check back soon.
Coconut sambol, kottu roti clattering on the griddle, jaffna crab curry, hoppers with lace edges. Sri Lankan cooking sits between southern Indian and Southeast Asian in flavour.
04 The pantry
- Coconut sambol, grated coconut pounded with chilli, lime and Maldive fish
- Maldive fish, sun-dried tuna shavings used like anchovy
- Curry leaves, snapped into every tempered oil
- Pandan, rampe leaves scented into rice and curries
- Cinnamon, true Ceylon quills from the island's south
05 In the kitchen
- Toasting whole spices dark for black curry powder
- Griddling kottu roti with a rhythmic double-cleaver clatter
- Steaming hoppers in bowl-shaped pans for a lace edge
- Grinding fresh coconut on a hiramanaya stool for sambol
- Slow-braising ambul thiyal fish in goraka until glossy black
06 Eat this first
- Rice and curry, the daily plate of five or six curries beside red rice
- Kottu roti, chopped flatbread stir-fried on the griddle with egg and meat
- Hoppers, bowl-shaped rice pancakes topped with a runny egg
- String hoppers, steamed rice-flour nests with coconut sambol
- Watalappan, coconut jaggery custard scented with cardamom
What happens inside a hammam kitchen
A morning with the cooks who feed the neighbourhood before dawn. Charcoal, dough, the smell of a bakery working its second oven.
10 Field Notes
Quick field notes to help you get accustomed to Colombo.
Weather
Tropical — hot and humid year-round (27–32°C). Two monsoons (May–September in the southwest, October–January in the northeast); Colombo gets both edges.
Currency
The Sri Lankan rupee (LKR); cash for tuk-tuks, markets, and street food; cards for restaurants and hotels. ATMs common.
Language
Sinhala is the majority language; Tamil is common; English is widely spoken in business and tourism.
Etiquette
Modest dress at temples and mosques — cover shoulders and knees. Remove shoes and hats before entering Buddhist temples; never turn your back to a Buddha statue for a photo.
Getting around
Tuk-tuks (with meters or via PickMe app) are the everyday ride; Uber and PickMe cars both work. Trains along the coast are cheap and scenic.
Prayer
Predominantly Theravada Buddhist with sizeable Hindu, Muslim, and Christian communities. The Gangaramaya temple in the centre is a major Buddhist site; nearby mosques and churches share the neighbourhood.