Food & Drink

Food

Rice and curry is the staple diet for Sri Lankans. This is a colourful and delicious affair and every chef and region has its own delicacy. All fruits and vegetables are brought together but personal favourites of Boutique Sri Lanka are: Pumpkin and mango curry in coconut milk, Organic boiled vegetables, Para fish, Pol sambol and jackfruit. Sri Lankan curry’s are full of spice but not very hot and no heavy sauces. Locals eat with their hands in order to truly mix the flavours.

Traditional dishes also include, Devilled Beef (hot & spicy but delicious), seafood, grilled cuttlefish (squid or calamari), Sri Lankan omelette, hoppers (egg pancake sometimes with added sugar), String hoppers (rice noodles), fish egg rolls (similar to pancake roll) ambul thiyal (a tuna based pickle). Seafood is delicious on the coastlines eg. Para fish, jumbo prawns in season (Feb/March), lobster, tuna, whilst the River / Tank fish in-land, is also tasty. Trincomalee, Beruwala (SW), Welligama, and Colombo are the main fishing harbours.

Taru Villa will insist on fresh daily deliveries of fish from Colombo and fresh vegetables from Nuwara Eliya.

Bites are usually served with drinks in local bars and guesthouses. Locals dip into plates of devil beef and prawns as the Arrack slides down. The meat can be rather gristly and their appeal disappears as they go cold. Roti is commonly found on street corners - a doughy pancake used as wrap for vegetable and fish rolls or chopped up with vegetables. A tasty snack.

Breakfast for locals is hoppers or Dahl and bread. Hotels will often offer a full Sri Lankan breakfast but will need notice the night before. Another Boutique Sri Lanka favourite, and rarely found, is Pittu (coconut steamed rice) served savoury with fish curry or sweet with brown sugar and coconut milk. Coconut sugar pancakes are a must for those with a sweet tooth- a speciality at Kudakaliya.

Alternatively, a Western breakfast is always available- typically with eggs, toast and an abundance of tropical fruit.

Desserts are not common place in Sri Lanka but gourmet menus at Aditya or the Sun House will tempt you every day with some homemade mouth watering puddings. Cargills ice cream, Pineapple fritters or traditional Buffalo curd and Kithul treacle are more commonly found desserts but equally delicious.

Sri Lankans do have a sweet tooth though – Rasa Kavili, Jaggery (sugary sweets/fudges) and cashew nuts are a common treat.

Fruits: Common tropical fruits like Mango, Papaya, Rambutan, Pineapples and Bananas are in abundance. Other favourites which are seasonal or rare are Mangosteen, Wood apples, Durian (usually in jam). The freshest fruit can be enjoyed at Hideaway Villa or Paradise Farm both tucked away on private pineapple and fruit plantations.

Drinks

King Coconut juice (not to be confused with the baby hairy coconut) and mango/papaya juice is drunk daily by the locals and is brimming with goodness.

Bottled water is readily available within hotels and at supermarkets. At small roadside stalls ,check that the seal is unbroken as they have been known to refill bottles with boiled water. The local government water in hotel taps is fine for cleaning teeth and if boiled can be drunk or frozen as ice - best to check in.

Arrack is the local tipple. It is coconut based and tastes like a mild Brandy. Neat, it is extremely palatable but goes down more swiftly mixed with Coke / tonic or in a fruit cocktail. We would recommend Old arrack for a smoother flavour but there are a number of brands and types which you may wish to try out!

Toddy is the hard man’s tipple. Pure alcohol and a derivative of the Coconut palm. Our opinion is that it tastes of paraffin and brings back bad memories of Greek / Italian nights on Ouzo and Sambuca.

Quality International wines can be found in most of the hotels/villas that we have recommended but at a price. Local wine is not great.

The local beer is Lion or Three Coins, both have a cool flavour- but do excuse even the best trained barman for not being able to pour a decent pint!

In the finest hotels, tea is usually Lipton or Dilmah, what we Western folk take for granted as ‘just TEA’. Join tasting sessions and walk the estate trails at Ceylon Tea Trails. In local guesthouses and in small towns, the tea is of poor quality - unfortunately, all the best ‘tips’ get exported. The locals tend to drink it black and with sugar so do specify. Those looking for a good cup of coffee in Sri Lanka will be hard pushed unless they visit The Fortress or coffee enthusiasts at Ganga Garden.