Things to do in Jaffna
-
A
Sri Palm Beach
The menu of this comfortably air-conditioned upstairs place is wide and reliable. It serves very good fried chicken ‘65’, as well as masala dosas (paper-thin rice- and lentil-flour pancakes) after 6.30pm.
reviewed
-
B
SJV Chelvanayakum Monument
The strange, top-heavy pillar erected near the Jaffna Public Library is the SJV Chelvanayakum Monument, celebrating the founder of the Tamil Federal Party. His somewhat Gandhi-esque statue stands beside the monument.
reviewed
-
C
Rosarian Convent
The convent makes Rosetto ‘wine’ (Rs 250 per bottle, takeaway only). Sweet and laced with cinnamon and cloves, it tastes like German gluhwein. There’s startlingly coloured grape ‘juice’ (Rs 125) and ‘nelli crush’ (Rs 175), both nonalcoholic, flavourful fruit cordials supposedly with laxative properties. Add water.
reviewed
-
D
Rio Ice Cream
Rio Ice Cream is big and bright.
reviewed
-
E
Old Park Restaurant
Although it’s a bit like eating in someone’s front room, the Old Park offers some of Jaffna’s tastiest cuisine and is paradise for garlic lovers. Its small garden is pleasant for a cold beer.
reviewed
-
F
New Rest House
Tidy, good-value rooms with slightly tatty attached bathrooms in a house-restaurant with great food (breakfast Rs 150, meals Rs 200 to 300).
reviewed
-
Morgan’s Guest House
The garden bar of this unsigned but characterful guest house is the unchallenged meeting place for NGO types.
reviewed
-
G
Malayan Café
This downmarket but popular and wonderfully olde-worlde eatery has marble-topped tables, long glass-and-wood cabinets and occasional blasts of incense to bless the in-house shrine. The cheap vegetarian fare is served on banana leaves and eaten by hand. When you’re finished, fold up the leaf and post it through the letterbox-shaped waste chute in the hand-washing area.
reviewed
-
H
Hotel Rolex
This is a bustling local eatery with a good range of food choices.
reviewed
-
I
Food City
Food City is central Jaffna’s most Western-style supermarket.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
J
Cosy Restaurant
Along with its attractively lantern-lit dining terrace, sheltered by cadjan (coconut-frond matting), the great attraction here is the tandoori oven, with which the chef produces excellent fresh naan (flat breads), as well as succulent chicken tikka (chicken marinated in spices and dry roasted); arrive early, as supplies are limited. There’s a long menu of alternatives.
reviewed
-
K
Clock Tower
An architectural curiosity, the spindly Clock Tower, has a Moorish domed top which makes it look like it belongs somewhere in North Africa.
reviewed