Restaurants in The East
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Sunflower Bake House
Below the hotel of the same name, this place has a range of sweet and sour pastries that make for a good breakfast and some dirt-cheap, but dirt-free, rice-and-curry lunches for Rs 80.
reviewed
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Siripala Place Surf Cafe
Right next to the spot where the fish are first hauled out of the deep blue, the seafood here is as fresh and tasty as can be. Despite the name, it’s refreshingly unsurfy.
reviewed
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RN Buffet & Take Away
This superclean little eatery above a grocery shop offers a six-dish lunch buffet that’s not excessively spiced. Unfortunately, military restrictions in the neighbourhood mean it’s closed in the evenings. The restaurant also does a mean line in savoury pastries and cold drinks. It’s run by a delightful English-speaking couple who get their inspiration from a Delia Smith recipe book!
reviewed
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Gecko Restaurant
The English–Sri Lankan owners of this chilled restaurant serve an excellent and varied menu for those with the homesick blues. Most of the dishes are homemade in their entirety and include such treats as salads, some superb pasta dishes, burgers, full English breakfasts, muesli, ice cream and apple pie.
reviewed
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Hotel Club Oceanic
The excellent dinner buffet at this top-end hotel is a favourite of NGO workers for miles around. If you know that quantity doesn’t always equate to quality, then choose from the à la carte menu featuring reasonable Western and better Sri Lankan dishes. Drinks cost (a lot) extra.
reviewed
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Monty Guest House
You can feast on a wide range of local dishes, as well as passable pasta and burgers, on either the pleasantly cool outdoor terrace or the spacious indoor dining room. It’s a good place to meet up with NGO workers and the odd passing tourist.
reviewed
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Family Needs
This shack-fronted rice-and-curry place, which you’d never look at twice, actually makes an epic fried rice and, if you give plenty of notice and if they have some cheese and, and, and, might just be able to conjure up a decent pizza.
reviewed
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Chinese & Western Food Court
Set in a tropical garden, this is far and away Ampara’s most alluring dining place. The wide range of well-prepared dishes includes stir-fried cuttlefish and excellent ‘crumb chicken’ – think Kentucky smeared with crushed garlic.
reviewed
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New City Food Cabin
The cleanest and brightest of several budget eateries around the clock tower, this place rings with the deafening knife-work of the kotthu rotti (doughy pancake chopped and fried with meat and vegetables) maker each evening.
reviewed
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Welcombe Hotel
There’s appealing alfresco dining at this hotel restaurant, which serves some original and mostly successful Western dishes, including lamb chop in wine and rosemary, and jumbo prawns in lemon-garlic butter.
reviewed
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Lotus Park
Believe the menu and you’ll think that the cooks here can whip up anything under the sun. Anything that’s fish, curry or a bizarre Sri Lankan version of pasta, that is. Still, the beachfront dining is nice.
reviewed
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Lucky Leprechaun Surfer
High above the beach, with fantastic views and heavenly breezes, this is a great place to watch the waves while being served a wide range of fishy food. It’s also a popular place for a sundowner.
reviewed
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Lakshmi Diner
There’s no English sign, but this place, facing a scout statue, is easy to spot. Flies and rubbish-laden floors are off-putting, but the eat-with-your-fingers vegetarian curries are cheap and excellent.
reviewed
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Hakeem Beach Spot
This little locals’ eating shack might be a bit too popular with flies to make you want to sit down for a meal, but the banana and coconut pancakes (Rs 10) make for a perfect presurf power snack.
reviewed
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Gem Hotel
This jack-of-all-trades restaurant is one of the more popular lunch spots with locals. The buffet curries here won’t cost more than Rs 120, no matter how many times you go back for a refill.
reviewed
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Riviera Resort
This guest house has a place to eat that serves fair local, Chinese and occasional Western options. There’s also a decent little bar. You need to allow at least an hour’s preparation time.
reviewed
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Green Park Beach Hotel
With a relaxed atmosphere and vast menu of mainly north Indian dishes, this hotel restaurant is one of the nicer places to eat.
reviewed
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Why Not Pastry Shop
A bright, clean and modern pastry and snack shop that is an ideal spot for a cold drink and some respite from the steamy streets.
reviewed
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Aadavan Suvaiuzthu
Tickle those taste buds with something sweet at this pleasant snack bar and bakery decked out in bright colours.
reviewed
