Restaurants in The Hill Country
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Nescoffee
This cool and compact roadside cafe/bar is an homage to Robert Nesta Marley and has nonstop reggae beats and Ella’s coldest beer. You’ll need it for the spicy devilled cashews. Breakfast is available from early in the day, and Nescoffee stays open ‘till the last person leaves’. (Let your guest-house owner know if you’re going to be late, because some places in Ella close their doors a tad early.)
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Milano Restaurant
This restaurant has a reliable menu of Sri Lankan, Western and Chinese dishes and friendly service. Treat yourself to some sweet baked goodies and a coffee to set you up for the rest of the afternoon.
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Sri Vani Vilas Hotel
The Sri Vani Vilas Hotel, near the Bandarawela bus stand, is one of the places for short eats, dosas, rottis, and rice and curry.
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Jade Green Tea Centre & Restaurant
Traveller-recommended spot for good local food above the Bank of Ceylon.
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White House Restaurant
Down the street from Devon, this restaurant is tacky but cheap. It has snacks, drinks and ice cream, or you can fill up on meals such as mixed fried rice, chicken fried noodles and sweet-and-sour chicken.
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Hill Club
Dinner at Hill Club is an event in itself. The five-course set menu focuses on hearty meals like roast beef, served, with all the trimmings, promptly at 8pm. The whole thing is carried off with faded colonial panache: gloved waiters, candles and linen tablecloths and serviettes. For the formal dining room, men must wear a tie and jacket – there are a few on hand, but they sometimes run out – or Sri Lankan national dress. Women must also be suitably attired in a dress or dress slacks. The dress code at the Hill Club’s à la carte, casual restaurant is not so strict. If you’re not staying the night here, you’ll have to pay a Rs 100 temporary joining fee. The food doesn’t liv…
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Rawana Holiday Resort
‘See you for rice and curry at 8 o’clock’ certainly sells short one of the best eating experiences in Sri Lanka. Look forward to around eight different dishes, including sweet-and-sour eggplant, spicy potato curry, and Rawana’s signature garlic curry, made with whole cloves of the ‘stinking rose’. Wannabe vampires might want to eat elsewhere, but it’s a must-visit for everyone else. The charming owner offers cookery classes in her kitchen and provides printouts of her surprising recipes. Everything is from her organic garden nearby. You’ll need to book by midafternoon.
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Lyon Café
Among locals this is one of Kandy's most famous restaurants. There are three dining rooms, a fan-cooled room downstairs and two slightly fancier, air-con rooms on two separate floors upstairs. About two-thirds of the menu is Chinese, a third Sri Lankan, but for dinner just about everyone orders the Sino-Sinhalese 'Lyon Special', a huge platter of fried rice, boiled eggs and your choice of devilled meats.
One plate will easily feed two or three people (though that doesn't stop most Sri Lankan patrons from downing one platter each).
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Kandy Muslim Hotel
No, it’s not a hotel, but it is an always bustling eatery that offers Kandy’s best samosas, authentically spiced curries and heaving plates of frisbee-sized, but gossamer-light, naan. It’s a largely male domain, but women travellers will be treated with respect and offered a seat in the family section out the back. Don’t miss the frantic theatre of the kotthu rotti (doughy pancake chopped and fried with meat and vegetables) guy out the front.
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History Restaurant
With dishes from India, Italy, Thailand and Sri Lanka, this place could almost be called ‘Geography’. The food’s OK and there’s a good selection of booze, but the real reason to go are the interesting B&W pics of old Kandy. And no, you’re not required to take notes during the Kandyan history PowerPoint presentation that runs silently in the background. Monkeys look on from outside and already know all the answers.
reviewed
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Bake House
Downstairs from The Pub (opposite), Bake House is versatility plus, with tasty baked goodies out the front and a more formal dining room concealed under the building’s whitewashed colonial arches. At the time of research, a makeover was being planned to up the ‘colonial’ spin of the architecture. Pop in just after 3pm, when the second bake of the day comes out and the short eats are still warm.
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Dream Café
Multiple traveller recommendations fly the flag for this main-drag place with a cool, shady garden. It’s a cosmopolitan wee spot with good espresso coffee, well-executed Western dishes like tortilla chicken wraps, and smoothies and salads for the healthy traveller. Don’t be too pious, though: the beers are nice and cold. Internet (Rs 5 per minute) is also available.
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Paiva's Restaurant
The Rs 175 lunchtime rice and curry is a handy intro to Sri Lankan cuisine, with three different rices and a multiplate array of curried accompaniments. In the evening choose between Chinese or North Indian à la carte menus. Both are good, and the friendly waiters will respect your request for ‘spicy please?’ Just as well the beer is cold, eh?
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King Prawn Restaurant
Chinese is the overriding culinary influence here, all delivered in a dining room transplanted from 1930s England. Thai flavours also linger in some of the dishes, and there’s a good array of seafood on offer. You’re a few miles inland here, so expect to pay a hefty premium. Service is rather stiff and formal, but very prompt.
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Rams
In a new, larger location, Rams continues to serve good South Indian food, including vegetarian thalis('all-you-can-eat' meals consisting of rice with vegetable curries and pappadams) and a variety of dosas (paper-thin rice- and lentil-flour pancakes) in a wonderfully colourful setting featuring Hindu devotional art.
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Curd Shop
Tiny hole-in-the-wall spot near the bus stand that’s good for breakfast – around 15% cheaper than the guest houses – before or after an early-morning stroll to Little Adam’s Peak. It’s a good place to try curd and honey (Rs 90) or kotthu rotti (Rs 200). It’s also handy for picking up sandwiches if you’re going walking.
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Bombay Sweet City
Fulfil your longing for sweet Indian snacks – especially if you’ve just flown in from India – at this hole-in-the-wall, eat-on-the-go kind of place. The cashew barfi(fudge-like sweet) is very moreish, and there’s an orchard full of fresh fruit juices to battle Kandy’s occasional three-wheeler haze.
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Flower Song Chinese Restaurant
This local family favourite is so popular that there was a security guard outside we when stopped by. That’s what tasty and good-value Chinese standards can do for an eatery. And yes, you can get a beer, but only from 11am to 2pm and 5pm to 10pm.
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Lakshmi Guest House
Many people eat in their guesthouses, where some of Kandy's tastiest food is to be had. Particular kudos go to the kitchens at Lakshmi Guest House. Nonguests are welcome, but should call ahead to make sure there's enough food to go around.
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St Andrew’s Hotel
There’s a couple of restaurants at this venerable hotel. The Old Course Restaurant channels the culinary heritage of the British Empire, while the new Taste of Asia (open from 6pm) has lighter oriental flavours.
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Risara Bakers
Head to Risara Bakers for what just may be Sri Lanka’s best samosas. Pop in there when you get back from World’s End in the early afternoon. A fresh batch of still-warm baked goodies usually appears around 2pm.
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Olde Empire Hotel
The modest dining hall at the Olde Empire is full of character and serves delicious rice and curry and lunch packets. The flowers on the tables are delivered fresh every day apparently – always a good sign.
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De Silva Food Centre
This inexpensive eatery located along a busy main street serves Sri Lankan and Chinese fare. A few vegetarian rotti make a good lunchtime snack.
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Lanka Tea Centre
The Lanka Tea Centre, opposite the Welimada and Nuwara Eliya bus stand, is one of the places for short eats, dosas, rottis, and rice and curry.
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Delight Bakers & Sweet House
Similar to Bake House, Delight has reasonable bread, pastries, cakes and short eats, and dozens of sweets waiting to march out the door.
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