Dining here evokes memories of colonial times, as waiters fix you up with a drink (ideally a gin and tonic) on the veranda, take your order and beckon you into the dining room (or onto the terrace), then set you up with all manner of dishes. The food is well worth the wait, including excellent crab curries and seafood.
Riviera Resort
Top choice in Batticaloa
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
15.36 MILES
Kalkudah Beach is the kind of fantasy that makes you want to chuck away your return air ticket and lounge forever under the palms. Good roads run inland…
0.8 MILES
This once-mighty fort is now home to administrative offices, and though large sections of the structure are crumbling, it's still an evocative sight. It…
3.28 MILES
This fine new museum plunges deep into the history of Muslims and Arab traders locally. Spread over three floors, it tells a compelling story about…
Kallady & Navalady Peninsula Beach
1.02 MILES
This long beach follows the peninsula all the way north to the end. The swimming is usually good. With a bike, you can explore the beach, which has access…
0.89 MILES
This lovely modern park along Old Batti's waterfront is popular with strolling couples and includes features such as the Batticaloa Gate, which was a 19th…
26.7 MILES
Rising above the forest north of Ampara, this 150m-high hill offers panoramic views from its rocky summit (including, occasionally, of wild elephants at…
2.92 MILES
At the end of a sandbar, surrounded by lagoons and mangroves, this 28m-tall lighthouse dates from 1913. The sheltered coastline around here is a popular…
17.47 MILES
Just behind the resorts, this attraction is dedicated to the coconut, surely the world's most remarkable plant, and inexorably linked with Sri Lanka (its…
Nearby Batticaloa attractions
0.38 MILES
Beside Kallady Bridge is the fairly modern and relatively unattractive St Sebastian’s Church, built somewhat in the shape of a whale.
2. Thiruchendur Murugan Alayam Temple
0.39 MILES
Built in 1984 as a stopping point on the Pada Yatra pilgrimage to Kataragama, the temple's Murugan image is said to have opened its own eyes before the…
0.7 MILES
The tiny Auliya Mosque has a curious green minaret. It's a great place to observe the Dutch Fort over the water.
0.8 MILES
This once-mighty fort is now home to administrative offices, and though large sections of the structure are crumbling, it's still an evocative sight. It…
0.83 MILES
Consider a haircut and head massage (Rs 400) at this utterly bizarre salon, a monument to kitsch. Every centimetre is covered in decorative painting, fake…
0.89 MILES
This lovely modern park along Old Batti's waterfront is popular with strolling couples and includes features such as the Batticaloa Gate, which was a 19th…
8. Kallady & Navalady Peninsula Beach
1.02 MILES
This long beach follows the peninsula all the way north to the end. The swimming is usually good. With a bike, you can explore the beach, which has access…