Best Restaurants in Colombo (2026)

Colombo's food scene is varied, and it is easy to eat well at most price levels. The best-known names belong to chef Dharshan Munidasa: Ministry of Crab, in the Old Dutch Hospital, serves wild-caught mud crab by size with signature pepper and garlic chilli preparations, while Nihonbashi, founded in 1995 and now at Port City, was the first Sri Lankan restaurant on the Asia's 50 Best list. Book both well ahead, and note that Ministry of Crab closes on poya days.

For Sri Lankan food, Upali's in Colombo 7 serves rice and curry, hathmaluwa and fish head curry from 8am to 11pm, and Nuga Gama at Cinnamon Grand recreates a village setting where local cooks prepare island dishes. Isso is a casual favourite for prawns, where you choose the size, cooking style and side. The Gallery Café, in Geoffrey Bawa's former offices, mixes local and international dishes beside an art gallery. Hotel restaurants add variety, from Avartana's progressive South Indian tasting menus at ITC Ratnadipa to Shang Palace's weekend yum cha at Shangri-La and Sri Lankan seafood at Ocean in The Kingsbury. For a beach dinner, head to Loon Tao at Mount Lavinia, which reopened in 2025.

10 places · Updated October 27, 2026

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1. Ministry of Crab

Sri Lankan crab and seafood$$$$Fort

Dharshan Munidasa's crab restaurant in the Old Dutch Hospital, co-founded with cricketers Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara and serving wild-caught Sri Lankan mud crab.

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2. Nihonbashi

Japanese$$$$Port City

Dharshan Munidasa's Japanese restaurant, founded in 1995 and the first Sri Lankan restaurant on Asia's 50 Best list, now on Chaithya Road at Port City.

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3. Upali’s

Sri Lankan$$Cinnamon Gardens

A traditional Sri Lankan restaurant opened in 2013 in its founder's former family home in Colombo 7, known for rice and curry, hathmaluwa and fish head curry.

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4. The Gallery Café

Sri Lankan and international$$$Kollupitiya

A Paradise Road restaurant opened in 1998 in Geoffrey Bawa's former offices, serving local and international dishes beside a gallery of changing exhibitions.

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5. Nuga Gama

Sri Lankan village cooking$$$Kollupitiya

Cinnamon Grand's village-style restaurant, where local cooks known as ammes prepare traditional Sri Lankan island dishes in a village-style setting in the city centre.

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6. Avartana

Progressive South Indian$$$$Galle Face

ITC Hotels' progressive South Indian fine-dining restaurant at ITC Ratnadipa, open for dinner and described as reinventing southern Indian cuisine with local flair.

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7. Loon Tao

Chinese seafood$$$Mount Lavinia

A beachside Chinese seafood restaurant at Mount Lavinia that reopened in 2025 after a long closure, with 350 seats, private rooms and live music every evening.

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8. Isso

Sri Lankan prawn and seafood$$Kollupitiya

A home-grown Sri Lankan seafood restaurant founded in 2016 and built around sea-caught prawns, with its flagship on Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha in Colombo 3.

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9. Ocean at The Kingsbury

Sri Lankan seafood$$$Fort

The Kingsbury's seafood restaurant, serving Sri Lankan crab curry and whole fish cooked the local way, with window tables looking out over Port City.

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10. Shang Palace

Chinese$$$$Galle Face

Shangri-La Colombo's Chinese restaurant, cooking Dongbei, Szechuan and Cantonese dishes, with a yum cha brunch of dim sum and barbecue on weekends and holidays.

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