Upali’s

Upali's is a dependable place to get to know everyday Sri Lankan food in a comfortable setting. It was established in 2013 by Upali Dharmadasa with the aim of serving simply Sri Lankan cuisine, and it occupies what was once his family home on C.W.W. Kannangara Mawatha in Colombo 7. Portraits of his parents, H. K. Dharmadasa and Meelin, hang inside, which adds to the feeling of eating in a family house rather than a hotel dining room.

The menu covers meat, seafood and vegetarian dishes, and a good way in is the lunch set menu of rice with three vegetable dishes, coconut sambol, papadam, dry fish and curried gravy. For something more distinctive, try Upali's Baduma, a fried mix of banana flower, peanuts, noodles, onions, chilli, garlic and curry leaves, or the hathmaluwa, a seven-vegetable curry whose recipe the restaurant says dates back 2,000 years. The maalu oluwa, a fish head cooked in a light coconut curry with okra, pineapple and aubergine, is one for adventurous eaters, and the roti parata comes with chicken or tomato gravy.

The long opening hours, from 8am to 11pm every day, make Upali's unusually flexible. It works for a late breakfast, a long lunch between museum visits or an early dinner, and the range of vegetable curries makes it a good choice for vegetarians. Groups can order a spread of dishes to share, and the lunch set menu is a simple, complete meal for anyone eating alone.

There are several phone numbers on the restaurant's website for reservations, which are a good idea at peak lunch and dinner times or for larger groups.

The restaurant is in Cinnamon Gardens, a short ride from the National Museum, Viharamahadevi Park and Independence Square, so it fits neatly into a day of sightseeing in Colombo 7. Independence Memorial Hall, modelled on the royal audience hall of the Kandyan kings, and the restored colonial buildings of Arcade Independence Square are both close by for a walk after lunch. If you enjoy the food, a meal here makes good preparation for ordering confidently in simpler rice and curry places elsewhere on the island.