Eat & Drink Like a Local - Sri Lanka - page 69

Restaurants In Colombo, beach resorts and tourist-geared towns (like Galle) you'll find ex-
cellent restaurants offering everything from Italian to gourmet local cuisine.
Bakeries These sell what locals call 'short eats', essentially an array of meat-stuffed rolls,
meat-and-vegetable patties (called cutlets), pastries and vadai . At some places, a plate of
short eats is placed on your table, and you're only charged for what you eat. Many bakeries
(and some restaurants) also offer a 'lunch packet', which is basically some rice and a
couple of small portions of curry.
When to Eat
Sri Lankans generally eat three meals a day. Interestingly the type of food consumed at
each meal is quite distinct, so you usually won't find lunch foods (like rice and curry)
available at dinner time.
Breakfast A typical local breakfast might take place around sunrise, and consist of hoppers
and some fruit. Milky tea is usually taken with breakfast; in the cities some favour coffee. In
hotels and guesthouses popular with tourists, Western-style breakfasts are almost always
available.
Lunch Eaten between midday and 2.30pm. Rice and curry, the definitive Sri Lankan meal,
is an essential experience which simply can't be missed - it can be quite a banquet or
simple pitstop depending on the place.
Dinner Usually eaten between 7pm and 9pm. If you really don't fancy a hot curry for dinner
you'll find seafood and fish usually very lightly spiced, and fried rice is mild.
Drinks
Sri Lanka's heat means that refreshing beverages are an important - and vital - part of the
day's consumption.
Tea & Coffee
Tea with spoonfuls of sugar and hot milk is the locally preferred way to drink the indigen-
ous hot drink. If you don't have a sweet tooth, be very assertive about lowering the sugar
dose.