I spent 3 days in Sri Lanka. You can read about all of that or you can just see the important stuff: what I ate. Here’s a guide into some of the traditional, must-eats while in Sri Lanka:

1. Roti (Coconut Based Flat Bread) & Sambol (Chili Paste)

Traditional breakfast – try it with the sambol if you can do spicy foods – otherwise enjoy with butter & jam.

2. Rice & Curry

This is basically the staple classic, but what curries you get keep it a totally different meal each time. Here is a daal (lentil), fish curry, and an onion curry served with some poppadum and rice. The fried egg was an addition from my friend’s biryani (upper-left corner) since he’s allergic to eggs.

3. Thimbili (King Coconut)

Stop by a roadside stand and quench your thirst with some water from a King Coconut – one of the most hydrating and pure beverages you can get, perfectly provided by nature. As a bonus, sometimes there will be a little coconut meat inside. When you are done drinking, give it back to the guy with a machete and he’ll open it up for you as well as giving you a shard you can use to scoop it out!

4. Kotthu

This is the go-to street food dish of Sri Lanka. Typically rice or noodle based, these are the shops that are also a bit of entertainment as the guys in the window chop & mix it up to a delightful, rhythmic cadence. This is a cheese and noodle based one that the guys at my hotel were kind enough to whip up for me when it was too late for me to get one from the street stalls.

5. Kiribath (milk rice) & Sambol (Chili Paste)

Another very traditional breakfast where rice is prepared with coconut milk and served in slices with sambol. Mine came with a hot chili sambol and an onion sambol which added some sweet.

6. Green Mango

Another roadside stall staple, it’s slightly unripe mango (but not nearly as tart & unripe as the kind enjoyed in Thailand) served with a chili sauce. A perfect afternoon snack!

7. Cold Deviled

OK so this isn’t a traditional Sri Lankan dish, but I ordered this green salad at The Royal Retreat and it was too pretty not to share.

However, this “cold deviled” with fish curry, onion curry, dal, beans, & vegetable curry served with rice, pappadum, and chutney was.

8. Egg Hoppers & String Hoppers

Egg Hoppers are basically like a crepe bowl with a fried egg in the bottom that you can use to scoop up all your curries while String Hoppers are a nice little nest of noodles to rest your curries on. I got to try them both and a wide variety of delights at the breakfast buffet at Habanara Cinnamon Village.

9. Mee-kiri (Curds & Treacle)

The buffalo milk curds on their own are tart and very similar to unsweetened greek yogurt in taste and consistency. The treacle is perfect to add a bit of sweet to this traditional dish. You’ll find it sold in clay pots in stand after stand on the roadside.

10. Lunch at my friend’s home

An out of this world home-made meal featuring Crab Curry, Pickled Vegetables, Squid, Okra, and Coconut Sambol (not pictured) served with a very interesting herbal, health drink. Sorry, this is one meal you may find hard to re-create should you ever visit (unless you know my friend of course).

BONUS: What I drank – Lion Lager, Lion Stout, & Old Arrack

The go-to national beer is Lion Lager. As much as I can be a craft beer lover, I hope to never get too snobby to enjoy the local water beer – perfect at the end of a long, hot day.

I also tried the stout which I found rich and chocolatey and enjoyed more than I expected. Tasted more like a porter to me though.

And of course, I simply had to try the local liquor “arrack” which is made out of coconuts! Best enjoyed with some Coke and ice.