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Sri Lankan cuisine has its own distinctive and delicious blend of flavours based on local ingredients. Many Sri Lankans will eat rice and curry three times a day and curries can be made with meat, fish or vegetables, flavoured with a heady blend of spices such as chillies, cinnamon, lemon grass, curry leaves, coriander, cumin, saffron, tamarind and coconut. Have ago at eating rice and curry with your fingers -watch the locals to pick up some tips. Don't forget to try the sweetmeats and snacks. Most famous are stringhoppers and egghoppers. If you fall in love with Sri Lankan cuisine, you can obtain a copy of the Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book, which provides abroad range of recipes in a small, travel-friendly format. Do not leave the island without tasting the amazing tropical fruits on offer. There are many varieties of dwarf bananas -some locals are banana connoisseurs and will happily tell you which ones are the best. Red-sugar bananas must be tried, if you can find them. Papaya, or pawpaw should be tried for breakfast, squeezed with lime. Also try custard apples from the up- country reagion. Rambutan, a cousin of the Iychee, is a local favourite, as are mangosteens and mangos.

The durian is delicious, if you can get beyond its infamously ferocious smell. Also try the juice of woodapples, which is wonderfully creamy if prepared in the traditional way. Jackfruit is another widely available local speciality, and curries made from breadfruit have a remarkable texture. 

Drinking Water
All imported beverages (wines. spirits and beers} carry a 100 percent tax so this can add to the cost of an otherwise inexpensive meal. Try local beers brewed the - highlands or cocktails made from Arrack rather than imported spirits.

Where to Eat in Colombo
Eating out in Colombo is surprisingly cheap and even five- star restaurants are good value. Vegetarian food is easy to find in all Chinese. Indian. Italian. Sri Lankan and Muslim restaurants. A pleasant surprise when eating at Chinese places is that even smart restaurants are happy to pack a "doggy-bag" in a white box. This is just as well as the portions in Sri Lankan Chinese restaurants are large. to say the least.

Phone : 686486
Snacks or Meals on the Balcony, Mongolian Barbeque Nightly

Phone : 544544
Pub food in a contrived, and sometimes noisy, atmosphere. 

Phone : 421577
Beer cellar atmosphere, wooden slabs for tables; characteristc heartyportions. 

Phone : 695920
Ioffering "global cuisine", this restaurant, converted from an old mansion, serves as a cafe and cake shop from 7am to 11pm with the accent on fine dining at meal times. 

Phone : 504678
Cocktail bar/lounge and intimate restaurant, with a decor of newsprint. 

Phone : 565986
ore upmarket than the name 
suggests, with cosy corners as well as rock videos in the garden.

Phone : 300613
In the small shopping complex under residential apartments; good bar and street-side, glassed in, restaurant.