By Janani Vithanage
The Covid-19 pandemic and the rather unstable state of the country’s economy at the moment, have made it necessary for many of us to go without many of the things we love. Regular meetups with friends, long (petrol consuming) trips and even the simple pleasures of reading late into the night or watching a movie on your laptop at home are often not possible. However, one thing we’ve never had to sacrifice is enjoying our favourite foods from our favourite restaurants, all thanks to PickMe!
In case you still haven’t discovered how convenient PickMe food is and how varied their options are, we decided to compile a list of the top 11 restaurants on the app. Remember, these aren’t in order of rank, it’s simply a list we’ve put together to make things easier for you.
1. Burgers vs. Shawarma
This is a little joint in Kandy that serves an interestingly wide range of submarines, pizzas and of course, burgers and shawarmas. They also have a variety of rice options like biriyani, fried rice, kottu, string hoppers, pasta and grilled meat. What makes this place really exciting is the amazing prices, starting at around LKR 350.
2. Al Maas Family Restaurant
Al Maas, located in Wattala, focuses mostly on Indian cuisine, with a few Chinese-style dishes thrown into the mix. They are best known for their flavourful biriyani, which comes in chicken, BBQ, mutton, beef, prawns, vegetable and egg. They also serve a plethora of naan roti, chicken, beef, mutton, fish and cuttlefish curry prepared in the Indian style. The best thing is that the food is not only extremely tasty, they provide ample portions at very affordable prices!
3. Ricorn Restaurant
Ricorn is a restaurant chain with branches in Colombo 0100, Colombo 0300, Colombo 0600 and Akurana. On PickMe, they specialize in providing a range of curries at very affordable rates (from 80-340 LKR), as well as a number of baked goods like buns, cakes and bread along with short eats. If you’re looking for a little snack to satiate those sudden hunger pangs we all feel, or a decent curry to have with the bread or rice you have at home, Ricorn would be a good pick.
4. Palpatha
Located in Nugegoda (specifically on the Ethul Kotte- Mirihana road), Palpatha is a restaurant well known for its traditional Sri Lankan dishes. They’re a little bit on the pricier side of the rice and curry scene, but we do feel like their food is totally worth the price. Their curries are a literal burst of flavours with the hints of the various spices used complementing each other beautifully. What really makes this place standout is the unbelievably wide range of curries available; from staples like dhal curry and pol sambol to different varieties of fish, chicken, prawns, pork and even turkey prepared as spicy red curries, milky white curries or stews, there’s something for everyone!
5. Light House Family Restaurant
This little restaurant located in Kandy is home to a variety of baked items, biriyani and curries. However, the highlight of the menu is the range of string hopper kottu, cheese kottu and dolphin kottu (and regular kottu as well of course). While the regular kottu and string hopper kottu are easier on the wallet, starting from just LKR 400, certain varieties of the dolphin kottu and cheese kottu are quite highly priced, but we’re sure you’ll find their portions and taste are well worth the money you spend.
6. Royal Bakery
Located in Wellawatta, Royal Bakery is a place we’ve all heard of, and with good reason. They’ve got a really diverse range of freshly baked bread including traditional Sri Lankan loaves, roast paan, brown bread, butter bread, naan bread and banana bread, as well as a number of croissants and sweet patisserie. They also offer a range of speciality cakes such as rich cake, chocolate gateaux, coffee gateaux, black forest gateaux and chocolate fudge. For lunch, they serve up some very yummy set menu rice and curry, yellow rice, fried rice and biriyani options.
7. Dinemore
Dinemore is a restaurant chain with outlets in Kohuwala, Wattala, Wellawatta, Colombo 0700, 0200 and 0300 and Kotte. They are best known for their great submarines that come with spicy chicken, beef, shrimp, tuna, chilli paneer and vegetables, starting at LKR 670. They also have a variety of burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, and rice and curry up for grabs.
8. Street Burger
With branches in Bambalapitiya, Mount Lavinia and Ethul Kotte, Street Burger should be your top pick if you’re looking for something that will fill you up while absolutely delighting your taste buds. The burgers have been named super creatively. Who wouldn’t feel hyped at the thought of tucking into something called “The Radiator”, “High Voltage” or “Firebird” right? The burgers consist of chicken, beef or veggie patties, along with generous amounts of cheese, lettuce, tomato and more, all drenched in their signature sauces and sandwiched in between a perfectly toasted bun. Their burgers are almost all priced over 1000 LKR, but we promise you won’t regret it.
9. Sulthan Palace
Sulthan Palace, located in Colombo 0700 is a great spot to order a range of dishes from all around the world including Sri Lankan rice and curry, Indian-style curries and bread, Chinese-style fried rice, Singaporean Mee Hoon Noodles and even Italian dishes like spaghetti and pastas. The portions are huge and the prices are manageable, so it’s a win from all sides!
10. Pan Restaurant
This restaurant in Wattala serves Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese and Japanese food. This includes rice and curry, Indian-style biriyani and north Indian dishes like poori, naan, tandoori chicken and chicken tikka and Japanese and Chinese fried rice and noodles. They also have a range of chicken, fish, mutton and prawn sawans, which are really worth their price (LKR 6500 – 8190).
11. Stoners Korner
Stoners Korner is another joint which specializes in high-end burgers and is located on Park Road, Colombo 0500. Most of their items are quite pricey, at over LKR 1000, but they do have a few in the LKR 600-900 range as well. Regardless of the prices, we guarantee that you’ll keep goingback for more; these burgers are simply packed with flavor, ranging from juicy chicken and beef patties soaked in hot cheese to unusual options like barramundi fish patties and coconut prawn.
