155, Park Road, Colombo 5
Open until 11:00 PM
Thalis has kept to themselves over the years, so they're easy to miss if you're around Park road. They serve up some wonderful North and South Indian food fare, and are well worth a visit.
Thalis is a large, yet humble restaurant down Park Road that's always crowded and bustling with loyal customers. I find myself here on the reg and gorge on their excellently prepared North and South Indian dishes.
While they're a bit pricier than the average Indian food restaurant, they aim for a more refined dining experience. That's not to say they're an overpriced, gourmet-dining sort of space. It's just a more grown-up version of traditional Indian food joints, i.e: Saraswathie Lodge. You can take your extended family here and have a good experience is what I'm trying to imply.
They've got so many options, so we didn't quite know what to get. Therefore, we stuck with a few dishes from both the North and South Indian sections.
The Mini Ghee Idly (Rs. 400) is a party on a plate. It's essentially a bunch of tiny idlis batter fried to a crisp, golden brown and garnished with onions. Taste-wise it's sharp, lime-y for some reason and in contrast with the soft idli, absolutely divine.
Pictured here are the Palak Paneer (Rs. 750) and the Garlic Naan (Rs. 250).
You might want to skip on the side dishes if you're on a budget because they're small and a bit on the pricey side. The Palak Paneer consisted of about 8 cubes of paneer soaking in a thick, well-prepared gravy. My only qualm is that they could have added in a bit more salt. The spinach gives it an earthy sort of taste and I recommend you pair this with garlic naan.
The Naan was fresh, hot, crispy on the edges and comes embedded with tons of garlic bits. We loved it.
Their magnificent Thalis Special Meal (Rs. 750), is the biggest out of all the sets you'll find on the menu. It combines traditional South Indian Thali elements with a few North Indian knick-knacks like the small dish of biriyani, vada, chapathi, rava kesari and paneer curry.
It's a huge portion. They explicitly state 'No Sharing' on the menu which I found a bit awkward, but I'm assuming that's because people mistake this as a sharing platter in spite of its size. Whatever though, we shared the thing anyway, because we'd already gone ahead and ordered a lot of food and this one was far too plentiful for its teary-eyed customer to finish.
The curries were fresh and the basmati was soft and fluffy. The biriyani was incredibly rich, so the small dish is more than enough. The vada was crispy, and pillowy within, and the chapathi was light enough to not fill you up.
Their Masala Chai is top notch. In exchange for Rs. 150, you get a steaming cup of masala chai presented in a traditional tumbler set. The chai is milky but doesn't overshadow the spice. It's also of a thick consistency, which makes it great to sip on throughout your meal.
The Sweet Lassy (Rs. 400) is fantastic. It's the right combination of curd/yoghurt, water, and sugar. While it wasn't too sweet, the sugar level managed to perfectly complement the acidity from the yoghurt. A refreshing drink overall, and a good choice if you're having a heavy meal and want to wash it all down.
The service here is efficient and polite. The staff is friendly, and well versed in the menu, so don't be afraid to ask if you're not familiar with a dish you're interested in. Our food arrived within like 5 minutes. Also, if you'd like some extra curry or rice to keep going at your Thali, don't be shy- they're very accommodating.
This photograph of the ambience was taken about 3 years ago, and not a single thing has changed since. I'm sure they regularly maintain the insides, as everything is neat and in pristine condition. It's a very homely establishment, without any garish decor- which is something I really like.
Thalis is on my list of most recommended places to go to, so hop in if you're around the Park Road area. If you're not interested in lunch, they've got some delicious sweets you can get to go.
Thalis is a popular haunt for some excellent North and South Indian food fare.
Serving both north and south Indian thalis in addition to a la carte dishes, this all-vegetarian eatery is authentic and affordable — two adjectives we love a little more than others.
සිංහල ඉන්දියානු ක්රමේට වෙජිටේරියන් කෑම වේලකට
Address
Directions
On Park Road, go straight past Jack Tree and Off the Hook, towards Havelock Town. The restaurant will be on your right.
Contacts
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Open until 11:00 PM
Cuisine
Price Range
Dish Types
Ratings Breakdown
3/5
Overpriced for bad quality food. The sambhar was just watery dhal with a lot of chilli. The poori had atta in it and was extremely unpleasant. The onion rrava dhosai was barely crispy. This is. A mockery of Indian food.
My god when did a vegetarian meal or thali be considered affordable at LKR 400?
when a thali meal comes with air conditioning, a super clean environment including the washrooms then 400/- is perfectly fine in my opinion.
One is not just paying for the food costs, the ambience is also factored into the bill.
A dirty place serving thali at 150/- isn't a venue where one can take people to have a celebration or pleasant dining event. It's a necessity, whereas a venue like Thali's is more about indulgence.
I also find it great that there are venues catering to indian / subcontinental vegetarian diets in a more upmarket string than the average Saivar Kadé.
True, in a business sense. And again true Indian food has been mostly saiver atmosphere.
But why does the customer has to work the math to justify the bill? You pick the location because it has food and everything else (AC, washroom etc). If the customer feels the purchase (food) not worth the price paid, the merchant can't convince him by telling that he has paid for the washroom too.
It's still cheap. In India we get it for the same price 400 put Indian rupees….;) i.e. Near about 850 SLR
its worth for that price. i actually had it last week. even the panner and naan.i went with 2 of my friends, we even had onion dosai, malasa tea. the total came up to 2400/= ( which i think is a reasonable price for vegetarian ). rather than paying more than 2000/- for junk food. apart from shanmugas vegetarian food lover have a minimum choice. i will always recommend it to my friends and im going there this week too with my family.
Amazing food, ambience and service! Great value for money too, thoroughly enjoyed their Special Thali with an Indian Filter Coffee after to round things off. Will definitely go back for more and sample some of their North Indian dishes too.
for those who think 400 is too expensive for a Thali - hav eyou thought of the hygience standards of the places where such things come cheaper?
the best place to taste Indian cuisine, great set up and great service. worthy for the money
The food is good at Thalis but their service is pathetic is least to say. The manager who moved from Mathura with his old troop carried the old tradition under new regime. He is nothing more than a sweet talker who tries to hide his peoples inefficiencies under the sweet talk. The waiters and person seated at cash counter believes that they oblige the customers than serving them better. I am not writing this post after one off bad experience but it is after at least 6 to 7 visits and take away. The only reason to go there repeatedly is the good vegetarian food but I am really wondering if it is worth ????
This is our regular spot. We love everything about this place. Food, drinks, service. Everything is taken care of. Highly recommend.
Very Tasty food and Very Good ambiance and service!.Only Problem is the limited Parking.Value for the Money
1/5
NalinaSelvanathan
Very poor service and taste isn’t satisfactory.
3/5
VegJumbo
The taste and quality is on a down hill run lately. Used to be really good when it started off…
3/5
Nusra Cader
Overpriced for bad quality food. The sambhar was just watery dhal with a lot of chilli. The poori had atta in it and was extremely unpleasant. The onion rrava dhosai was barely crispy. This is. A mockery of Indian food.