If you're ever at the Borella junction (Baseline and Cotta Road) you'll see the stairs leading down. These steps lead pedestrians under and across the road and have, over time, became home to a fair…
The Galle Face Hotel is one of Colombo's oldest, best known hotels, established in 1864. Over the years it's provided food and shelter to many a revered name: Yuri Gagarin, John D. Rockefeller, Prince Phillip…
When it comes to value for money, The Station is pretty difficult to beat. They tick all the right boxes with their ambience, service and food.
Srina Palace is an unlikely little trove of treasures tucked away in various parts of the city. And it's one of those places, like House of Fashion, that's almost as heavily frequented by Colomboites as it…
The Cargills Food City on Staple Street is one of the city's best supermarkets. It was the chain's first outlet, and has been around since 1983. It's large and offers a wider variety of…
Ramani’s is a nice place and a good salon. It won't give you for money, but they're reliable and probably won’t ruin your hair. The staff – at the Nugegoda branch at least – are…
Indi and Shru have been making an effort to convince me of the merits of Mc Rice. I’ve responded with stubborn scepticism. I don’t eat McDonalds (it’s not food snobbery, or maybe it is)…
Commons is one of Colombo's most popular hangout spots. They've got a great location on flower road and a relaxed atmosphere. Its expansive menu means your spoilt for choice but quality varies depending…
You can get a decent used PC (with monitor) with 3 month warranty for about Rs. 22,000, or about half the price of a new one.
For those with no prior knowledge of Chinese they offer beginners classes - Saturdays 11.30- 1 PM, Rs 6000 for six months. Judging by the standard of the intermediate class this is probably…
Near the mosque on Bauddhaloka Mawatha near Bambalapitiya Junction is my contender for the bath kade that sells one of the best budget lunch packets in Colombo 4 (what the hell, maybe even the…
We’re not huge fans of the French macaron, but they looked so pretty that we gave Munchkin a call and ordered ourselves a box of 10, which included an assortment of vanilla, chocolate and…
The New Colonial Hotel is at the high end of dodgy bars. Downstairs is a high-ceilinged bar with bad food but decent drinks and a nice ambiance.
If you want to sit in a comfortable environment and wait an hour to get something printed, Softwave Gallery is the place. If you're missing the sarcasm, this is not the place to go, ever.…
This place does a decentish bath packet for around Rs. 170. Samba rice, dahl, a couple of vegetables curries (gotakola, beetroot, snake-gourd, etc) and sometimes soya, wrapped up with your choice of…
Tasty Caterers is one of the better bakeries in Colombo. They've got a good range of savouries, and some of the best eclairs in the city.
Dinemore's never struck me as an exceptional place. I've always enjoyed the food and found it tasty, but it's not the kind of place I'd actively choose to go to – it was more of an oh it's just round…
If your goal is to communicate how much money or status you have, this probably isn't the place, but if you're just trying to give a thoughtful gift of flowers, you can't go wrong with plucking…
At Rs 260, the Ex-Serviceman's Institute Bar (open to all) is as cheap as beer gets. Its all male clientele is actually quite well-mannered.
A whole grilled fish, a pile of garlic drenched prawns, some ice cold bottles of lion larger, the roar of the sea all to yourself on a weekday evening. This is what Haus Chandra/the Boat Haus Cafe offers.…
A gang of hairdressers operating out of three small rooms on Vajira Road, with a branch in Mount Lavinia.
La Passion is a midrange, established hair salon
One of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Colombo, Chinese Dragon does an okay job.
Bombay Sweet Mahal is one of many shops selling Indian sweets and fruit juice in Wellawatte. What sets it apart are their special offerings, like the multi-layered fruit cocktail (Rs. 290) and…
