Sri Lanka – a brunch guide to the south coast
If brunch is one of your favourite weekend and vacation activities – this brunch guide to Sri Lanka’s south coast is for you. The area has been popular with surfers for some time, but is now being discovered by all kinds of travelers. Because of this, you can find versatile breakfast options that range from Bali-like hipster spots (with European prices), to local gems with great traditional food for a bargain.
So no matter if you are looking for an instagrammable brunch plate or Sri Lankan flavours, the following list will surely have a place to satisfy your needs.
The Kip – Ahangama
Nestled a few side streets away from the busy main road, this tranquil oasis is situated among palm trees and greenery, giving off jungle vibes galore. Their all-day brunch follows the “pick 3–5 dishes” concept that has been popular in Western and Northern Europe for some time.
If you aren’t familiar with the procedure yet, it goes like this: you decide how many small dishes you would like to enjoy and then go ahead and tick your favourites on the list; choosing from different categories such as ‘bread‘, ‘spreads’, ‘savoury’, and ‘sweet’.
The menu spans from rye bread to glazed vegetables to brekky buns to cake and smoothie bowls – rest assured that there will be something on there for anyone’s taste. Vegan and gluten-free options are available, too.
What I had: Brekky bun with tomato, fried egg, caramelised onion, homemade mayo; glazed oyster mushrooms with crunchy greens & hummus; barley tabouleh salad, grilled halloumi, hot honey, tzatziki, sesame; smoothie bowl with toasted granola.
Mr. Sunils Roti and Juice Shop – Ahangama
Sometimes chance is on your side and you end up discovering a local place that hadn’t even made it as a tag on your Google Maps. Mr. Sunil’s restaurant is located right at the beach so you can enjoy your breakfast with a view of the Indian Ocean, listening to the sound of the waves.
The ‘interior’ (if you want to call it like that as the open place is more ‘exterior’ really) is basic and the food are local stables. Upon ordering the egg hoppers, Mr. Sunil, a skinny elderly man with a big smile, congratulated me on my brilliant choice.
As it turned out, he was right. The egg hoppers were thin with a soft bottom and crunchy sides, the dhal was delicious, and the onion chutney spicy – something that dishes surprisingly tend to lack despite their reputation.
Not only was the overall breakfast experience memorable, but watching Mr. Sunil greet his regular guests with a warm hug and showing off selfies with them on his Instagram, felt genuinely welcoming. For a heartwarming local experience, make sure to stop by this roti shop.
BLACK HONEY CAFE – AHANGAMA
We came a long way to hang out and eat at this place as it is located more inland, overlooking rice fields (at least at the time of this article; after all, this can change quickly). The stylish design and interior instantly gave off Bali vibes – which attracted the kind of individuals, who are mostly busy taking photos of themselves than enjoying the place (can you tell I’m not a fan?).
Anyway, let’s talk food instead: the mushrooms and poached eggs on sourdough that we had for breakfast were nice but not mind-blowing. There are also several types of cookies on display and I went with a matcha cookie which was decent. But – behold the banana bread!
After cooling down in the pool, I had to order the banana bread which I had seen on the café’s Instagram. Oh mama, it looked great, it tasted great, I would go back for it.
ROCKVIN CAFE – MITIGAMA
If you are wondering where food-related travel articles are written – sometimes at the very places that are recommended in them. To be fair, it comes at no surprise that this list was assembled at Rockvin as I probably spent half of my working hours at this locally-owned café in Mitigama.
Rockvin may be a bit noisy as it is located right on the busy road that follows the ocean front, however, you’ll also be able to enjoy the view of the waves and the surfers battling them.
Rockvin offers breakfast and lunch – both Sri Lankan and Western-inspired – as well as cakes, cookies, and pastries. It is one of the only places that I visited that provided soy milk at no extra charge.
THE NOMAD - WELIGAMA
If you’re going to Weligama, this place probably is on your list already. It’s buzzing with people and, depending on the time of day, you may have to queue to actually get a table.
The interior is of the sleek, white concrete-wood kind that, again, brought back memories of Bali. You’ll see the kind of crowd that seems to look breezy and stylish in any temperature like tanned surfer dudes and well put-together women (why no greasy sunscreen face and frizzy hair, girl! What is the secret!).
We visited a couple of times and the food was spot-on every single time. In fact, the menu had so many tempting options that we ended up suffering from decision-paralysis because we wanted to try basically all the dishes.
You can also find cakes and pastries at The Nomad. While the cakes were good, the pastries obviously faced the destiny of any flaky, layered pastry in humid climates: they had no more crunch to give.
KOPI – WELIGAMA
A little gem that we only stumbled upon because we took the non-scenic room home from the supermarket as we were carrying 10 litre bottles of water.
KOPI has minimal seating but both times I visited, it wasn’t busy at all. We came back to have breakfast one day, opting for the Turkish eggs with sourdough bread.
The coffee was good, the homemade lemonade was refreshing, the staff was welcoming, and the menu sports other items like traditional Sri Lankan breakfast that we didn’t get to try unfortunately.
All in all, I can recommend stopping by.
AFTER SURF – WELIGAMA
Hands down, this was one of my favourite places to eat during the six week trip to Sri Lanka – the kind of place where you go “I need to eat there one more time before I leave.”
The view from the rooftop cafe over the palm trees and beach – especially at sunset – are of the pinch-me kind that almost bring tears to your eyes because you feel incredibly lucky in that instant (it’s the little things, people!).
All the food that I tried was tasty and full of flavour: fish tacos, a veggie burger, and poke bowl. Coffee and drinks were a delight as well.
Shady Lane – Mirissa
I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t for the pretty pictures online that we ended up at Shady Lane in Mirissa. Pretty food gets me excited – but also raises expectations. After all, it is devastating to get your hopes up and have your taste buds disappointed.
Rest assured that this wasn’t the case here. We actually both ended up having a savoury lunch and a sweet dish after because we needed to try as much of the menu as possible. All of it was delicious and I may still occasionally be thinking about that luscious French toast until today…
Be prepared to wait for a table as Shady Lane is a popular spot. However, you can kill some of the waiting time in their adjacent shop and browse for memories to take back home.
Wild & The Sage – Unawatuna
A day trip to Gale brought us to Unawatuna, a coastal town that we wanted to check out before exploring the old town of Gale and its fortress (?).
After a short train and a bus ride, we were ready for breakfast at this cozy café / bookshop (which, hands down, simply is the best combo). We got a table in the garden behind the house and enjoyed a tasty late breakfast of spicy pulled jackfruit with greens, pol sambol, green papaya salad, salsa, and tiny rotis that you could assemble yourself.
Sadly, we were too full to try the home-baked cakes but I’m convinced that they would have been delicious.