Kolamba East - Sri Lankan Restaurant Liverpool Street

Hugely impressed with Kolamba East! Absolutely blown away by the flavours in the food; we ordered the 'Favourites' Tasting menu and the team kindly replaced the Jaffna Lamb Shank with the whole rib Jaggery Rib upon request. Every dish was wonderful; the roasted Pineapple a real surprise and the sea bream perfectly cooked. The service was excellent and we were well looked after, the decor of the restaurant is beautiful and makes for a wonderfully comfortable but modern environment. I'd highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for something a little different to the usual fare from the Asian sub-continent - i'll definitely be going back.

Food was excellent - my picks are the whole rib jaggery beef and hot butter soft shell crab. Big flavours - as a Sri Lankan restaurant, I love how they’re not shy about the spicy element, which a lot Asian restaurants tend to alter due to the local preference. Coconut sorbet was a pleasant surprise as well - massive scoop and you can taste fresh coconut out of it! Service was bit slow, probably because we are seated at the corner (blind spot)!

Really tasty food, charming venue and lovely service. The mezcal cocktail was really good. The soft shell crab, the jageree beef, the string hoppers were my favourite dishes. The dessert (payasam) was the only big disappointment. Definitely to forget....!

Really lovely, modern contemporary style restaurant. Love love love the furnishing. Quite easy to locate from Liverpool Street station (about 10mins walk) It's located right behind Sainsbury's I think it is. I can't really describe the exact location but Google maps will get you there 😊 (it's tucked away in a corner that's why) The service was fantastic! We were waited upon by their amazing staff. I attended their first showcase private dining and it was splendid 😋 Oh the food! It was gloriously delicious, the flavours, colours, textures amazing 😍 First time eating Sri Lankan food and I was very wowed! I will def be eating it again and again. The private dining section was separated with curtains so it feels cozy. The bar area is right in the middle of the restaurant and the kitchen you can sight the chefs cooking up your meal which I think is a lovely touch. The toilet is also beautifully done. I just love the originality as their furnishing and lighting were all from Sri Lanka... exquisite! I would highly recommend and visit again definitely 🥰♥️

Latest Sri Lankan Fine-dinning Restaurant, “Kolamba East”, near Liverpool Street Tube Station. This is the second venture by Aushi and Eroshan Meewella after the successful “Kolamba” in Soho! In the Central London, with a tranquil surrounding and quality Seating for 90 persons. Tasteful decor by Aushi, beautiful Paintings by an Artist from Sri Lanka, Kolamba East is a High-end Restaurant for authentic Sri Lankan Food experience, in ambient lighting. Very friendly, attentive Staff helped us to select Drinks, Starters, Mains and Desserts. I really enjoyed the Arrack Old Fashion Cocktail, Ceylon Arrack infused Curry-leaves, Jaggery and Bitter. Soft-Shell Carb was the best I have come across with lots of flavours infused. Lamb Shanks with Egg-Hoppers which is one of the best I have consumed, goes well accompanied by Coconut Sambol. The King Prawn String-hopper Biriyani was so delicious. Desserts, Caramel Pudding with Honeycomb and Chocolate Biscuit Pudding were so delicious. The White Coffee completed a fantastic Meal with great company! Thank you Aushi, Eroshan and the Staff for a memorable Night-out in London!

We visited as a group of 6 on a Wednesday evening. Although located within a deserted street with nothing else around it, I was pleasantly surprised upon arrival as the decor has been very nicely done, and the whole place feels distinctly more upmarket and trendy versus their original location in Soho. It was also surprisingly busy for a weekday. While there was a £55 set menu on offer for our group, we opted to go a la carte. We tried the papadums, soft shell crab, lamb chops, jaggery beef, tamarind chicken curry, sea bream curry, pineapple curry as well as a round of egg hoppers, a few pol rotis and some rice. The portions are relatively small and we did double up on most items under the guidance of our waiter. The food was very good and just like the Soho original they did not hold back on the chillies! The 4 of us in the group who originate from this part of the world very much enjoyed the spices, but it was a struggle for the other 2! Note that the menu did not indicate which items were spicier. Favourite items on the night were the soft shell crab and the jaggery beef. We did try the CPB (choc biscuit pudding) for dessert and was quite disappointed in their deconstructed take on it, especially having tried the normal version which is far superior in my view. Service was friendly but very slow. In fairness they did have a gas supply cut at one point which halted their kitchen activities for 15 min or so, but even after allowing for this I think the pacing was too slow. Funnily enough I had the exact same experience in Soho, and in both cases the meals extended beyond 3 hours. The bill for the 6 of us came to a £522, of which £180 was spent on drinks. This felt quite reasonable. In conclusion, this place offers some authentic and untamed Sri Lankan cuisine, and the food itself is probably near the top of the pack within the small but growing selection of Sri Lankan restaurants in central London. They do need to sharpen up their service however. Compared against the aforementioned group this was easily the slowest of the lot, even if discounting for the gas interruption. Hopefully just teething issues in this recently opened venue, albeit I am a bit wary after my similar experience in their other location. That said, I would give them another chance as the food was pretty good. Edit: a second visit in November 2024 resulted in notably quicker and more friendly service, however I was surprised to see a major reduction in spice levels, apparently on the back of customer feedback. I was less impressed by the toned down version of their menu and would suggest they ask customers upfront about their preferences and prepare the food accordingly.

They have a great set menu option as well as a wonderful à la carte selection. The soft shell crab was a stand out dish! Fried to perfection, wonderfully spicy, and balanced well with onion and herbs. We got 1 starter, 2 for-the-table plates, and 2 sides (including yellow rice) to share between the two of us and it was the perfect amount of food. The mango chutney was a sweet and spicy way to open the night. The sea bream in coconut and dhal with spinach were each perfect, and lovely together. Will be coming back with friends!

Superb delicious amazing flavours. Lovely efficient staff. Will definitely go back. Short Rib incredible and how they do the roasted pineapple is superb