Hiriketiya, Sri Lanka, Feels Like Bali Without the Crowds
"An arrack-only bar specializing in classic cocktails and traditional Sri Lankan dishes, located right by the water for sunset views." - Katie Lockhart
Katie Lockhart
Katie is a travel and food journalist specializing in luxury brands and hotels. She has been writing and traveling the world full-time for more than four years.
Travel + Leisure Editor
The best food we had in the area, very nice staff, great location, very clean modern but still open air and feels very authentic Sri Lankan. Highly recommend and would love to come back any time. You can have lunch here or dinner. We just had some little appetisers and cocktails for sunset (10k all together) and it was absolutely perfect.
Taylor Steffens
Google
RAA is an absolute must in Hiriketiya Beach. One of a kind Sri Lankan food and locally made Arrack. The restaurant is perfect for a sunset meal as it overlooks the bay. The breeze gently blows, and the views are outstanding. All the food was best in class, but the sambal, beet curry and charred chicken were particularly excellent. The staff are so kind and attentive. Great vibe and atmosphere!
Karthik Mahalingam
Google
Excellent Lankan food. Superb views of the beach from the seating. Service was friendly. Kitchen made items fresh. Like we could see the fresh jackfruit getting cut when we ordered. Pricing is on the higher side but worth the experience at least once. Related to the Smoke & Bitters (Asia's top bars) management. Each item was well prepared and some were excellent like the cassava and green chilli and potato starters. The Dal was excellent and they have a choice of red rice, coconut milk rice (slightly mushy) and coconut rotis. Drinks were pretty good too. Do a reservation before you go. Also it's a narrow road to enter the restaurant and car parking maybe a challenge. On the whole a excellent time was had by all and look forward to returning.
Steven Scorer (Steve)
Google
Had the lagoon prawns. Blew my mind. Beautiful location. Great staff. Not the cheapest meal I’ve had in Sri Lanka but would go back again. Cocktails also great! Really nice treat for myself and GF.
Cassie Eniska
Google
We absolutely love this place!! The foods are really good, and better for sharing. We love the coconut rice, and also the prawns! The view also stunning especially for sunset hour. Make sure you book before you come.
Olivia de Vries
Google
Yum!!! Go here if you're a foodie and willing to indulge in next level Sri Lankan cuisine. We got great suggestions from the staff and decided to order guests favorites - including pickled vegetables, seafood and plenty of coconut. Don't forget to order a cocktail as they are amazing and different from what you would find in a standard bar.
Karl Gotts
Google
We had dinner here. We were staying on the other side of the beach and blindly followed google maps the long way around. Which was actually fun. We found out on the way back the lagoon doesn’t flow out enough to stop us walking on the beach.
When we arrived and were made very welcome and given a table looking out to the beach, it was at night but still looked great. The host made suggestions of sharing everything and selecting 1 meal from each section of the menu. So we did this and it were not disappointed (4 of us including 2 kids). The pork curry was the top pick for me. We also had a cocktail which was delicious. Sorry I can’t remember the names of the dishes. definitely recommend
Simon
Google
Superb restaurant, highly recommend.
The food was delicious - we loved the pumpkin curry, pork curry (tasted like pork ribs) and the prawn lentil starter.
Food came very very quickly - we were in and out within 45 minutes - but I think we were there quite late.
Service was also fantastic and friendly.