Upali's by Nawaloka

Upalis by Nawaloka serves good authentic sri lankan food at a reasonable price. The service however isn’t great. You have to call the waiter multiple times for them to come to your table. Ambience was alright. The cutlet was good.

If you want to experience the full range of Sri Lankan cuisine in a beautiful setting, Upali’s is the place to go in Colombo. It was the perfect way to start our trip! The Food Experience: We tried the tasting menu, and it was absolutely fantastic. It’s the best way to sample different flavors without having to choose just one dish. The Highlights: Everything felt incredibly authentic and home-cooked but presented with high-end quality. From the rich curries to the fresh sambols, every bite was spot on. Variety: The selection was decent, giving us a great mix of meat and vegetable options that truly represented the island's spices. The Vibe & Service: The restaurant has a lovely, upscale-yet-homely atmosphere. It’s right near Viharamahadevi Park, making it a very central and nice location. The staff were attentive and made the "tasting" experience very smooth.

When they say Upali’s is a must-visit restaurant in Colombo, they are absolutely right. Everything we ordered was outstanding — the isso kirata, themparadu bath, parata with chicken gravy, roast paan, and mutton varuwal. Every single dish was brilliant, but the true star of the table was the mutton varuwal. It was absolutely mind-blowing — rich, perfectly spiced, and a dish that truly hits the right spot. A special shout-out to Upul L for his excellent and warm service, which made the experience even more memorable. Highly recommend!

I have been visiting Upalis for over 10 years now and there was a period after Covid I was worried about as it wasn't what it used to be. However having visited them about 3 times in the space of a week happy to say its back to the great food it always had. They definitely need to get more staff as they dont have enough staff and the people serving are really rushed off their feet which I find is not fair. Serving staff look so tired yet provide a service with a smile. Definitely need more staff

We arrived spontaneously as a group of four and were given a separate room since we planned to enjoy some drinks, which we really appreciated. The service was very friendly and attentive throughout our visit. The food did not take long to arrive and was absolutely delicious. The cuisine felt very authentic, and the staff were welcoming and professional. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience — definitely a place I would recommend.

Recently visited Upali’s by Nawaloka. We tried the mix fried rice which was quite flavorful. However, the cheese chicken kottu was a bit disappointing, as the cheese was just placed on top instead of being mixed in. We also ordered a cheese roti but it didn’t meet expectations. The dishes overall were not very spicy. We tried the watalappan as well, but it tasted like it had been refrigerated for a long time. Service was okay, nothing to complain about, but nothing special either.

I visited Upali’s On my short trip to Sri Lanka for a dinner with my two friends (2 of us are vegetarians). I went in with really high expectations because every Google search about the best Sri Lankan food places suggested this restaurant, but it really felt short of its reputation. We went at around 8:30 pm on a Sunday and the restaurant was not full, there were 5 to 6 families at max. Despite not being so crowded, nobody came to take our order until 9:30. When I called the waiters multiple times they just blatantly ignored me and went to other tables. The manager even made grumpy and rude faces at me. When the waiter finally came to take our order, he was extremely hasty and wasn’t patient while we spoke to him about the cuisine and enquired what we should get. Many of the things that I wanted to try from the menu were not available in spite of it being a Sunday night. He finally recommended that we go for the Hathmaluwa and Sudu Lunu Roti (and mutton for my non vegetarian friend). The food itself took long to arrive. Now I will not let the poor service cloud my opinion of the food, it was extremely mouth watering and decadent. I would definitely get the same dishes again, however it was not worth all that wait and frustration. The bread was excellent as well— I really liked the flavour of the garlic. However, the portion sizes of the bread were humongous. The food was scrumptious, but the service is unbecoming of the reputation that this restaurant holds, at least on the Internet. I’m not sure if this is a cultural thing in Sri Lanka to take food, especially dinners, very slowly; but the slow service was definitely a shocker. I would love to visit this place under better circumstances once again and then from my actual opinion. However, my first experience was not very enjoyable. In spite of the food being so good, we were so annoyed by the time that it came that we couldn’t enjoy it to the fullest. I don’t think this was because we did not have a reservation because the restaurant was practically empty. I did see the same treatment with another group of people at another table who did seem like outsiders. They have plates signed by all the famous cricketers who had dined there, but their service seemed contrary to this popularity. To sum everything up, good food but horrendous service.

Back in Colombo and Upali's is still a stalwart in the Sri Lankan cuisine circles. Walked in for a vegetarian rice and curry on a hot and humid afternoon. It would've been a late start for lunch at 2pm however there was still lunch to be served with an array of dishes including cabbage Callum, green beans, tomato curry and ambarella curry. We requested parippu (dhal) curry instead of the tomato curry to which the host happily obliged. Rice and curry came wrapped in a banana leaf, hot and fresh with complimentary papadum and fried chillies. All in all, the flavours were 'like home', full of flavour and just right - not too salty, not too oily, freshly prepared and not stale or recycled. 10/10 for the actual meal complimented by stellar service. Thank you once again, looking forward to the next round!