Fort Food

An honest review of the food and the places to eat in the Galle Fort by someone who loves to eat!

Ask any Sri Lankan and they’d tell you that a Galle Bath Curry [rice and curry from Galle] is the best you could find in the country. Rice, a fish curry and jaadi [pickled fish] or karawala [dried maldive fish] are the essentials of a typical meal in the South Coast.

This post however isn’t about rice and curry, instead it is about the delicious food that I have stumbled upon while wandering around the Galle Fort. Let me first start with the smaller vendors…

You will always find raw mangoes available with a mouth-watering mixture of chillie powder, salt and pepper sprinkled on it to give that bitter-sweet spicy flavour that Sri Lankan’s love. Getting the perfect ratio of chilli powder, salt and pepper has come down to an art form mastered only by these vendors. The same mixture is sprinkled onto pineapple by the pineapple vendors at the Fort. There are also kadala karayas [vendors who sell boiled chickpeas mixed with pieces of coconut and dried chilli] and men that sell Bombai Muttai, which is something similar to candy floss.

Moving on to the bigger cafes and restaurants, Pedlar’s Inn Café is one of my favourites. It has a very historic  vibe inside with lots of wooden carvings and other old ornaments as well as art on the walls that are seen only with a black light… A refreshing twist to their vintage setting. Try their coffee milk shake which is absolutely energising, especially on a hot day.

The vintage interior

The historic look inside Pedlar's Inn

There’s also Indian hut, which is famous for its tandoori chicken and [surprisingly] its Chinese food (!), Wok on the Wild Side which ironically serves rice and curry instead of Chinese(!), Anura’s where everyone goes for the best pizza in Galle and the Nescafe shop, which is famed for its Roti!! Clearly, when it comes to the food at the Galle Fort, you can expect the unexpected!

Indian Hut: Serves Indian as well as Chinese!

Good Advice!

 

My absolute must-eat-before-I-leave-the-fort food is some homemade Ice Cream. There’s a tiny pink and blue shop on Church Street that sells various interesting flavours of Ice Cream such as Magic Mango and Banana, as well as juices, milkshakes and coffees. Dairy King is a small but delightful place with the friendliest owner named Tariq, who’s sure to recommend something great depending on what you like.

The Facade of Dairy King

Tariq - The friendliest owner...!

Spending a day soaking in the sights, sounds and flavours of the fort is enough to leave anyone stuffed to the brim with food and culture. If you are planning to explore the Fort, you should definitely try as many of the places I’ve mentioned above as you can while you are there, and if you aren’t able to, then at least taste Tariq’s Ice Cream!