VAUX Park Street / Explore Colombo
Stay where the routes begin. VAUX Park Street is eight serviced lofts at 60/10 Park Street, Colombo 02, next door to Park Street Mews, with a rooftop pool and a 24/7 concierge. Every itinerary on this page starts at our door.
The ultimate Colombo food guide
Colombo is the best place on the island to taste how Sinhala, Tamil, Moor and Dutch Burgher cooking come together. This is a day of eating, plus the places worth a detour on another day.
Breakfast and mid-morning
Route from VAUX on Google Maps- 8:00
Breakfast at A2B
South Indian vegetarian classics at Adyar Ananda Bhavan on Marine Drive: crisp dosa, idli, vada and filter coffee, with a counter of Indian sweets to take away.
Opens at 7:30am and fills up fast, so come early.
Open in Google Maps - 10:30
Short eats at Green Cabin
One of Colombo’s oldest bakeries, for “short eats”: patties, cutlets and rolls with milky tea.
Open in Google Maps
- 12:30
Lamprais at VOC Cafe
The Dutch Burgher classic: rice, mixed meat curry and sambols wrapped in a banana leaf and baked.
Or try Mayura Hotel in Pettah, with crab curry on a banana leaf.
Open in Google Maps - 14:30
Falooda at Bombay Sweetmeat Mart
Cool down with falooda, a rose-syrup milk drink with basil seeds and ice cream, at this Pettah favourite on Second Cross Street, right opposite the Red Mosque.
Open from 10:30am and closed on Sundays.
Open in Google Maps
Sunset to late night
Route from VAUX on Google Maps- 17:45
Sunset cocktails at the Galle Face Hotel
Watch the sun go down over the Indian Ocean with a cocktail at the Galle Face Hotel, founded in 1864, from its courtyard facing the sea.
Open in Google Maps - 20:00
Hoppers at Palmyrah
Hoppers (appa), the bowl-shaped rice-flour pancakes, with Jaffna-style curries at Palmyrah in the Renuka City Hotel.
Open in Google Maps - 22:30
Kottu at Pilawoos
The late-night classic: chopped roti stir-fried on a hot plate with egg, vegetables and meat, to the clatter of the cooks’ blades.
Open late, and cash is easiest.
Open in Google Maps
Worth a detour
The Gallery Café
Dinner or dessert in Geoffrey Bawa’s former office, now Paradise Road’s restaurant, with courtyards, a lily pond and an art gallery. Open until midnight.
Open in Google MapsRadicle Gallery
Specialty coffee and brunch in the Fort, with an art gallery downstairs. Open from 7am.
Open in Google MapsMinistry of Crab
Lagoon crab at the Dutch Hospital, for a special night. Book ahead.
Open in Google MapsYarl Eat House
Spicy northern Sri Lankan crab curry and puttu, steamed rice flour and coconut.
Open in Google Maps
What to order
- Hoppers (appa)
- Bowl-shaped rice-flour pancakes, crisp at the edges; an egg hopper has an egg cooked in the middle.
- String hoppers
- Steamed nests of rice noodles, eaten with curry and coconut sambol.
- Kottu
- Chopped roti stir-fried with egg, vegetables and meat.
- Lamprais
- Rice and curries baked in a banana leaf, from the Dutch Burgher kitchen.
- Isso vadai
- Lentil fritters topped with whole prawns, a classic snack.
- Watalappan
- A soft coconut-milk and jaggery custard, scattered with cashews.
These routes start at VAUX Park Street, a short walk from Park Street Mews. Book direct and enjoy early check-in when available, or see what is on our doorstep.
More Colombo guides
- Itinerary 124 hours in ColomboFirst-time visitors, short stopovers
- Guide 6Colombo after darkNight owls, couples, groups of friends
- Guide 10Shopping and souvenirs in ColomboGifts, design, tea and markets
- Guide 7Colombo through the yearFestivals and holidays, any month
- Guide 9A Geoffrey Bawa trailArchitecture and design lovers
- Guide 8Day trips from ColomboFree days, longer stays
Stay in the middle of it all
VAUX Park Street is a collection of eight serviced lofts in Colombo 02, next door to Park Street Mews, with a rooftop pool and a 24/7 concierge. Every route on this page starts at our door.
Book direct and enjoy early check-in when available.
