iEat Mayura Hotel

Popular and cheap steamed spicy crab and Jaffna curry grab

Crab from the North

This hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Pettah’s marketplace gives the Ministry of Crab a run for its money. Meaty, spicy crab prepared the traditional Jaffna way, arguably the tastiest in Sri Lanka. The place is run by Tamil cooks and workers and they know a thing or two about preparing crab. “Bright red and looking spicy as ever with a side of dynamite crab curry”is how they serve it here at Mayura. The place is tiny and to order you just go to the end of the shop and tell the guys what you want. They have a batch of everything ready and spoon it straight out of the tins onto the banana leaves. Eat like a local!

Bright red and looking spicy as ever with a side of dynamite crab curry, is how they serve crab here at Mayura

What to order?

Rice and curry is what you get here, they serve it on banana leaves and you get to pick your sides. We like our curry with a steaming omelette and of course a crab. Prices range from Rs. 120 to 400. You can also just get crab without the rice for Rs. 300. The place is hugely popular and gets packed at lunchtime, so be quick or be smart and order take-away.

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