J R Taste of Ceylon

Delicious Sri Lankin food!
The food is fresh, spicy and tastes homemade. We enjoyed the chicken curry, dahl, green beans and eggplant and all were delicious. I can’t wait to try this place again.
They only do take away so make sure to place your order about 1 hour before you need the food. It’s SO good!

Unfortunately, this place no longer opens everyday as a restaurant. It does do take-​outs on demand everyday. Please call before going there as the door may be shut even if the kitchen is staffed and busy.
The food is authentic homestyle Sri Lankan cuisine. We had string hoppers with coconut sambal, dhal and brinjal and vegetarian kothu roti. All dishes were fresh, tasty and not greasy. The kothu roti was light, fresh, aromatic and dry (not mushy).
The menu is small and strictly Sri Lankan, so don’t expect any other dishes.
The owner was informative and helpful.

Best thing to do is to call first before coming. week ends is the good time to visit the place… server when we went was a very friendly filipina name Sherly, street parking, decors very minimal, tables are marble and in dark color very cool… all kinds of card ok… they deliver mostly to regular patrons… karaōke during weekends plus alcohol beverages… we ate pittu and biryani… hot and spicy we finished everything… good food… wer satisfied…

I only came here because of the Groupon. My friends wanted to grab Sri Lankan food so we figured we might as well try it. I’m half Sri Lankan and I’ve been to Sri Lanka a few times, so I have an idea of how the food should taste like.
I wasn’t a fan of the place. I found the service extremely slow, the waitress didn’t seem to care about us. The food was average, but not what I would consider authentic. The vaddais were very good but that was the only part of the meal I enjoyed. Definitely won’t come back here again.

I got the Groupon too and I’m glad we did. My family is from Sri Lanka so I know good Singhalese food, and JR’s does a good job. Don’t let the (lack of) décor and the very average service sway you. It may take a little longer than some restaurants, but that’s because they’re cooking a lot from scratch, and it’s worth it. Try stringhoppers and khotu roti… delicious.
I was really disappointed that the hoppers were only served on Tuesdays at lunch… who can go out for lunch on Tuesdays?
But other than that, we had a good experience and will go back. Try it out if you like eating off the beaten path, or miss your mum’s curry.

A friend invited me, she got a groupon, yay! We came super early. Looked at the menu and had to ask what it all was. I ended up googling it — super helpful.
We got veg rolls, best eaten with chutney; veg curry that came w rice and three small bowls different cooked veggies. I got the kotthu with rotti (it’s all in small pieces) with veggies and egg. Think egg fu yung. The rotis were really light flaky and a bit oily. Delish.

I ordered take out and I was so incredibly surprised how small their portions are. For the amount I paid, I was extremely disappointed. The food tasted good though – but I had to order more food from a different take out joint because of the tiny portion sizes.
The lady I spoke with over the phone, who I think was the owner, was also rude. I am used to this type of service at South Asian restaurants as the culture is quite different from western. I am an Indian woman (in case anyone think i’m being racist) and I avoid going to some Indian restaurants because «customers come last» and I don’t want to give business to these types of establishments. Unfortunately, I will add ‘Taste of Ceylon’ to this list.

Bad reviews, blah blah blah. We had a Groupon that we had to use, but when their website wasn’t working, I started reading reviews. If I believed everything I read, I would have given up and stayed home.
So, we called and asked if we needed a reservation — she said no, just come on over.
Yes, we waited at the door for a few minutes and no one came, so we just sat down. But then the waitress came over and made some recommendations, so we took her advice.
We were pleased when the food arrived pretty quickly. The first dish was simple, rice and 4 veggies. We actually thought it would be ‘4 veggies’, but it was in fact 4 different vegetable curries, and they were all delicious! Then we got a plate of Mee Goreng — don’t know if that’s traditional Sri Lankan, but it sure was yummy!
Didn’t bother waiting around for her to bring a bill — just went up to the cash and paid. Quick and pleasant. She asked if the food was too spicy, but I assured her it was just right.
So maybe it was good that I read all the grumpy reviews, because my expectations were extremely low — and, as a result, we were happily surprised! It is NOT the quickest service in the world, but maybe we in Canada are just too used to having our every whim attended to immediately. Sometimes it’s good to just sit and relax, and enjoy the food.

Not sure what to say other than this place was hugely disappointing. Not having experienced Sri Lankan food before, we asked for some assistance in being explained what all the items were.
Our waitress seemed pretty clueless, other than the fact she pointed us to some pictures.
We settled on three dishes — a chopped roti with chicken. It was the best of the lot
Beef curry with two rotis — The rotis were decent but the beef curry was very passable
Rice with three types of vegetables and curry — the vegetables were overcooked and not so yummy.
All in all, not sure we will be making it back here again. Also it is real hole in the wall so not a whole lot of ambience here.

I presented a groupon to this restaurant. There was only one server serving the whole restaurant which is about 80 seats. I was waiting for about 25 minutes for someone to take my order. I ordered a drink and I noticed my drink is smaller than the same drink on another table. Then I asked her why. She said because I used a groupon so they gave me a smaller one. I ordered a hopper special which included three different types of hoppers and a curry dish. I asked the server if I could use the voucher for the special and she said yes. The curry dish was only in a super small bowl which was about the size of two table spoons. There were only 8 pieces of squids inside the curry and each of them is about the size of a quarter. When I got the bill, they charged me everything individually instead of the price of the special combo. I asked them why they charged me separately and they said the server who told me I could use the voucher towards specials was new. And I told her the portion of the squid dish was way too small. She said because I had a voucher so they gave me smaller portions. That was definitely as scam. They said 50% off on the deal title on the coupon site. And when you came, they gave you a smaller portion than regular dishes. How could this be 50% off? There was no mention about coupon holders would get smaller portions on the fine prints on the voucher.
She finally recalculated and refunded me. But she was very angry toward me and slammed the calculator on the counter. The people in the whole restaurant could hear that. I did not see anything wrong in my part in the whole process. I only knew they were scamming people and gave me attitude when I asked for what I should get.
I spent more than two hours in the restaurant because of their super slow service. There were only five tables in the restaurant at that time.

Just had dinner there tonite. I had a tastygo coupon for $ 30 and ordered a spinach/​lentil fried bread thing for appy, devilled curry squid, and a fish curry, topped with mango lassi. The food is good. All around. Love the devilled squid, which is a dry curry and very tasty. the fried bread is also very unique. Fish curry is okay. Mango lassi has a good flavor. but the SERVICE IS TERRIBLE! I went in by myself at 5:30pm. the place was empty. a woman behind the counter told me that the waitress would come and take my order. that was 10 minutes later, when a young woman, who looks like a mid-​teen, came with a glass of water for me. it was my first time at a Sri Lankan restaurant so i asked for recommendation. she gave some ideas and i ordered. then i waited for another 28 minutes before the appy, which is the spinach fried bread thing, came! in the meantime, a family of three came in and sat at the next table and they then just got their water! a couple of people came in to pick up take-​outs. the only waitress there seemed to walk and move very slowly. i could not believe how slow the service was. Then the other food came in succession. I was so hungry that i ate everything in less than 15 minutes.
They really need to improve on how quickly the food comes! there were so few customers and yet they took so long! They cannot stay in business for long! i hate to think how long i would have to wait if I came at the peak dinner hours! Perhaps it is a place for take out only, not to dine in.

This is a humble restaurant without much ambience or appealing décor. The front is not particularly inviting either.
The food is another story. Everything we ordered was very tasty, Roti, Dosa, and Lamprais. Lots of flavor and good texture. I look forward to returning to eat more.
Note: if you don’t like spicy food, be sure to ask them to lower the heat.

I was pleasantly surprised about how good the food was. I went there last night as part of food meetup. The owner closed the restaurant for us and prepared the food mild. Some of us thought it was still spicy. My thoughts… with this kind of cuisine, you need to be spicy!
My favorites:
1)lentil cakes-​very flavourful and with a hint of spice. It had the texture of a soft cookie. It was so good, I helped myself to a second one.
2)mutton rolls-​I thought there was too much pastry shell but the mutton was moist. Didn’t realize how spicy it was until I finished it!
3)mutton curry-​the meat was tender and I liked the smell of the spices she used.
4)veggie dished-​she prepared a good variety for us. I loved the okra although others found it slimy, the lentils and eggplant
5)hopper-for dessert was pretty good. the coconut filling inside had the right amount of sweetness and shell was pretty and delicate.
I would definitely go back for another

The food is great, the service rules.
I came here randomly during a little walking adventure, and boy am I glad I did!
We had the veggie Kotthu and the mutton curry, both delicious. We drank a wood apple lassi— really cool taste. Ask them to show you a wood-​apple, it’s freakin cool!
There was a huge party of Sri Lankan’s in the side room, all dolled up in gorgeous traditional clothing. After their dinner, the karaōke started and so did the dancing! I totally want to come back here for a karaōke dance party— but this was for a private party so we played it cool.
The food was yummy (I wish they had photos on their menu because I have no idea what to order) though the deep fried banana dessert was small for my liking.
Our server and another guy (I think the owner) brought us random dishes to try for free— soooo sweet of them. They were the coolest guys in the world. The owner wore a pimping gold chain and looked like a Sri Lankan version of James Brown. He showed us his Bollywood moves… pretty much the coolest guy ever!
I loved the food (need a tutorial) but will be back to see the AWESOME staff. Seriously, such an experience.

I will have to revisit this place as not knowing what to order I tried to get the waiter to recommend items and end up spending $ 21 for lunch, Later I saw on menu there are combo plates and daily special through the week. Tried two kinds of hoppers and mutton curry and they were tasty.

* Delicious Sri Lankan specialties *
I haven’t found much in the way of Sri Lankan food in Vancouver, and heard about this spot offering homestyle Sri Lankan food and had to just head on over.
Made the mistake in my excitement of trying to go for dinner on a Wednesday. Who knew that was the only day of the week they are closed!!! Ok… Made it back today for lunch, and I’m glad I did.
I had the mutton string hopper kotthu. They took the string hoppers, and minced them up with a lovely balance of veggies, spices, and of course mutton. Everything was so fresh tasting. The mutton was tender and flavourful. The string hoppers and cabbage had some nice caramelization, and the chilis in the «medium heat» version were freshly diced instead of just adding a sauce. The balance of the dish was fabulous, and it wasn’t greasy at all. A winner!
Also got to try the kiri pani (yogurt with palm syrup). It was a nice thick yogurt covered in a very pleasantly sweet syrup.
This place is a definite keeper, and I’m looking forward to returning to sample my way through the menu.
They have a nice selection on the menu including some harder to find items like bitter melon curry, crab curry, string hoppers, and pittu! Can’t wait to sample some more…
There are a few random Malaysian and Singaporean dishes on the menu too, but they are clearly not the focus.
This place is a find!