Sri

Very friendly service, and excellent food. The restaurant is super vegan friendly (i.e. even the paan came with vegan butter for dipping). Portions are generous; I left feeling like I might explode.
We chose to sit outside, and found it quite nice. They had lots of plants on the patio that does a bit to over power its proximity to the parking lot.
I recommend the triple mushroom dish.

Simple food made good. This doesn’t have the same deep richness of spice and oils that you might expect of a traditional Indian curry, however, it maintains the flavor appeal and does so in a lighter fashion which is welcome on a warm summer day.
I found the food to be delicious and filling. The vegetarian selections are abundant as well. The tea was excellent as was the spicy potatoes.

Hari rasay! Very tasty!
Delicious food, not-​so-​good service. Our waiter was really surly and did not crack a smile even once. We tried the «devlled» (hee hee) chicken (slightly sweet, perfectly cooked cubes of chicken breast with onions and pineapple – yummy!), «devlled» shrimp (shrimp was small and fishy, not so good), potatoes (slightly spicy, also good), coconut dhal (out-​freaking-​standing), papadum (meh), cocunut & kale (fluffy yumness!), tempeh & mushroom (best dish of all!!! a chewy tempeh, mushroomy delight), coconut leeks (also fluffy), and vegetable roll (rice paper around a salad with avocado and peanut sauce – yummy, light).
Indeed, there was a lot of coconut involved – but it was REALLY delicious. My Indian friend asked for some hot sauce – the waiter warned that it was «extremely burning hot» and did not want to bring it – but it turned out to be really mild. We laugh at your hot sauce, sir.
Don’t be dumb: Skip the Indian dishes. You can get saag paneer and bhagan bharta somewhere else, but you can’t get these Lankan dishes anywhere else in Northern California. Worth the trip, not too expensive, and REALLY good food, even with the surly server who wanted us to go away. Totally and unabashedly recommended, especially for vegetarians and vegans – but we meat eaters had a great meal, too!

Sri puts the SRI in SRI… Lanka… (*Crickets*)
But this tiny restaurant is amazing, and extremely easy to miss while driving by. But the eggplant moju side is to die for. Next time I’m doubling up on that. its a really nice date-​y restaurant as well, so good that I took two dates at a time (I’m a player, I know) The fish I had wasn’t the best, but it was still extremely good.
I’ll definitely be back.

Sri is yummy home made food.
It is totally casual dinning, but they have great vegetarian food as well as your choice of meat. Usually you get the combo plate that you get a couple of toppings… (sides) It is quite satisfying to say the least.
There is patio seating on the outside, so on a nice day it is nice to sit outside. The service is decent, a bit slow, but the servers are nice.

I’ll admit, I have a little weary about this place since my in-​laws recommended it a year or so ago, but I was totally wrong! I had no idea the menu was mostly vegetarian/​vegan.
The staff is super friendly, and seem to always be smiling. They are so damn helpful that you can’t help but smile back at them. It’s a small place, and tends to get crowded quickly, so if you have a party of 3 or more, you might have to wait a little while.

Though I was really pissed off, I managed to eat some decently good food here. It’s a small place with that cozy, intimate feel, especially with the dim lighting. The staff who greeted us was really friendly and welcomed questions about their menu if we had any.
The dinner can be ordered a la carte or as part of a combination with a choice of a main entrée plus 2 sides or «toppings» along with chutney, lentils and a choice of brown or ginger rice. I had fish (I think it was salmon) with the shredded coconut side and the curried vegetables.
Everything I tasted was really flavorful and not in an overpowering way and while it seemed like a lot of food, it was the perfect amount.
definitely 3.5 stars, rounded up

This place serves Sri Lankan food.
The flavors are like a mix of Thai food + Indian food. I put Thai food here since coconut milk is used in most curry type dishes.
So, don’t expect Indian food from this place. If you want to try «Real» Sri Lankan food, this place is it.

This place is awesome. Its a tiny little restaurant that you could easily miss, but you definitely shouldn’t. The inside is clean and has a nice boho feel to it. The service was great – the waiters were so nice and attentive. I don’t think I’ve experienced better service in the Cruz. And hats off to…
the menu:
MAIN DISHES:
–Chicken Tikka Masala: The cream was delicious. The chicken was also very tender and flavorful. Next time I think I will have to try the Devlled Chicken, because if they spiced this well, I’m sure that’s definitely a good dish.
–Grilled Mushroom (dinner platter): My friend had a mushroom craving, and scarfed this up. Said it was grilled to perfection, and the spices were spot on.
SIDES:
–Eggplant moju: DELICIOUS. This was by far my favorite thing. If you even REMOTELY like eggplant (or hell… even if you don’t like it) you need to try this. The peppers and whatever flavoring is on the eggplant is amazing and I cannot even describe why this was so awesome…
–Cauliflower and Cashews: This was good… a little bland… but cauliflower always is. I enjoyed it though. It was not bad at all, but not the best.
–Spiced Mango: It was an interesting consistency for the mango… almost felt gummy like dried mango, but it looked like chunks of potato. Either way it was delicious and was a nice sweet/​tangy compliment to the meal.
–Rotti with garlic butter and coconut chutney for dipping: This was good. The garlic butter was VERY buttery… but if it’s called garlic butter lets not be incredulous here… i CAN believe it IS butter. Rotti was also very tasty.
–Ginger rice: Tasty. Can’t ask for much more from rice. It’s not spiced really, very subtle. But it tastes better than brown if you are a general white/​jasmine rice kind of diner~
All around the meal was great. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was comfortable and had its own spin on Santa-​Cruz-​Chic. I would definitely take a person from out of town here. Seems like a great first date restaurant too… comfy atmosphere, not to cheap but not too expensive, not too loud so you can actually talk, and there are people here (non-​sketchers at that too). OH YEAH delicious left overs as well~

Wonderful, wonderful food! It’s amazingly rich and nearing decadent, especially the eggplant and mango dishes. The chutney is wonderful, and I love pairing the kale & coconut as a lighter accompaniment to my faves (the eggplant moju and mango almond). I usually go with my my guy, or a friend so we end up splitting a four-​item dish, which leaves us stuffed in the end.
The servers are really friendly, and are always happy to recommend new things (I love trying new beverages when I go) and make adjustments for those with special diets of allergies.
The food is so rich that it sticks with me for hours afterward, and I always leave feeling wonderfully nourished.
The décor is light as other have mentioned, but who cares when the food is so good? It’s a smaller place so the atmosphere is very intimate, and for groups I highly recommend calling ahead so they can accommodate you. On occasions when I’ve gone with five or six people we’ve had to wait for a couple tables to clear up before they could seat us. Simply love this place, and leaving them behind when I move for school is going to be a major bummer.

This ranking is 4.9 – not a 5.0 because the ONLY complaint I have is I had to ask a lot of times for water. But let. me. tell. you. this is THEEE only low mark (haha Mark joke) I have to offer to Sri. This food is delicious, quite possible the best eating out experience I’ve had in Santa Cruz (next to Marianne’s of course.)
I haven’t had much Sri Lankan food – think Asian Rose if you’ve been. The food was so incredibly flavorful and fresh. I won’t recommend anything because there are too many good things to choose from. Um, like the entire menu. Ok, at least order the Sri Lankan tea– yummmm!
Our server humored our incredibly indecisive group and offered honest opinions about what to order (there are many options on the menu!) He even spent a few minutes chatting with us at the end of our meal. I felt like I was eating at someone’s home at Sri– just lovely!

Update:
I’ve been back several times since my first review and, quite atypically, I’m upgrading my rating to the max. The food is great, the prices are cheap, and the service is wonderful and extremely friendly. If this place were close to home, I’d probably eat here every night and get rid of my expensive pots and pans. (And not have to battle the Berkeley Bowl nut cases.)
Summary:
–authentic, hard to find Sri Lankan cuisine
–not Indian/​Pakistani
–very friendly service
–reasonable prices
–free parking in adjoining lot
I went here for lunch while in the area. I’ve been looking for Sri Lanka food since visiting Sri Lanka some time ago and being really knocked out by the food. I got a cookbook and have been cooking Sri Lankan food pretty regularly, so I was very pleased to find this place.
It certainly more than met my expectations. After I told the owner I was familiar with SL cooking, he went out of his way to put together a multi-​course lunch that was not dumbed down for American taste. It was great and I’ll certainly return.
Just as a comment on an earlier review, the style of SL presentation is to provide rice with several individual curries. I suppose it could look all smushed together, but that’s the culture.

Note: This is not Indian food… nor is it Pakistani food… it is Sri Lankan food.
Driving in the car…
Amy R: Sri…
Mr. Amy R: Must be Indian… oh no, Sri Lankan
Amy R: What’s Sri Lankan food like? Is that the same as Indian food? What do they eat in Sri Lanka? Sri Lanka is right by India, right? It must be the same… right? Right? Right? Right?
Mr. Amy R: I don’t know. I’ve never had it.
Amy R: Oh… well, do you think it’s the same as Indian food?
Mr. Amy R: Might be. Do you want to try it?
Amy R: Um… yes.
*Amy R and Mr. Amy R sit at table*
Amy R: Paan? Pan means bread in Spanish.
Mr. Amy R: In India paan is this stuff that people chew and spit out.
Amy R: I know. It’s gross. This says it’s bread… do you think it’s like naan?
So we ordered… and paan was kind of like naan, only it was more biscuity. It was really good fresh with the garlic butter they gave us. The Sri Lankan tea was the one thing I would say was exactly like Indian tea… only unlike all of the crappy chai I’ve been getting at Indian restaurants lately, it was great!
We ordered two different platters so we got to try 6 entrees. I love how they made the coconut and kale dish. I thought it was going to be coconut milk, but it was actually stir fried grated coconut and shredded kale. The eggplant stole the show for sure… and the cauliflower with cashews was wonderful. Oh… and even though the menu doesn’t mention it, the platter comes with rice and half a papad.
It was definitely different from Indian food. It was nicely decorated and the staff were very friendly. I would have liked it a bit spicier… maybe they should go to that «mild, medium, or spicy?» system. You wouldn’t have to twist my arm to get me to go there again.

It’s really nice to have this place in Santa Cruz. We came in at noon for lunch and had a great time. We got the Paan and Salad Rolls for an appetizer. I liked the Paan a little more, but both were nice and fresh and tasty. Later I had some of the spicy potato, mango, chickpeas, and eggplant. I think eggplant was the favorite at the table and several of us thought the spicy potato wasn’t very spicy. I thought it was pretty good, but my favorite was the mango. The waiter was really friendly and attentive. They brought the food out one plate at a time, instead of all at once. I also really liked my Faluda (rose water with spices and something else).
I’ll be back some time!

The menu is small but very tasty. The plate, however, is huge, with your entrée of choice, two sides, daal, rice, and chutney. I had the deviled chicken, which had a vaguely sweet-​and-​sour flavor. I really enjoyed the daal: lighter than I’m used to at Indian restaurants. Having tasted all my friends’ side dishes, I recommend the mushroom and soya, the chickpeas, the spicy potato, and the almond mango if you’re in the mood for sweet.
Our server was great, and his being actually Sri Lankan (I’m pretty sure) gains points, too.
I have to say, I was all set to give four stars until our server brought us free Sri Lankan chai tea before the check! Yummy. That pushed Sri to five stardom. Who’d have thought Santa Cruz would have TWO excellent Sri Lankan restaurants?

Sometimes we drive to Santa Cruz in large part because we want to eat here (and then go to the beach at night, ahh). On the weekends they have a limited menu with three price tiers: 3 vegan dishes ($ 10.50), 3 dishes with paan or salad rolls ($ 13.00), or 2 veggies plus chicken or fish ($ 12.50? I’m vegetarian; I stopped reading before that point). We’ve tried pretty much all the vegan items, as well as both appetizers, several beverages, and both the ginger and brown rices. Pretty much everything is varying degrees of quite good.
The salad rolls are nice, though sometimes a little dry. I do love the tempeh in them, though. The paan is nice, slightly sweet, and worth saving for when your main course comes to eat some food with the bread.
The mixed vegetable curry is rather good — it also has little pieces of crunchy tempeh on top — as is the kale with coconut. The plate comes with a nice yellow dahl, so you don’t absolutely need to order a separate protein, but the chickpea curry is pretty good, too.

Sri is pretty much the definition of a ‘Mom and Pop’ place. The owner of the restaurant is also the head waiter while his wife is the head chef, there are always a few regulars that frequent it… um…frequently, and the food is delicious. For all of you who are geography challenged, Sri Lanka is an island off the coast of the tip of India. The food served at Sri is authentic cuisine and reminds me of very light, less buttery version of Indian food.
I last went to this place when my parents dropped by for a visit. My mom was having difficulty choosing a second topping for her dinner and asked the manager for a recommendation. It took him a second to reply and he basically said ‘anything you pick will be good.’ He’s right. There is nothing on the menu that’s bad. I hadn’t seen my parents in a while and naturally there was much to talk about but when we all got our plates, all you could hear was the snapping of gums, the clink of silverware and the loosening of belts. I had the Devlled soy that was crispy and flavorful and served with onions and parsley, the coconut leek sambol and the almond mango curry. I’m telling you, it was to die for. My parents both got a chicken dish that was really delicious too.
The dinner menu has lot of options. Basically you order a dish that comes with some kind of protein, (e.g. soy, fish, chicken, no beef though) which then comes with rice, and some kind of lentil goodness. THEN you get a choice of two ‘toppings’ which are basically side dishes that are orgasmic. Bring towels and a change of pants. Everything is good and most dishes are vegan except of course for the meat. The meal is going to be over 10 bucks but the plates are so big that they can easily be split if you’re trying to save cash. Still, if you are looking for a cheap meal, come here for lunch. You can choose by the number of toppings you want, the smallest being 6 bucks and the largest isn’t over 7 bucks. Plus their tea and coffee is really really good.

Cool thing #1: We strolled to this neat little hole in the wall from our new house. #2: Our server took the time to explain the entire menu, peppering his descriptions with «we eat it like this…», making our dinner a bit of a cultural excursion. #3: We left with two giant boxes of leftovers that ended up tasting just as good a couple days later.
I had never actually eaten Sri Lankan food before, so there really can’t be any comparison involved here, but this was pretty darn tasty grub. We started with the coconut flatbread thing (I’m really not going to remember any exact names, sorry) which came with green garlic and melted butter, then they boy insisted on the salad rolls (which were a bit salad-​y for my taste). My actual order turned out to be a giant veggie feast — broccoli with tofu and tempeh (which was a lot sweeter than the tempeh I’m used to), veggie curry (delish!), a spicier dish with chickpeas, and all the requisite sides of rice, dal, and such. The boy had something called Hoppin’ John with chicken that reduced him to a grunting, smiling eating machine… apparently it he liked it. A lot.
The atmosphere isn’t anything to rave about, but it was fun to get off the beaten path, food-​wise. We’ll be back!

Granted, I have a huge bias in favor of Sri because Indicka, the owner, was sweet enough to help me track down a Sri Lankan dancer for an event I was helping to organize. But bias aside…
Sri is amazing! The way I like to describe Sri Lankan food is like Indian food minus the butter/​grease/​heavy in the stomach feeling post-​consumption, and Sri definitely delivered. I went for lunch and couldn’t decide on just 1 side so went for a combo of the Mango Curry and Fried Eggplant. YUM! Not to mention the most amazing cup of coffee and Sri Lankan tea I’ve ever consumed. I’ve been saying «Screw Starbucks» for their lack of quality coffee and have been going to other independent coffee houses in SC, but screw them also! If it weren’t out of the way of Pacific Ave./on-campus convenience, I’d definitely be hitting up Sri for my daily caffeine fix.
The icing on the cake at Sri is the incredibly sweet staff. When you visit Sri, you will definitely feel the sense of a «Mom and Pop» restaurant which makes it an all-​the-​more-​sweeter experience.

My housemates and I couldn’t decide where we wanted to eat, but we knew that we wanted to try some place we haven’t gone before. This place was an awesome find. Thank you Unilocal!We would’ve never seen this place without you!
I feel like the location is so unfortunate for such a great restaurant. If this were downtown or on Mission, I’m pretty sure the business would be booming. Though, I really liked the atmosphere. It was quiet and relaxing. This place is rather small though, so if you’re to come with a big group, they have enough tables to fit maybe a little over 30 people.
The service was really good. If our water cup was empty, it wasn’t for long. They were attentive and just all around nice people.
The food was delicious. The portions were awesome for the price. I was so full and I hadn’t even finished my whole plate. Yay for leftovers! I had the paan with garlic dipping sauce for appetizer and fish curry with chickpea curry and cashews and cauliflower on the side. So divine! The fish was cooked perfectly, not dry at all. The cashews were soft, reminding me of these boiled peanuts my grandma makes for Chinese New Year. The chickpea curry is really good. I suppose I’m not used to the texture, but it was delicious with this cracker that it comes with. And the ginger rice! I love it. I have to learn how to make it because I don’t think I can go back to plain rice ever again.
I had some of my housemates’ sides (because we all ordered the fish curry, we couldn’t help ourselves). The eggplant moju is sweet and soft. Not particularly my taste, as I like savory foods more than sweets. The spicy potato was really good and had a nice spiciness to it. The mixed vegetables curry was good, but I liked my chickpea one better.
The whole meal comes with a drink. Of course I ordered the mango lassi. It was thick and sweet. For me, it was too sweet, so I needed to take a sip of water after. But it was definitely delicious.
I think that it is awesome that this place is vegan, but does provide options for us omnivores.
For lots of food that is bursting with flavor at a decent price, Sri is the place to go. It’s almost a flavor overload, but oh, so good. I’m definitely coming back to try all the other side offerings they have.