Hotel Nippon Colombo

We’ll definitely come back to Nippon Restaurant. The short eats were fresh and tasty, with clear care put into making them. We also tried the Sri Lankan rice and curry, which was full of authentic flavour and beautifully prepared. Special thanks to Executive Chef James for a wonderful meal. His passion and dedication come through in the dishes. Highly recommended.

We stayed for five nights and loved it. The service was excellent, and the hotel has a lot of charm, with a beautifully preserved building and clean spaces. Its location makes it easy to explore Colombo, and having a cafe, restaurant, and pub onsite was handy. They’re all linked by a covered sidewalk, so there’s pretty much everything you might need.

There’s no fridge in the room, and the shower temperature was unreliable. On two of our three nights, we only had cold water. The facilities are a bit dated, though they’re maintained well, including the shared spaces. It’s a historic, established hotel within walking distance of Colombo’s famous Gangaramaya Temple. There’s a cafe, restaurant, and bar, the staff are well trained, and the price is reasonable. Still, this was the most expensive of the five Sri Lankan cities where we stayed, and the in-room facilities were poor, so it wasn’t great value.

The buffet was Rs. 2500/- nett pp. I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to try authentic Sri Lankan rice and curry. The selection included yellow, white, and red rice, plus Egg kottu. There were fish curry, Chicken Deviled, and Sausages deviled, along with more than 10 other dishes, a small salad corner, bread and butter with leaks, potato soup, and desserts of opera cake and jelly. It was very satisfying. The atmosphere was calm, with quiet music. I noticed many of the other diners were elderly, around 45+, and a few foreigners were there to try the Sri Lankan food.