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- 8 Havelock Place, Colombo, Colombo 05
- +94 (76) 485 4464
- info.ginikitchen@gmail.com
- © 2025 GINI Colombo
Gini is one of the best restaurants in Colombo thanks to its culinary creations that utilise fire cooking – the name Gini derives from the word for “fire” in Sinhalese. But Gini also boasts some of the best cocktails in the city and a compact bar in which to enjoy them. Its carefully curated list of 12 cocktails see arrack muddled with kithul (a type of sweet palm syrup), and rum blended with local passionfruit, lime and coconut. Its seated outdoor space is incredibly romantic; be sure to book ahead to secure a spot.
This restaurant blends traditional live-fire cooking with modern techniques. They use locally sourced ingredients and bold Sri Lankan spices that bring each dish to life. The flavours are intense, with every bite offering a delicious, spicy kick. It’s the perfect spot for a vibrant and unique dining experience.
Gini impresses with interesting dishes and moreish cocktails that showcase some of Sri Lanka’s most wonderful ingredients; local Negombo char-grilled prawns sit atop shimmering pools of Jaffna-inspired curry sauce, herb-infused coconut cream accompanies plump oysters and heady arrack (a local spirit made from the fermented sap of coconut flowers) is muddled with lime and kithul (flowery palm syrup) resulting in the tipple of dreams.
Gini is perhaps Colombo’s best restaurant right now. In the outdoor kitchen, chefs apply open-fire cooking to simple, everyday Sri Lankan ingredients. The seasonal menus dip into fresh, lagoon-caught oysters with bloody mary flavored-gazpacho and squid grilled with lime aioli and pol sambola (chile coconut relish).
Tucked inside a tranquil tropical garden at Havelock Place Bungalow, Gini plates up classic Sri Lankan fare with a contemporary twist. Chef Surith Adhihetty and his team prepare everything on an open flame in the outdoor kitchen to really shine a spotlight on the hyperlocal ingredients sourced from nearby Kirinda and Negombo. Start with the crowd-pleasing grilled squid with lime aioli and coconut sambal and finish with the restaurant’s signature Cereal dessert – a confection of caramelised banana, ice cream and dulce du leche.
Showcasing the art of live fire cooking in Sri Lanka using local ingredients in an outdoor kitchen, Gini restaurant by the Dayawansa Brothers (Shanil, Nadishka, and Nelaka) has quickly become one of the hottest (pun definitely intended) restaurants in Colombo.
If there’s one restaurant you need to check out in Colombo, it’s Gini – Sinhalese for “fire”. Chef Surith Adhihetty helms the country’s first open live-fire restaurant, housed within the leafy tropical gardens of Havelock Place Bungalow. Gini celebrates fresh, hyperlocal ingredients, with seafood sourced daily from Negombo, a fishing port just 30km north. Staples include grilled squid served with lime aioli and coconut sambal, and tiger prawns in gotu kola (Indian pennywort) and coconut cream. Wash it down with the arrack sour, a cocktail sweetened with kithul (fishtail) palm treacle.
This firm local favourite uses fire in an outdoor kitchen to cook the freshest of ingredients, many of which are amplified in flavour thanks to the use of cinnamon and fragrant rubber wood smoke. Moratuwa handpicked oysters served with coconut cream and chilli, lagoon prawns, and charred cauliflower served with chimichurri all feature on Gini’s inventive menu. Request countertop seating to get the best views.
Melbourne-trained head chef Surith Adhihetty leads the crew of dazzling GINI, Sri Lanka’s hottest new live-fire cooking restaurant. A stylish outdoor kitchen with tastefully minimal design, GINI leads with its superb fine-dining menu. In its welcoming atmosphere, you can’t help but notice the shimmer of something special. Far from the transactional service of busier lands, the intimate setting spotlights Sri Lanka’s characteristically generous hospitality – an exchange, an exploration and honest-to-goodness experience.
Things get fiery at this beloved fine-dining restaurant in Colombo, where the team specializes in live-fire cooking using local and seasonal Sri Lankan ingredients. From fresh oysters with a burnt pineapple vinaigrette to dry-aged grilled reef fish to Malay beef cheek curry, it’s all cooked with a perfect char in the open-air kitchen. In fact, pretty much everything here is open-air. There are a few tables inside, but most diners sit under the stars as the flames from the oven roar nearby.
About a year and a half ago, three brothers opened a restaurant called Gini, [whose name] means ‘fire’ in Sinhalese. Most of the food is grilled or features a fire component in the way it’s prepared. They serve dishes like oysters with herb-infused coconut cream and Malay-style beef cheek pie, and there’s sometimes a fancy version of a s’more on the dessert menu. They have the best arrack sours in Colombo [arrack is a liquor made from the fermented sap of coconut flowers].
It takes a couple of hours to drive north to Colombo, Sri Lanka’s ever-evolving capital city, for your final night. Here, crumbling colonial-era homes sit in the shadow of shiny high rises, and a modern city is slowly emerging from reclaimed land just north of the sea-facing Galle Face Green. Some of Sri Lanka’s best restaurants are here – Gini for live fire cooking and..
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