Driving along the Southern coastal belt instead of taking the Southern Expressway is one of the best ways to witness Sri Lanka’s famous beaches.  Just past Galle many of you would have visited Unawatuna. The area is known to have one of the best beaches in the island and life never seems to stop there. If you are looking for a place to eat in Unawatuna you will not be disappointed as the area is packed with little eateries all stacked next to each other. But if you want to eat good food where would you head to?

Over the long weekend, I found myself driving up to Unawatuna along with the family and when wondering at which of the 1200 restaurants to stop at, my dad recommended Tartaruga (yes, the name is a little bit of a tongue twister!).

The waiters who were extremely welcoming, helped us to find good seats and then came and presented us with the menu which, like all Sri Lankan restaurants was full of a large number of dishes; however I was quite surprised to learn that unlike at other restaurants the dishes do not come in portions but instead are full meals that can fill the stomach of a hungry adult.

Wanting to starting off with the drink just to cool down from the scorching heat, I ordered a chocolate milkshake which was served with a generous scoop of ice cream and I had to give it a 10/10 for the preparation was exceptional and even my two young nieces accompanying me ended up finishing one large milkshake and unsurprisingly wanted more of it.

For an appetizer we ordered a grilled fish which was passed around the table with no one willing to let go of the dish that easily.

For my main course I ended up ordering a Batter Fried Cuttlefish which was quite the generous serving (quite enough to satisfy a table of 8 as a bite); this was accompanied with a serving of traditional rice and even though the two did not complement each other that well the Cuttlefish blew me out of my mind and had me considering leaving the concrete jungle and making a permanent stopover at Unawatuna right next to Tartaruga.

Other dishes that were ordered comprised sandwiches, macaroni with cheese and ham and various varieties of fish all which were made perfectly to suit the palates of all those who ordered them.

If you want to try out really good wattalapam and if the nice aunty next door is too busy to make some for you, it is a long drive yet well worth it because the wattalapam is nothing but a homerun for Tartaruga. Not too sour not too sweet; it struck that delicate balance and I left a satisfied customer!

Text and pics by Reihan Stephen