Chef Lanka Restaurant

Name: Chef Lanka Restaurant
Address: a - mandarian building orange tree - 13th St, Oud Metha, Dubai, AE
Telephone: +971505151830

Oud Metha

Sri Lankan restaurant Open now 0 505 151 830

Chef Lanka Restaurant is a Sri Lankan restaurant in Oud Metha, described by the business as the UAE’s oldest Sri Lankan restaurant. Reviews point to traditional dishes such as hoppers and devilled chicken, plus a lunch buffet served with rice, curries and sides—though spice and service can vary.

Reputation Score

3.8

★★★★☆

674 ratings

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The Good Stuff

Showing 2 of 6

Traditional flavours

Reviewers describe traditional Sri Lankan cooking, including banana-leaf service, wood apple juice and homemade ice cream.

Buffet value

The lunch buffet is repeatedly described as good value, with vegetarian curries, rice and a complimentary dessert mentioned.

Let's go!

What to Eat at Chef Lanka Restaurant

These items at Chef Lanka Restaurant got the most positive mentions in user reviews. Check them out!

Food 4

Chicken noodles Net +2

“Ordered prawn kothu, chicken noodles, chicken sweet corn soup. Enjoyed all of them.”
Coconut roti (pol roti) Net +2

“I will be back in the evening to enjoy hoppers and pool rotti!! Thank-you!”
Devilled chicken Net +2

“I likes their Devilled Chicken, very spicy.”
Watalappam Net +2

“Great experience... Awesome service... Good food... Home made ginger beer.... And gave me every srilankan breads to taste and all sambals.... Next time need to try their kuthu... And finally the tasty watalappam...”

Honorable mentions (23)

Beef kothu porotta Net +1

“We had coconut roti (pol roti), maniputtu, another red puttu and beef kothu porotta as main course. The pol roti and the puttu were wonderful when paired with the accompanied sambals( coconut and chilly ones) and fresh coconut milk. The kothu porotta was among the best i ve ever had.”
Chicken chopsey rice Net +1

“We are ordered Chicken Chopsey Rice,Seafood Chopsey Rice and Chicken Noodles. Delicious food.”
Chicken curry Net +1

“Ee took dal curry, chicken curry and prawns butter curry as sides. Each one was especially delicious with the simple dal curry impressing me the most.”
Chicken dolphin kottu Net +1

“Good service, the portion was not enough and there was too much onions in the chicken dolphin kottu. Tasted spicy and delicious.”
Chicken sweet corn soup Net +1

“Ordered prawn kothu, chicken noodles, chicken sweet corn soup. Enjoyed all of them.”
Dal curry Net +1

“Ee took dal curry, chicken curry and prawns butter curry as sides. Each one was especially delicious with the simple dal curry impressing me the most.”
Devilled prawns Net +1

“The food was absolutely wonderful, specially Devilled prawns delicious”
Egg fried rice Net +1

“This was so tasty and I think I will order this everyday (through deliveroo). It was so authentic. It was deliciously spicy! Don't forget to say that it had great portion sizes as well! Can you only give them 5 stars? We ordered: string hoppers with dhal, king fish curry & egg fried rice. It fed two hungry people and two half hungry people.”
Fish curry Net +1

“Very nice food. Spicy n tasty. Enjoyed the prawn n fish curry with Appams”
Fruit salad dessert Net +1

“I enjoyed their veg curries and they also given us a complimentary fruit salad dessert.”
Hoppers Net +1

“I will be back in the evening to enjoy hoppers and pool rotti!! Thank-you!”
Hoppers meal Net +1

“We ordered the hoppers meal, pol roti meal, deviled chicken, and lamprais. I was happy with the taste of all the items except for the lamprais - it did not taste as fresh as I would have liked.”
King fish curry Net +1

“This was so tasty and I think I will order this everyday (through deliveroo). It was so authentic. It was deliciously spicy! Don't forget to say that it had great portion sizes as well! Can you only give them 5 stars? We ordered: string hoppers with dhal, king fish curry & egg fried rice. It fed two hungry people and two half hungry people.”
Lunch buffet Net +1

“Best Deal for lunch buffet on every Saturday! AED 30 PP. food & service was amazing!”
Mushroom devil Net +1

“Food is really yummy. Try their mushroom devil!!”
Pol roti meal Net +1

“We ordered the hoppers meal, pol roti meal, deviled chicken, and lamprais. I was happy with the taste of all the items except for the lamprais - it did not taste as fresh as I would have liked.”
Prawn kothu Net +1

“Ordered prawn kothu, chicken noodles, chicken sweet corn soup. Enjoyed all of them.”
Prawns butter curry Net +1

“Ee took dal curry, chicken curry and prawns butter curry as sides. Each one was especially delicious with the simple dal curry impressing me the most. The prawns too was tasty with a hind of kudampuli and coconut milk flavour and a buttery texture.”
Prawns curry Net +1

“Very nice food. Spicy n tasty. Enjoyed the prawn n fish curry with Appams”
Seafood chopsey rice Net +1

“We are ordered Chicken Chopsey Rice,Seafood Chopsey Rice and Chicken Noodles. Delicious food.”
Sri lankan noodles Net +1

“My wife tried the Sri Lankan noodles (non-spicy) and was extremely happy with the dish.”
String hoppers with dhal Net +1

“This was so tasty and I think I will order this everyday (through deliveroo). It was so authentic. It was deliciously spicy! Don't forget to say that it had great portion sizes as well! Can you only give them 5 stars? We ordered: string hoppers with dhal, king fish curry & egg fried rice. It fed two hungry people and two half hungry people.”
Vegetables dolphin kottu Net +1

“Vegetables dolphin kottu was quite nice and delicious.”

Drinks 1

Ginger tea Net +2

“I would give them 5 stars for their vast selection of srilankan short-eats and ginger tea. So far, I've never had quality issues with their food and would recommend this place to any Srilankan.”

What to Avoid (13)

Food 12

Appam Net −1

“For clarity I asked the person details and from his explanation got an idea about the food that it's like Kerala appam. Finally dishes came onto table and alas those appam are not at all easy to eat. Very small - maybe 2.5 inch dia, hard object which is hard to chew, no particular taste and do not go well with any curry.”
Beef in oyster sauce Net −1

“The beef in oyster sauce was sooo chewy omg!.”
Chicken kottu Net −1

“Full of bones in chicken kottu. Barely any meat and too much raw onion 🥴😷Cheese is 3aed extra - turns out to be a single slice of processed burger cheese cut into 4 strips laid out on top.”
Chilli crab Net −1

“Chilli crab very spicy even though asked for zero spice.”
Lamprais Net −1

“We ordered the hoppers meal, pol roti meal, deviled chicken, and lamprais. I was happy with the taste of all the items except for the lamprais - it did not taste as fresh as I would have liked.”
Lump rice Net −1

“Try Wood apple and lump rice.. But ask them to lump rice to be nice and hot u won't enjoy it cold”
Mixed fried rice Net −1

“The dish that has replaced their earlier favourite mixed fried rice is now a bland fried rice with no taste.”
Nasi goreng Net −1

“On site mabe s different experience but all in all food was tasteless [ especially the nasi goreng etc].”
Sea food kottu Net −1

“We ordered sea food kottu and Tom yum soup Really I never eat like this not taste at all wast of money I never recommend to anyone”
String hopper Net −1

“String hopper comes with a mild potato curry - 2 cubes on potato only. Shameful.”
Tom yum soup Net −1

“We ordered sea food kottu and Tom yum soup Really I never eat like this not taste at all wast of money I never recommend to anyone”
Beef curry Net −3

“I won't tell the same to beef curry, as it's not for my tongue. For me the curry tasted as if i am dipping in a big chilly jar. I have never eaten a dish which is so hot i even thought this dish might be lethal for human consumption. Apparently my srilankan friend enjoyed to the core. So no further comments.”

Drinks 1

Sweet lime soda Net −1

“Even after mentioning that we wanted to eat beef(meat) along with Appam(hoppers) and sweet lime soda (sweet). When the order was brought to the table the hoppers were hard and dry like hell. The beef ordered turned out to be some spare part curry and there was no sign of beef meat in that. The lime soda was sour as hell.”

Tips for a Better Visit

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Discuss spice. Ask clearly about spice before ordering; even a request for non-spicy food was not followed in one takeaway review.

Try buffet. Consider the Saturday lunch buffet if you want to sample several curries and sides at a reported AED 30 per person.

Plan the visit

Practical details

a - mandarian building orange tree - 13th St

Oud Metha, Dubai

0 505 151 830

Mon	11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Tue	11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Wed	11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Thu	11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Fri	11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Sat	11:00 AM – 11:30 PM
Sun	11:00 AM – 11:30 PM

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Common Concerns

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Spice inconsistency

A customer who specifically requested non-spicy food still received a meal described as fully spiced.

Hygiene complaint

One recent reviewer reported finding a hair in their food and felt the complaint was not handled properly.

DXB
LOCAL

The Bottom Line

Chef Lanka is a Sri Lankan restaurant in Oud Metha for traditional dishes with plenty of chilli and coconut-led flavour. The menu highlights people mention most include hoppers, devilled chicken, nasi goreng and lamprais, while the lunch buffet lets diners try rice, curries and vegetarian sides in one visit. The strongest reviews come from spice lovers.

Dolphin kottu, beef kothu porotta, sambals and devilled prawns all receive specific praise, and one delivery order of string hoppers, king fish curry and egg fried rice fed four people with varying appetites. Short eats are another useful choice for a quick order. Value depends on what you order.

A Saturday lunch buffet was reported at AED 30 per person, while another Sunday meal for rice and curry, prawns curry, hot buttered cuttlefish and a drink came to around AED 120. Reviews also mention parking nearby, though the area can be crowded. Go in with realistic expectations about spice and service.

Some diners report dishes arriving much hotter than requested, long waits or delivery mix-ups; others describe prompt delivery and friendly staff. Meat quality has also been uneven, with complaints about fatty beef, bones and cartilage. If dining upstairs, ask about the open-kitchen noise.