Cafe Lanka

Lived in the area for over 5 years and first time seeing and trying this place. It’s simple, great food and service that is genuine! The prices are very reasonable compared to what you get. It’s as close to home made food as possible. Highly recommend trying this place. We ordered the vegetarian combo with my favorite dish the potatoes and the garbanzo bean curry. Well definitely be a regular here.

Delicious!
First time here. I got the curry chicken combo platter which included rice and 2 veggie sides. The veggie sides were cashew nuts and squash.
Mmm! Curry chicken has a light citrus taste. Very well made. Cashews… Who knew they could taste so good.
Will be back. Thanks!

The couple that owned this restaurant was very nice and food was decent, but our experience left us wanting. We arrived after opening time to find that nobody was there. After the owners showed up, it took 45 minutes to cook for the six of us and halfway through the meal, our waiter left and never came back, leaving his wife to cook for the other customers coming in and leaving us wishing for service. What should have been a simple lunch took 1.5 hours even though we were the only customers for the majority of our time there. Considering the price I paid ($ 18 including tip for the combo), I can’t see myself returning.

LOVE this place.
Absolutely delicious. The wife and husband team who run it are so sweet and nice. They’re accommodating of my allergies, so if you have a lot of allergies, you can feel safe eating here.
I recommend the eggplant curry. It is my absolute favorite, and every time I order it and let whoever I’m eating with have a bite, they always say «I’m gonna get that next time. It’s so good!» It’s very soft, almost melts in your mouth, amazing flavors. I don’t even like eggplant when it’s prepared any other way!

First off, I have to complement the restaurant owners for maintaining such a clean restaurant both from a dining area and the kitchen (from what I could see through a sneak peak). Such a pleasure to eat at a clean restaurant without paying fancy big bucks :)
Second, the food was unexpectedly delicious! I have visited Sri Lankan restaurants in New York and in New Jersey — but I want to say that this by far had the best experience (cleanliness and taste).
We ordered Mixed Vegetable dish that comes with rice and three choices of vegies, and a Sri Lankan vermicelli (string hoppers) that came with mutton curry and lentil curry. We also ordered a chai tea and an avocado drink. The plates, glasses and silverware were all impeccably clean and the food was succulent! Reminded me of Nirvana in Manhattan NY — (in terms of deliciousness and cleanliness).
We also ordered some lamprais (Sri Lankan specialty rice dish) as takeout (since the food was super good).
I would highly recommend visiting this joint and experiencing a tasteful bite to eat that would be enhanced by the cleanly layout and friendly smiles of the owners.

I had the most amazing pumpkin soup ever at this place tonight. I go here regularly and was told tonight they now have a new seasonal soup, fresh pumpkin! Kudos to the chef! This was the most tasty soothing yummy soup I have ever had. Apparently it has lemongrass which I’m not familiar with at all. I took some home for family and friends. Looking forward to having pumpkin soup here again! Wow!

Excellent service and delicious food! Definitely has an edge to it… A must try for sure… You will be pleasantly surprised and be leaving happy!!!

We were happy to see a restaurant with many vegetarian and vegan dishes.
However, all 4 items we ordered were very salty.
It’s too bad because the place was clean and owners were friendly.

No complaints regarding the service which was nice, and the place was really clean. The food though… it’s not bad, but simply below average. The meat was dry and the sauce was bland. You can get a better chicken tikka masala frozen from Trader Joe’s, sorry. First time Unilocal had failed me.

Excellent food and service and conveniently close to Eagle Rock/​Glendale. Cute, very clean and welcoming, highly recommended.
There are few Sri Lankan restaurants around town so this was definitely a great find!

Great food. The owners, a Sri Lankan couple, welcomed us, talked with us, and were a pleasure to be around. This is exactly the type of restaurant I want to frequent and support!!!
Now on to the food. My brother, his girlfriend, and I ordered to veggie combos. We got to choose 3 veggie dishes for each combo, which came w a lot of specially flavored rice. We got string beans, Brussels sprouts, cashew curry, eggplant, and one more that we forgot. We also got a side of roti, which was excellent, and some garlic naan. The string beans were standout, truly gourmet. Everything was pretty tasty. Next time, we’ll try some chicken, mutton, and I wanna try the soymeat.
They also deliver. My brother just moved nearby, so I’m sure we’ll be ordering it often! Free wifi was a nice touch. Support this great local business!!!

Café Lanka is pretty great! I really liked their rice and the different curry selections. There aren’t many places near my parents house that offer South Asian food, so I was excited to find them on Unilocal!Also I’ve never had Sri Lankan food before but I really enjoyed all the different flavors. I had the shrimp curry with assortment of side dishes and liked them all.
I also had a thai iced tea that was pretty good too!
I will definitely go back!

Delicious Sri Lankan food. Me and my wife had the lumprais. It’s delicious. Felt like we were back home in Lanka. Great service by Mahesh & Subodha. Will definitely go back. Very clean and organized café. Thanks so much.

This hidden treasure is the BEST restaurant in La Crescenta! The food is incredibly fresh and the favors are amazing. Besides, the owners are extremely kind and welcoming.
I strongly recommend the Veggie Combo… A pure delight! And the Avocado juice is so so good!

Let’s start with the good. So was in the area (La Canada/​La Cresenta) and found this 4.5 star rated Sri lankan restaurant and decided to try it out.
Easy to find, and the man who was inside the kitchen gave us a smile when we walked in. That’s where the good ends.
The same man comes to take our order, and I always like to ask about what I am about to order even after seeing pictures on Unilocal (see Lamprais packet in the previous pics — looks awesome!). Description from waiter «its great, has lots of different items cooked in a banana leaf». Ordered. The wife got the mutton curry with paratha roti and we ordered a cauliflower curry side.
15 minutes later, I receive something in a plastic container with a sticker on it that has instructions on freezing and how to defrost. Ignored it, proceeded to eat my food which tasted like it was made a few months ago. So I asked the «cook”-lady who was at the counter,
Me: „Was this made today ?“
LadyCook: „No, it can stay for 3 months frozen, so we make it in batches and then defrost it, and heat it in the microwave“
Me: Speechless
Waiter: „Oh? is it still frozen?“
Me: Speechless again.
My food was basically made 2 – 3 months ago. Nice.
At no time during the order-​taking process was the word „Frozen“, „Freezer“, „Cold“, „Microwave“, etc ever used.
Moving on, the mutton curry was pretty good, however, the paratha roti that came with it, can be bought from any indian grocery store in the frozen food area for $ 2 for a packet of 6. My wife asked the same cook lady :“Do you make these here?» LadyCook: «Oh no, we just heat them up, they are frozen».
Please if after reading this you still are in disbelief, see my pictures.
I think Café Lanka should change their name to Café Frozen, maybe they can take advantage of the movie marketing too.

This place deserves a negative star. I can’t believe Unilocal let me down!
We came here for lunch today after reading the reviews. We ordered the mutton curry with lentil and parantha roti and the Lamprais.
When the food came, I was excited but that ended at the first bite. Not only was there no flavor but it was frozen! Yuck, they had reheated the food and not even defrosted it properly. This is outrageous! How can you not serve fresh food or at least mention it on the menu that some items are frozen. The entire dish (Lamprais) was just taken from the freezer and plopped in the microwave. And yes, it tasted like you were eating a shoe… pretty disgusting. The mutton curry was good, albeit a bit salty but again the lentils that came with it were watered down and were cold. The parantha roti was basically from the frozen packets you get at an Indian grocery store, again nothing was freshly made… a big disappointment. Even the mango lassi was watered down and pretty pathetic.
But the worst part of this entire meal was the customer service. When we asked the owner if the food was reheated, she rolled her eyes and said that’s the way it is eaten in her country. Everything is frozen for 3 months and it should be tasting good. Well, it wasn’t tasting good and when asked if anything is made fresh in the kitchen, she just avoided me and bought us the bill. No offer to make our experience a little better or an apology for the disgusting food. We left the entire dish (Lamprais, $ 14 plus taxes) untouched. Horrible customer service, coupled with disgusting, stale food… I am never coming back!

This was really fantastic!
Owned by a husband and wife from Sri Lanka.
I popped in here after reading numerous Unilocal reviews.
The menu isn’t too big to navigate but it’s very good.
Somebody on here complained it wasn’t authentic Sri Lankan food.
It’s La Crescenta! I can’t believe it’s here regardless.
I ordered chicken tikka masala. You get to pick 3 veggie sides so I chose potato, eggplant and apparently something else I can’t remember.
I thought everything was fresh and tasty. The price was right. The rice was great that came with it.
It was not a typical Indian tikka masala. The flavors were MUCH more aromatic than most Indian food I’ve had.
The restaurant was immaculately clean, service was prompt and there is a parking lot.
I would be back here for dinner tonight… and just might be!

Another Unilocaler got it right: the couple who owns Café Lanka are adorable! They are so kind, and pay such great attention to detail to make your experience special, that one couldn’t help but love this place!
Admittedly the space is small and in an otherwise nondescript strip mall. But the negatives end right there.
The owner added some special spices, similar to chai, to my iced coffee, which made it so fantastically unique that I ordered a second glass. They also gave my son colored pencils and place mats to color on, which occupied and entertained him.
I ordered the cashew curry and my wife ordered the chicken masala — both were great, but I think everything on the menu will be a treat.
I will be back. 5 stars. The world needs more restaurants like this: small businesses with their own unique personality.

A little more expensive than people say it is.
Tip: Ask for samples.
Quaint little hole-​in-​the-​wall with only two people behind the counter. I was pleasantly surprised by their excellent service and attitude. Based on other reviews I read, I ordered their «shrimp curry with veggie» and also got avocado juice. It’s not the best Indian food I ever tasted, but it was pretty darn good considering how small their operation is. I’ve never had avocado juice before, and I was shocked at how good it tasted. You can tell it’s made with real avocados because there’s small chunks inside. I wonder how much sugar they put in that thing?
The only downside is the level of service. Since there’s only two people, you can’t expect them to be available to help you all the time. It’s worse if it’s crowded. But I give them props for trying.
After paying for my meal, I have to add that the prices are a bit higher than expected. After choosing to give 15% tip, my order of shrimp curry and avocado juice came out to $ 17 and change.

What pleasant service. The food is A-​1 and hits the spot for the curry craving. Ordered the shrimp curry, shrimp fried rice, and side dish of eggplant. They were equally flavored perfect. We only hoped for full sized shrimps on the shrimp dishes, if not at least the fried rice dish.
Although a small place, it’s immaculate. Will definitely return.