San Rasa

I was excited to come here, especially on a Sunday buffet so that I could try a variety of items. Street parking can be limited but it’s usually not too bad. I was warmly greeted as there are tables in the front and a bar in the middle where the host is typically stationed. There are a few more tables in the back, but it is primarily reserved for the buffet stations and a center table with some desserts. You go through the buffet clockwise but it ends with some salad and soup.
The rice and veggie noodles are pretty standard. I had the chicken curry which is boned thigh meat in a curry sauce. It was quite tasty and definitely went back for seconds. The deviled fish was spicy but a little dry. An egg curry was next which were full hard boiled eggs in another yellow curry sauce. The eggs had also dried out. There was a dried fish dish which I tried but limited myself to only 1 piece as it was too chewy. At the back wall were some vegetarian curries and I really liked the lentil curry. The capsicum curry was good as there were some good root vegetables but I thought the eggplant moju was a little too sweet. The staff was really nice and made sure you were taken care of but I was disappointed to see nobody in the restaurant for an early Sunday evening.

I’m really impressed by San Rasa. After reading an article claiming Staten Island is home to the best Sri Lankan restaurants around… I was intrigued and curious to see what it was all about. Reviews pointed towards San Rasa and for good reason! I ordered the Sanjay Special (fried rice and mix of meat and seafood). The rice was wonderful and the meat and seafood was delicious. I’m going to return to try out the Sunday Buffet and seems i must try out the lamprie also.

Best sri Lankan Cuisine in the staten island # under new management, come and enjoy with the food.

It’s probably a good thing San Rasa is on Staten Island and requires a bit of a trek to get to. If it wasn’t, I’d be there all the time and would need bigger pants! They has friendly and attentive service, what I assume to be traditional Sri Lankan décor, and delicious food! My fiancé and I tried the masala wade as an appetizer and the chicken lamprie as an entrée, both of which were really tasty!
What I particularly appreciated about San Rasa is how their flavor profiles seemed to be uniquely Sri Lankan. I’m by no means an expert in Sri Lankan food, but it didn’t seem like the dishes we ordered deviated much from traditional fare by accommodating to western palates.
I would highly recommend San Rasa to anyone who’s going to be in Staten Island and is also willing to try something new!

This place is great. Went for lunch on a weekday and it was pretty empty but the food was excellent. First time having Sri Lankan food, and it was worth the drive from Brooklyn. Really enjoy the spring roll, string hoppers and pittu.

A tinder girl invited me to exit my island of Manhattan and make the trek here to try Sri Lankan food.
I agreed (you can guess why).
She no-​showed at the ferry terminal, so I went anyway by myself.
Totally worth it.

I’ve never had a better food experience in my life. If I could eat here every day, I would do it in a heartbeat. It’s orgasmic!

This is a review for the buffet. Not sure about the actual entrees — they may be better than what I experienced.
I tried this place because I saw an article online that said it was better than Lakruwana, and the reviews here supported that. Now, while the Sunday buffet is $ 2 cheaper than Lakruwana, that in no way makes up for the poor food selection, poor service and lackluster ambiance here. Lakruwana’s food far surpasses San Rasa — it was kept fresh and the employees continued to stir food and add more as it ran low. San Rasa? Something ran out and wasn’t replaced while I was still there. Plus, the deviled fish here was way overcooked and there wasn’t really a single thing on the buffet that my girlfriend and I found delicious, except for the yellow lentils. Lakruwana’s décor also far surpasses San Rasa and the friendly service is miles ahead. Although the service at San Rasa was not rude, it was definitely lacking and uninvolved. Save yourself the trouble and head to Lakruwana for seriously delicious Sri Lankan fare, an overall better ambiance and friendly service. It’s worth the extra $ 2.

My family and I braved the Staten Island ferry (kidding — it was fun) to check this place out. This is a nice sit down restaurant in the «Little Sri Lanka» part of Staten Island. The food is authentic, and while it takes a bit of waiting for it to come out, it’s obvious it’s because the food is freshly prepared. The standout dish was the lamprais — delicious. I’m not usually a rice person, but the rice in this dish was so flavorful, it was hard to stop eating it even after I was full.
We also tried the appetizer sampler which was really tasty. All freshly fried short eats (as they are called in Sri Lanka). The portions are large, so keep that in mind when ordering, though we happily took our leftovers home. We ate here for a late lunch on a Saturday and it was fairly quiet. The décor of the restaurant is very pretty and would be good for a date or dinner with friends.

The food here is great, the service is amazing. Sri Lankan food has a slight overlap of taste with southern indian cuisine, some dishes are prepared with coconut and use similar spice.
We ordered the hopper, kothu roti, String hopper, devilled fish, veg biriyani, chicken curry, chilly chicken, Mango lassi.
Every single dish was extremely tasty and beautifully presented.
The Kothu roti had an amazing texture, the devilled fish was mildly spicy.
The hopper and string hopper were served hot, the sides were also nice.
Best sri lankan food that I have tasted yet, I would come here for more.

I tried the lamperie and it was delicious. The waiter shared that it is prepared and cooked for days so when it’s available it’s a must have. We also ordered the fish spring rolls which were fried and very tasty with a mango chutney type sauce. We went at the end of the night so there were barely any patrons at all. No alcohol served here. I got the lime juice which was basically lime sugar water, but still pretty tasty and not overly sugary. It was a hot and humid night and it would have been preferable if they had ac on in the place. They did have a fan on breeze mode but it did make the hot meal a bit uncomfortable to eat. The waiters friends came towards the end of the night and he became a bit less responsive and attentive so we had to call him over to clear off the plates and give us the bill. I would probably order out from this place if I was in the mood for this type of food again rather than pay for the dine in experience which was less than expected. Loss of one star for the service.

Tried sri lankan food for the first time at this restaurant. I had hoppers with vegetarian curry and it was simply delicious. The service was great too.

I spent a week in Sri Lanka years ago and this restraurant brought back a flood of memories. The food is not only absolutely delicious but they have not compromised their spices/​chillies level for local levels. I had the Godambi Roti and deviled shrimp and a lassi. The Godambi roti was mindblowing. I lived and travelled in India for years and this was very similar to sambar but better. The mix of spices was very, very eye opening. Very happy. The deviled shrimp was ok at first but grew on me by the spoonful.
We had a big table with several kids and the waiter was incredibly graceful and joked around with them.
There is also a buffet I would like to check out on my next trip.

I’m a Sri Lankan. And I’ve eaten Sri Lankan food my whole life. And I can guarantee that food here is way better than food in Sri Lanka!!! I tried the mutton koththu, and it tasted way better than I expected.

I have only taken the Staten Island ferry, but never explored the actual Island. I was pleasantly surprised at how good this place was and at a great price. They have a buffet that is only $ 11.99, which is very tasty. Try their mango lassi as well (and their salt lassi if you’re Indian like me or a little more adventurous). Definitely a Staten Island must-​try.

I tried the lamperie and I was surprised to see what was inside the banana leaf package! Yummy rice with cashews and various veggies. I also tried hoppers, it’s a Sri Lankan version of crepes as my boyfriend described it. The hoppers accompanied a side of curry king fish and pickled onions. I think I’ll pass on the curry fish next time just because the lamperie was that good.
No alcohol served at the restaurant btw.
Also, don’t look up. The beautiful wood work needs a little dusting.

5 stars for the tasty food, good service and the price we paid for it !
We had the all you can eat buffet which had plenty of veg options and few meat. The egg curry was the best I have eaten so far ! Mind blowing … Would highly recommend it !
It is quite a trek to get to the place from the city via the ferry but it was all worth it

I love Staten Island NY, And that’s because of San Rasa (& lil Lanka) This Place offers the Best Sri Lankan Food in the USA. I’m saying this buy trying out most of them. In the west coast (IN LA) and in the East (NY) where most of the SL restaurants are located. San Rasa according to my opinion is way ahead of the other places. Of course this place is my favorite restaurant ever. Its really Sad i don’t live close to this place. My wife is from NY and her parents still live in NY so we come here every year to visit them and of course to visit this restaurant a couple times when i’m in the neighborhood. Its kind of bad that i think i look forward to eating at this place than visiting my in-​laws .
Ok lets get to the food
Must have dishes
Kotthu Roti=chopped up roti bread stir friend with veggie and curry
Lamprise = rice and couple of curries baked in banana leaf
Buriyani
chicken/​beef devil — spicy & sweet stir fired meat with onion, bell peppers, great with beer
hoppers (like a rice crêpe) with shirmp or chicken curry
String hoppers (like noodles) with pol sambal and curry
Appertizers (rolls, cutlets, vadey)
OR you can come to the Sunday all you can eat buffet where they serve a variety of dishes, if you haven’t had Sri Lankan food before this is the best introduction, Above dishes will not be included as those are a la carte. You will get a variety of veggie and meat curries with rice.
Chef/​owner is a very talented and friendly person. I do have to warn you about one thing if you come here on a Friday or any busy night you might have to wait for your food for a while.

Great experience. My Sri Lankan friend suggested this place as a really legit place to get authentic food yet also still close to the ferry station. We both got the String Hopper Kottu with Chicken Curry, and started off with a assorted sampler.
Very delicious. Massive portions. With soda it came out to $ 40, and they take Credit Card.
Would definitely come back.
Note this is the new location. The other Unilocal listing with «moved» in the name is the old location

Nice experience, friendly staff, decent price. Ordered the beef curry with eggplant, lentils and kale. They were quite delicious! Herby, right among of salt. It was served with Rice and mango salsa, which was also delicious. The beef was a bit tough, but I am not complaining too much because for the price, it was a delectable assortment of food. Mango lassi was good too. Nice place for dinner with friends or casual lunch.
To finish, they have me an absolutely delicious creamy bavarian mint chocolate piece. Mmmmm
And they gave me extra Rice for my to go box!