Unlimited in Colombo: when a buffet is worth it

The unlimited offer in Colombo comes in three recognisable formats, and only two of them reliably repay the price.

The seafood night is the strongest. A hotel restaurant puts out crab, prawn and whole fish on a fixed price, usually one designated evening a week, and the value is real because those are the most expensive things on the à la carte menu the rest of the time. Arrive when the sitting opens rather than an hour in: the best of the catch goes early and the replenishment after nine is noticeably different.

The general dinner buffet is the weakest. It is broad rather than deep, built to satisfy a full hotel of guests with different tastes, and you can usually eat better for less by ordering three dishes à la carte in the same building.

The third format is the local one — a kottu or rice-and-curry counter that serves until you stop asking. No ceremony, no booking, a fraction of the price, and it is where most of Colombo actually eats.

Two things to check before committing to any of them. First, whether the price is per person with a time limit; ninety-minute and two-hour caps have become normal and are rarely printed prominently. Second, whether beverages count — an unlimited food offer with full-price drinks is a different proposition once four people have ordered twice.

As everywhere in this guide: confirm the night and the price with the venue. These offers rotate more than any other kind.