Restaurants near Dickwella Resort, for an evening out

If you are staying at Dickwella Resort & Spa on the Batheegama headland, or in one of the hotels along Dikwella's bay, there are good tables within a few minutes of your room. The nearest is ours: Ohana is on Turtle Beach, the small bay on the western side of the same headland.

Why eat out when your hotel has a restaurant?

Not because anything is wrong with a hotel dinner. A change of table is part of a holiday.

A buffet gives you a little of everything, at the hour the dining room keeps. A table on the sand gives you one thing, cooked for you when you ask: a whole fish on the bone, a curry made to order, a salad dressed at the last moment. You hear the bay, not the room. You choose the hour, you stay as long as you like, and you see a part of Dikwella that is not your hotel.

Many guests do it once in the middle of a stay, for a birthday or for no reason. Lunch works as well as dinner, and it is easier with children.

Where to eat within a short ride

This guide is written by Ohana. We are on the list, and we say where we think we fit.

• Ohana, Turtle Beach, Batheegama. That is us, and we are the nearest: the headland where Dickwella Resort & Spa stands is the eastern side of our bay. From the resort it is about two minutes on foot along the beach. After dark the beach is half lit, by our lights and the resort's, and the road is fully lit if you would rather come that way. We fit a calm lunch or dinner with seafood by the water: a whole grilled snapper, platters to share, gentle curries, tables on the sand. No alcohol is served, and families are the heart of the place.
• Sea Point, Batheegama. A seafood restaurant a short way from the headland. Guests write about its fish and prawns, a crab soup and a seafood platter, and about friendly service. A simple, local table.
• Malkoha, Pehembiya Beach. At the far end of Dikwella's bay, a specialty cafe that guides praise for its coffee and for an Asian-leaning menu from breakfast into lunch. A good aim for a late morning out.
• Machan Place, Pehembiya Beach. A rustic beach place with smoothies, Sri Lankan street food and sunbeds, named by guides as a spot for the sunset.
• Smoke & Bitters, Pehembiya. A bar and restaurant in a coconut grove, known across Asia for its mixed drinks. The food draws on Sri Lankan, Asian and barbecue cooking. Book ahead. For an evening with a drink in your hand, it suits better than we do.
• Hiriketiya bay. The surf bay beyond Pehembiya has a dozen places in a few hundred metres: brunch cafes, curry kitchens, an Italian oven. It is livelier and younger than Dikwella. Our list of where to eat in Hiriketiya goes through them one by one.

What does an evening at Ohana look like?

Come at four, when the heat goes out of the day. The sun sets between about 17:45 and 18:30 all year, and it is dark some twenty minutes later.

• A sunbed and a swim first. Sunbeds are free for the whole day, one for each person, when each person spends 10,000 LKR on food and drinks; otherwise they cost 1,000 LKR an hour each. A towel comes with every sunbed.
• Something to nibble at sunset. Papadam Nachos, 2,100 LKR, with hummus, pineapple salsa and crushed avocado. A Karapincha Mojito, 2,200 LKR, is our mocktail with curry leaf in place of mint.
• The fish. Red Snapper for Two, 15,900 LKR: a whole snapper of about a kilo with salad, fries, rice, a coconut curry gravy and papadam. For three, the Ohana Seafood Platter, 18,900 LKR, adds shrimps and grilled calamari.
• Something lighter. Sweet Prawn Curry, 6,700 LKR, gentle on the chilli. Sesame Tuna Filet, 6,900 LKR, seared rare.
• To finish. Grilled Pineapple, 1,700 LKR, in cinnamon sugar with vanilla ice cream.

Food is not spicy unless the dish says so, and every dish lists its allergens. The whole evening also comes as one pass, with sunbeds from 16:00 and a candlelit table in the first row. What it holds is on the page for our sunset dinner on the beach.

How do you get there and back?

• To Ohana. Follow the map on our find us page. We can also send a tuk-tuk to your hotel, for 300 to 1,500 LKR depending on the distance. Write to us on WhatsApp, +94 76 016 4768.
• To Pehembiya and Hiriketiya. Take a tuk-tuk from your hotel. The ride is short. Agree the fare before you get in.
• Coming back. Ask your driver to return at an hour you choose, or ask the restaurant to call one. Our kitchen serves until 21:00, so nobody keeps you out late.
• With a hotel half board. Tell the reception in the morning that you will be out for dinner. Most hotels are glad to know.

Do you need to book?

For lunch, simply come. For dinner in the first row, or for a whole fish for two, reserve by noon when you can, so the fish is chosen for you. You can book a table through our booking page.

What the kitchen cooks, and how, is on the page of our seafood restaurant in Dikwella.

Good to know

• Ohana is at Turtle Beach, Batheegama, Dikwella, about two minutes on foot along the beach from Dickwella Resort & Spa, and open every day.
• Lunch and dinner are served from 11:00 to 21:00, breakfast from 08:00 to 11:00.
• Prices are in LKR, plus a 10% service charge. Filtered water is on the house.
• No alcohol is served. There are mocktails, iced teas and king coconut water.
• Sunbeds are free for the whole day, one for each person, when each person spends 10,000 LKR on food and drinks; otherwise they cost 1,000 LKR an hour each. A towel comes with every sunbed.