Colombo Kitchen Worcester Park 'cooking the way our grandparents did’
Colombo Kitchen, which opened in 2019 in Central Road, was founded by Sylvia Perera after years of cooking for friends and family who encouraged her to turn her passion into a business.
Sylvia Perera is the face behind Colombo Kitchen and has taken home several awards and accolades since it opened in 2019. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)
The restaurant is now run with the help of her husband and children, making it a true family operation.
Sylvia, who grew up in Sri Lanka before moving to the UK in 1984, said her love of cooking started at a young age.
She said: “I always loved cooking.
Colombo Kitchen is located in Central Road in Worcester Park and has another branch in Putney. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)
“When I was small, before I went to school, I used to sit and watch my grandma cook.
“That’s how I learned, watching how she made traditional Sri Lankan food.”
For years, she cooked for gatherings at home, where friends and relatives repeatedly told her the food should be shared with more people.
She decided to wait until her children had grown up before opening a restaurant of her own.
Colombo Kitchen even cooks some of its dishes in front of the diners. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)
She added: “We always had friends and family coming together and they would say 'the food is really nice, why don’t you open a restaurant?'
“I wanted to wait until my children finished their education, and then I decided it was time for me to do something for myself.
“Age is not a problem.”
The first restaurant opened after she spotted an empty venue near where she lived and decided to take the opportunity.
Since then, Colombo Kitchen has picked up several major awards.
This includes Sri Lankan restaurant of the year at the 2026 Nation’s Curry Awards, national chef of the year at the 2024 Asian Restaurant & Takeaway Awards, and a two-star Great Taste Award for its lamprais.
Become an award-winning restaurant wasn’t something Sylvia anticipated.
She said: “I didn’t expect to win awards.
“It just happened.
Mutton rolls were one of the things Sylvia highly recommended to diners. (Image: Ezekiel Bertrand)
“People loved the food, and we kept getting recognised year after year.”
Sylvia believes the secret to the restaurant’s success is sticking to traditional recipes and cooking everything fresh each day using ingredients imported from Sri Lanka.
She explained: “The uniqueness is that the food is cooked the way our grandparents cooked.
“I make my own curry powder, everything is fresh, and we use proper Sri Lankan ingredients.
“Some Sri Lankan customers say it tastes like back home.”
Popular dishes include jackfruit curry, hoppers and a range of homemade curries, all prepared in-house.
Sylvia said running a restaurant can be stressful, but the reaction from customers makes it worthwhile.
“At the end of the day when people say this is the best food they had, then all the tiredness is gone,” she said.
The restaurant opened just months before the Covid pandemic, but she said takeaway orders and support from regular customers helped the business survive.
She said there were often big queues outside, and despite only three of them working, the restaurant managed to survive.
Due to its popularity, the family later opened a second, larger restaurant in Putney in 2024, and the business now hosts special menus, buffet nights and celebrations for the Sri Lankan New Year.
Sylvia added: “Anyone can come and try Sri Lankan food.
“We can make it mild, medium or hot.
“Most people try once, and then they come back again and again.”
