Phenomenal weekend buffet with tons of options. Environment is top notch and made me feel like I was actually in Sri Lanka

This place has the most amazing buffet, which is a great value, and the decor is unlike anywhere else I've been. We ordered off the menu once, which was also very good. You'll feel like you're visiting Sri Lanka and trying their incredible cuisine. I'd come here all the time if I lived closer by but it's well worth the ferry ride from Manhattan!

Lakruwana was on my list to try in Staten Island for 1.5 years. We live 20 mins away and we finally decided to try it yesterday (on a Saturday) because I wanted to try their infamous buffet ($25/person plus taxes). Upon arrival, you will notice Lakruwana stands out with its god-like doors. Once you open and walk through those doors, you will feel like you've transferred into a different world. Because this restaurant's decors are very unique. All decors look like a combination of Egyptian, Thai and Indian culture meshed together. You have elephants, Buddhists, wooden handmade clay cups, water kettles, and spices. It is very interesting. I thought the chairs were very unique too, it offers a spot for people put their coats on it. It is multi-purpose. The space is not big but it is homey. The buffet stared right when we arrived at 12:30pm on Saturday. We were immediately greeted and seated by the waitress in a corner. It was private. We didn't know exactly how the buffet works but we were like, "Do we pay first or do we eat first?". The answer was, you eat first. Additional drinks that were not the water will be charged separately. For example, I ordered an extra black ginger tea, it was charged an extra $3.5. So make sure you to ask as well. Overall, the food was great. It's not a huge buffet like what you'd expect from an American styled buffet but it is a handful. You get a taste of everything there is to offer from a small Sri Lanka restaurant. For us, there were curried eggs, lentils, cauliflowers, chickpeas, broccoli and yucca. The mains were three types of basmati rice, marinated chicken and pork with onions. There was also a coconut dish like the shredded kale with coconut pieces. I am unsure if the menu changes or not. But the flavors were there. I normally would say go hungry for buffets, but for Lakruwana, I'd say go there hungry for the flavors. My favorites were the mousses dessert: Chocolate, caramel (this one is mixed with eggs so it tasted like a custard), gooseberries, and mango (amazing!). There were also coconut sagos. 3/4 of the mousse tasted like puddings. I liked it a lot and I think I had 3 small cups. Overall, a very good introduction to Sri Lanka food if you have never had it like me. I would also say just go during Tuesday through Friday and order what you like to try if you're not into buffets. Very cool experience overall. PS: For those who don't live in SI. The orange NYC (the big recognizable Staten Island) ferries from Whitehall Manhattan is free if you're coming in from Manhattan. It runs every 30 mins, including federal holidays. This restaurant is a 25 minutes walk from the St. George terminal on the SI side. I recommend programming it into the bus app to take the S51, S76 or S81 bus and get off on Bay Street and Broad St to get there if walking is too far. Otherwise, there is an option to take a free transfer train (if you already paid for the train on the Manhattan side) on SI side to Tottenville direction. Get off at the Stapleton station (2 stops), and walk over to the restaurant.

The best Sri Lankan food I've ever had (granted it's also the first time ivr had Sri Lankan food)! It was well worth the 2hr train/ferry/Uber trip here; the ambiance and decor are stunning. The surrounding area is a bit questionable at night (there was a homeless woman blocking the door and we had to call the staff to enter the restaurant). The $22 buffet (Saturday and Sunday from 12:30pm-9:30pm) is why you go, and it's arguably the best value I've seen in NY. It may look slightly underwhelming, but the food is incredible. I especially loved the deviled pork and lentil curry. The papapdam (a large tortilla shaped chip) tasted like a shrimp chip and helps to mute some of the sharper spices. The tastes, flavors, and spices blend perfectly together. The buffet also includes 5 desserts (all various puddings), which were all delicious. Just remember that it's cash only. The entrees are also very good but not as great in terms of value ($15-20 each). It's perfect for a trip with friends, and there are plenty of vegan options available. Staff is very pleasant and helpful. Would highly recommend.

I'd rate Lakruwaka three and a half stars. Sri Lankan buffet with a vegetarian leaning selection. Fair variety of options at the buffet. Three different rices. Pork curry, vegetable curry, lentil curry, and boiled egg curry. Yuca, deviled chicken, and sautéed eggplant. Lots of accompaniments too. My favorite dishes were the vegetable curry and the eggplant. They had five dessert options consisting of puddings and mousses. Service was attentive and quickly cleared our plates each time we finished one. There was one small, single occupancy restroom. The restaurant was casual but very decorative.

This restaurant is literally an oasis in Staten Island. As you walk in, it's as if you are walking into Sri Lanka. It's intricately decorated, yet inviting and cozy. They are family owned and operated and are so welcoming. A couple friends and I went to try the weekend buffet and were really impressed. None of us had tried Sri Lankan food before but we enjoyed all of the dishes we tried. We will have to add Sri Lankan food in our rotation.

Came here because it was HEAVILY recommended by a friend, and we had a nice experience! It was a bit out of the way for us, but we still made a fun little trip out of it. Lakruwana offered a great first introduction to Sri Lankan food. The restaurant is so beautifully decorated, it's almost like you are transported into another country. Everything is super clean as well. We went pretty soon after they opened, and the buffet was fully stocked. There was no shortage of anything we wanted to try. All the flavors were wonderful and the items paired nicely together. Towards the far end of the buffet, there was a platter of round chip-like things (I think it was papadam but don't quote me) that were AMAZING. The texture complimented everything on the buffet line. My one complaint is that some of the meat was hard and difficult to chew. I was also pretty impressed by the dessert bar-- they have a variety of flavored mousses.

Been seeing Lakurawana for ages in my feed and decided to finally venture out to SI to check it out. It's so hard to find Sri Lankan food in the area, so was surprised to find out that there's a big population in SI. Opted for the lunch buffet and gotta say that it's fantastic value for like $20ish. Food was alright, not the best Lankan food I've had, and definitely missed some of the heavy hitters that I was looking forward to like hoppers and Kothu. But otherwise, they had a selection. Not much meat and the meat dishes weren't amazing, but the vegetable dishes were defo better. Nothing was really spicy - I suppose to appeal to everyone. Overall, good value since you get to try to so many things. Ambience is pretty cute. Featuring local Sri Lankan artifacts and statues. Tables were a bit cramped. Service was pretty good and they were so great with clearing plates!

Delicious Sri Lankan cuisine in a beautiful authentic setting! We visited Lakruwana for a father-daughter catch-up evening in May 2024. We chose it based on reviews, looking to try Sri Lankan cuisine for the first time and check out the nice decor we saw on the pics. What a great choice we made! The restaurant was small, beautifully decorated, cozy, and quiet. The interior was gorgeous, the food was tasty, savory, and interesting. Our waitress Julia was super friendly and helpful. She explained the dishes, gave recommendations, and told us about restaurant history and the owners. Overall, it was absolutely perfect place for our get-together! We definitely recommend trying Lakruwana restaurant if you are in the area! Dishes ordered Malligatawny Soup with Chicken - perfectly balanced with spice and mild heat level, having pleasant texture this cream soup was delicious! Hoppers with Fish Curry - this is traditional Sri Lankan "crepes" dish. We really liked the softness and texture of the hoppers and fish curry accompanied them very well. The King fish in the curry was quite tough and dense like a meat, but were told it was traditional Sri Lankan, and hence we were glad we tried it. Kottu Roti with Chicken - this was soft and savory. I would say a bit mushy, but it was my first time trying it so I suspect that's how it's supposed to be. Lamprais with Lamb - this one was delicious! The combo of lamb, eggplant, cashews, caramelized onion over soft rice. I initially planned to leave the rice and just eat the combo on top, but the rice complimented the combo so well that finished it all! The sauteed eggplants were so good I would take them a separate dish. The only component I personally didn't like was fish cutlet. The texture was too fine to my taste. Mango Lassi - we took it for dessert and didn't regret! It had very fresh mango taste and was very sweet (perhaps too sweet for me:)) and smooth!