No matter your postcode, there’s pay-off in dropping by Chef Ceylon on Toongabbie’s main strip, where the scent of spice hints at the many Sri Lankan eateries near the train station.

Step inside and you’ll be magnetised by the rainbow rows of curries and various pastries in its bain-marie. Spotlit pan rolls (which resemble crumbed spring rolls) are stuffed with lamb, chicken and vegetable fillings by pastry chef Kisaa Kuda Widanalaga.

Hot-buttered cuttlefish, another staple, is made with crushed chilli and pepper levels dialled up or down according to diner preferences. Kottu roti, made by slashing and scattering roti through vegetables and chicken, lamb, goat or seafood, crackles with deep-fried curry leaves and coconut shreds. Curry, meanwhile, spans gentle dahl, starchy chilli-speckled ash plantains and sweet lively ribbons of beetroot curry.

Mango lassi is a good tonic, as is a Sri Lankan ginger beer, while the fridge is also filled with rose-syrup faluda.

Good to know: Husband-and-wife team Nilani and Duminda De Silva took over in 2023 and also manage sister restaurant Kandy Bites in Glebe.

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