Ocean Essence, Ceylon Soul

Galle Fort · Sri Lanka

Book a table What we serve

Inside the walls

A villa from 1669,
a few steps from the rampart.

Malu is the Sinhala word for fish. It is also the name of the house we cook in: a villa dated MDCLXIX in the heart of Galle Fort, standing beside the old wall with the Indian Ocean on the other side of it.

Two floors, two moods, one kitchen. Upstairs, a contemporary Ceylonese seafood restaurant that looks out over the Fort and the sea. Downstairs, a low-lit café of sofas and ambient music — coffee and a simple breakfast card by day, cocktails and shisha after dark.

The cooking is Sri Lankan and it is treated as such — local ingredients, island spice, nothing dressed up as something it isn't.

Upstairs

Seafood & the Ocean

A contemporary Ceylonese seafood restaurant with the Indian Ocean in the window. Local ingredients, handled simply: authentic curries, lobster, crab and the day's catch over the grill.

  • Ceylonese curries
  • Lobster & crab
  • From the grill
  • Ocean views
Una persona llevando un plato a contraluz hacia la terraza, con el mar visible a través del ventanal
Arco de piedra del salón de abajo de Malu, con palmeras interiores, una lámpara de mimbre y mesas puestas

Downstairs

Café by Day, Lounge by Night

A relaxed café to start the day — coffee, toasts and a simple breakfast card — with sofas and ambient music. Past noon it eases into natural juices, signature cocktails and traditional shisha, all the way to the last drink of the night.

  • Simple breakfasts
  • Coffee & toasts
  • Natural juices
  • Signature cocktails
  • Shisha

The table

What comes out of the kitchen

The card changes with the harbour and the season. This is the shape of it.

Ceylonese curries

Island spice, coconut and slow heat. The house's first language.

Lobster & crab

The two things Sri Lanka's south coast does better than anywhere.

From the grill

Whole fish and the day's catch, over fire, with very little in the way.

Breakfast & toasts

The downstairs café: eggs, good bread and coffee. A simple card, on all day.

Natural juices

Whatever the market had that morning, pressed and nothing else.

Signature cocktails

Arrack, island fruit and a long list of reasons to stay for a second.

Full menu (PDF) →

4.8/5

on Tripadvisor — Seafood · Sri Lankan · Galle Fort

Guests write most often about the grilled prawns, the tuna steak and the crab curry — and about the view over the Fort from the terrace.

The house

Galle Fort, from our windows

Fachada de Malu con luz dorada: balcón amarillo con el rótulo «Malu, Ceylon Seafood Restaurant» y la entrada de la villa
La muralla de Galle Fort vista desde una ventana de Malu, con el cartel de la casa colgado en la calle
Cangrejo entero a la parrilla con salsa de ajo, servido con lima
Cóctel de color rojo con una rodaja de lima en espiral, sobre una mesa de madera en Malu
Una mano envuelta en un paño sirviendo una botella de vino en la mesa
Cóctel verde guarnecido con una rodaja de sandía, sobre la mesa

Visit

Come and sit down

Malu is inside the Fort walls, so the last stretch is on foot — which is the best way to arrive anyway.

Where
33 Rampart Street
Galle Fort, Galle · Southern Province, Sri Lanka
Open in Maps →
Hours
Open daily, 11:00 – 22:00
10% service charge
Reservations
+94 77 174 3175
Instagram
@maluceylon

Part of Breathe Hospitality

Malu belongs to a small family of houses on Sri Lanka's south coast. The Roost and Kabala are ten minutes away in Unawatuna; Casa Lanka and Breathe Collections look after where you sleep.