Plenty of restaurants will slap a veggie symbol next to one sad dish and call it a day. That's not what happens here. At Waadiya, vegetarian and vegan food isn't the "other" menu, it's just food, cooked with the same hands, same spices, and same care as everything else that leaves our kitchen.
Truth is, Indian and Sri Lankan cooking never needed to catch up to the plant-based trend. Lentils, coconut, seasonal vegetables, and bold spice have been the everyday table in both countries for generations, long before it had a name on a menu.
Why Indian & Sri Lankan Cuisine Works So Well for Vegetarians and Vegans
A lot of vegetarian menus lean on the same tired options: a plain pasta, a sad salad, maybe a veggie burger. That's not how it works here. Dishes like dal, chana masala, and paneer curries were never created as substitutes for meat dishes; they're standalone classics with centuries of technique behind them. Sri Lankan cooking brings the same depth, with coconut sambols, mallung (stir-fried greens), and vegetable curries built on freshly ground spice pastes.
The result is a menu where vegetarian and vegan diners aren't choosing the "safe" option. They're choosing dishes that are genuinely some of the best on offer.
What to Order
For vegetarians:
- Paneer curries — soft, house-made paneer simmered in rich, spiced gravies
- Dal Tadka — slow-cooked lentils finished with tempered spices and ghee
- Vegetable biryani — fragrant basmati rice layered with seasonal vegetables and whole spices
For vegan diners:
- Vegetable curries in coconut-based sauces — naturally dairy-free and full of flavour
- Sri Lankan vegetable mallung and sambols — fresh, coconut-forward, and packed with texture
- Chickpea and lentil-based curries — hearty, protein-rich, and completely plant-based
Our staff are always happy to talk through the menu and point out which dishes can be adapted, whether that means leaving out ghee, swapping in coconut milk, or confirming what’s already vegan by default.
Not Just an Afterthought
Dining out as a vegetarian or vegan often means asking a lot of questions and hoping for the best. At Waadiya, it means sitting down at a proper table, in a proper dining room, and having a full course of dishes that were designed to be this good, not adjusted to be “good enough.”
It’s also why Waadiya works so well for mixed groups. If half the table eats meat and half doesn’t, nobody has to compromise. Everyone gets dishes that feel like the main event.