Nice decor and friendly, helpful staff. Offers a variety of vegetarian dishes and has vegan options as well. Delicious food, specially the grilled vegetable and tofu salad. There are healthy options on the menu than in most places. A tad bit expensive but it’s worth considering how good the food and service is.

I highly recommend the Empire Café. I went there once for dinner and once late in the morning for breakfast. The café is very central and because of the old building it is a nice place to sit. The dinner (traditional curry) tasted good. I also recommend the Smoothie Bowl in the morning. Please try the carrot 🥕 cake! In the morning I talked for a long time with a very nice staff member about travelling while he politely took care of everything else there. Really nice staff! You definitely pay a little bit for the location, 10% charge on top. therefore 3,5 stars! Just check it out and take a picture yourself I recommend. The food looks very good (see photos)

The Empire Cafe is a nice cafe to eat at. The Sri Lankan Omelette is yummy. Coffee is French press deliciousness. Located next to the Temple of the Tooth. Also a great place to observe the goings on between local vendors and travelers.

The empire cafe has a wonderful historic vibe to it, especially the outdoor seating area in the front. Look out for the beautiful lamp and building details!The rice and curry was good and appropriate size, with honest pricing. The cafe is very close to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth so makes for an easy stop once youre done sightseeing. #cafe #historic #dinner

Great place to have lunch. I ordered wrap with bacon and really enjoyed them. Coffee is usual, but very tasty like in every cafe/restaurant on Sri Lanka. They have a big selection of teas, some of them are available in cold brewing.

Had a beautiful dinner here, such a lovely break from the busy nature of Kandy. Beautifully decorated inside with a fabulous range of teas and food options. The vegetable curries were heavenly, as was the elderflower tea. Service here was impeccable, and everyone was very courteous, helpful, and efficient.

Lovely experience at a professional restaurant which really understands the needs and tastes of its guests.The service is really good with friendly and talkative waiters. They speak good English which helps and being a heavily tourist location, they totally appreciate the concerns around water usage and tastes so really do offer something for everyone.Worth a visit and highly recommended!

I like what they have done with the place. Old British period building carefully turned into the restaurant while keeping its vintage look intact. One of the main tourists attraction when it comes to the restaurants in Kandy. Good and helpful staff. Nice environment. Closest restaurant to the Sacred Temple of Tooth. Quality and delicious food. Reasonable price given the type and the quality of food.

Cozy little cafe next to the tooth temple. Has a nice ambience, but the food is average. We had the Ceylon fish burger and the open wrap. The burger was bland, and dry. The wrap has fresh vegetables but the taste was just ok, nothing special.

I tasted smoothie here which was sooo delicious and yummy. I havent tasted such a good smoothie ever. Srilankan lunch is also available. It is very near to the tooth temple. The view from the restaurant is good. The people who serve here are so kind. Its a must try restaurant

A nice and quirky place, the food was good and the coffee was excellent, the decor was beautiful and the service was quick and friendly, tried the Empire Salad a few wraps and ice cream and it was delicious!the building used to be a coffee factory when coffee was a big deal in Sri Lanka.

Had a Sri Lankan seafood noodles here which tastes good. My friend had a rice set with various dishes chicken and fish curry, brinjal and vegetables which taste really great. All in our 2 mains costs approx. 10 USD. It is considered relatively expensive relative to prices around but really worth it.Good old retro vibe here (according to the waiter this place is at least a 100 years old).

Lovely food (vegan options) delicious freshly made iced tea. Nice atmosphere and also some postcards to buy. Very friendly staff as well.

Food and drinks were average but decor was nice and staff were friendly.

Great service. The best service we have had in Sri Lanka. The food is very western but that’s what you expect when you go to cafe. They don’t serve alcohol

Amazing food! We had the Sri Lankan curry and it was amazing. They have a great selection of juices and drinks as well. Great location next to the temples.

Good food in 4 we paid 4000 rupias

We really liked the smoothies. We had as well pasta for lunch, which was really good. For a change we wanted to eat something more western, and this is the right place to go. Prices are significantly higher but still nothing compared to Europe.The Indian dish was good as well but too spicy and probably not the best on the menu. Our waiter Senkar was very friendly, quickly and explained everything, great service.It’s located a next to the exit is the tooth temple, so you can not miss it.

This place is very nice both the atmosphere and service, even though they have limited variations of the menu.

We came here in the hope for a good meal and were hugely disappointed. It all started with the unfriendly waiters that ‘served’ us and was followed by the food served. Blunt, tasteless and partially inedible. My girlfriend tried the Perahera Stack and I tried the tuna wrap. Both tasted like nothing and were served in a boring and unappetizing way.On top of that we found the toilets to be very grim and overall there is no atmosphere at all. Spend your 2700 (two main, water and two juices) somewhere else!

Lovely vibe felt the moment you walk in from the colors and the decor elements and the building itself. Excellent staff; knowledgeable and friendly, The food was excellent; both Sri Lankan and the Internationally-inspired. High quality ingredients and a great taste in presentation. It was worth stoping in Kandy just to have lunch here on the way to Nuwara Eliya. I highly recommend this place which by the way could be easily found thanks to its central location.

Loved the swordfish fillet! Delicious western food. I needed this after many days eating rice and curries. Our server was so kind! The price was great too. We had 5 dishes and paid $27 dollars. Thanks !

Food is good, tasty, normal portions. Very nice atmosphere, nice decoration. They have all kind of food from meat to vegan (also vegan icecream). A little bit expensive tough (for the cakes and icecream). Our server was top (Sathees).overall nice restaurant, Recommended.

Lovely place to have nice meals. Delicious dishes.

Good service, clean and tidy place to take sri lankan flavour meals. Near to Dalada maligawa..

Nice cafe and deco, very crowded with tourists. Food is quite good, nice place to sit, eat and relax if you are not in a rush.

Not the most tasteful cuisine, but was good for price. noodle with swordfish was quite delicious. Also they have clean restroom.

Beautiful old style cafeteria. Good, fasta dn friendly service. They serve Sri Lankan beans coffee. Cappuccino was quite small but still good.

Beautiful colonial restaurant serves great food. Friendly staff, especially I have to mention Imran for his friendliness and professionalism

The place looks a bit old now. But the staff was very nice & helpful. The chef himself came to the restaurant and asked about the food quality which was very nice.You can get Biriyani & Fried rice also in addition to their usual menu. Those prices are displayed at the entrance.

Great food and desserts.

Lovely people and fresh food! After a couple of weeks of only curry this was a warm welcome! Right next door to the tooth relic so a good place to stop in and have a break or more! Awesome milkshakes and juices!

Very friendly service. Mixture of western and local food. A little more expensive than other places, but we are not talking by much. The mixed curry (one meat and two veg) with rice, salad and a poppadom was about £3 (GBP) and was very good.When we went there were only tourists, but dont let that put you off. Its a lovely place and well worth a visit.

Food was awesome.Tastes like europpean food.Staf is available and food was ready in 20 minutes.But there isnt enough food in the meals !I had to order another plate, and even then, I was still hungry. Same thing for my girlfriend, and we dont each that much at all.They need to put à lot more of French fries in the plates !

Taste was good. Price is little higher to backpackers

Portion sizes are small, at least the burger with chips came with about 15 chips. It was so small I ordered a Sri Lankan curry after, it was small too - very little rice but I ate it all. Very flavoursome food though, the burger was good and smoothies good! Ambience is good.The trainee waiter was rubbish, choosing to take a few minutes to finish sweeping the floor and delaying my request to order another meal as the portion size was small... Annoying the 10% service charge was included, they deserved 0%.

Lovely place to have lunch or dinner after youve visited the temple of the tooth. Its right in front of the main entrance. The staff is very friendly and the food was amazing! We went there twice :-)

Tea is good, Iced coffee very sweet.

Great food, option to eat something different and not only spicy srilankan food. We ordered veggie burger that was delicious and king salad. The place has an interesting design and exists since 1890.

The restaurant is an enlisted UN heritage building with the old decor of Ceylon paintings and photos (with some 1940s 1950s Bollywood movie posters). The food is good with options of Wraps, sandwiches and Classic Sri Lankan curry set (options of Fish andChicken). The service is good too.

Great ambience, service and food.... coming back here again!

One of the best Cozy cafes in Kandy..

Beautiful cafe with a very chilled out atmosphere. I had the celylon chai with jaggery milkshake and it was so good! Price is on the expensive side by Sri Lanka standard but wasn’t too bad. Service was a bit slow even though it wasn’t that busy.

Milkshake I had was superb. But the srilanka style rice was pretty mediocre

Friendly staff. Prices not as cheap as local restaurants so expect it higher. Had the curry chicken wrap which is good. A bit too much salt on the fries though.I went there twice. Another time I had their curry chicken set. Both occasions, with a pot of tea is 1000 rupees.

Empire Cafe sits inches away from the Temple of the Sacred Tooth inside one of Kandy’s oldest buildings now sympathetically restored. An inconspicuous location and refuge amongst throngs of vendors touting disposable niknaks to lure tourists.A colonial pale veranda of dark wood and ageing off-white offers people watching from high bar stools surrounded by potted plants, vintage posters and antiques. A charmed location from which to sip chilled juices as there are no places offering alcohol within this proximity of the Temple. The veranda funnels into a long corridor off which two very large and vibrantly painted open rooms with soaring ceilings are replete with dining tables vying for your attention. We came here twice so we ate in both rooms.Empire Cafe is not cutting any new paths in the culinary arts, however, it does serve good tasty food and decent prices with a clear eye on a foreign visitors client base.We came for a late breakfast and returned the next day for a late lunch (eating times are fluid when on holiday after all). The kingfish curry with roti bread in gently spiced, the roti breakfast sandwich with egg and sausage is hearty and moorish. The roti breads are crisp, light and flaky without the need to wipe grease from your finger tips.The swordfish skewers are tasty but I would have appreciated a larger portion of fish which felt a little underwhelming. This only leaves room for their milkshakes which conjure childhood memories of just how good a great milkshake can be.The service is friendly and engaging with chatty servers that want to get to know you. I love this on holiday because I am not squeezed by the constraints of time plus meeting new local people is always an insight.Would I return to EMPIRE CAFE? Yes I would and of course I did. It is a reliable stop over for people passing through Kandy and want to fuel up before or after a visit to the adjacent temple.

Wide ranging menu, presented beautifully and lovely staff in a very aesthetic building

Excellent burgers and Mac and cheese. The building is fantastic and the location is perfect.

Quite nice place. Almost entirely foreigners. They accept Visa and MasterCard ( no Amex unfortunately ). The food was nice and the prices where not that high ( 20 USD for 2 people with couple of drinks ).

No shisha, and it’s on ground floor only, I didn’t try anything

Nice calm place, food is tasty and reasonable, try Sri Lankan Rice & Curry

Coolest place in town!

920 LKR for a double espresso. Nice staff. Horrible coffee at ridiculous prices. If you are visiting, waiit til you get home for your coffee.

I had a bad experience, which is why I am rating 1 star. I ordered a coffee and it took 25 minutes and lots of asking (different people) before a member of staff finally admitted the machine was broken, but they were fixing it. What they eventually served me was weak and watery coffee with a weird flavour. They offered to add another espresso but that didnt make the coffee any stronger, only added more to the weird taste. I didnt finish it and they took the coffee off the bill.I would have been much happier if they admitted the machine was broken as I ordered and I could order something else. Instead I wasted 30 minutes here.

Nice cafe / restaurant with good service and decent food. You’ll pay the price for it though as it’s not cheap.Epic architecture. Nicely decorated inside with bright colours and unusual furniture.Wrap with wedged was delicious.

I must admit that this place serves so far the most tasty European food. My partner had tagliatelle and they were fantastic. So far we can strongly recommend the pasta. The ambience is chilled and chic and of course the staff are knowledgeable and welcoming. Highly recommended!

It was a nice place, with a nice staff!

Compared to the other cafes in the area this is above average tea. They have slow service and they dont tell that the tea pot is large and enough for more than 3 cups (good size cup).

Artistically decorates rooms and walls in an old building. A stone throw away from the temple and the lake, they serve delicious meals and juices.They also have a Sri Lankan curry in their mostly European menu.

Lovely little cafe in the heart of the city, loved the cost atmosphere. Special mention to the amazing service by Yadushan. Staff were very kind and helpful, something that we havent seen so often in Sri Lanka. Deserts are a must try here! ✔️

Pathetic Service- Die of hunger but dont visitWe came here at 7pm and found it fully occupiedWe asked how much time and they said 50 mins and almost asked us not to waitWhen we asked if they can put us on waitlist, they said they close at 8 30 so cannotNext day we came early and asked if they can reserve a seat for us as we were with kids, they said we need to pay 1000 - and the attitude was like we dont careAttached is the picture of the guy who misbehaved

Nice escape from the noise into a historical building. Good menu for lunch foods and scrummy cakes. Expensive compared to local places, however the food is good. Chocolate fudge brownie was excellent!

Perfect place to visit Dhaladha Maligaawa😊! Better if there is a Restaurant

Wonderful restaurant ,Nice calm interior design for the ancient building.Very good customer service. Tasty food.Quiet relaxing place.

We had the empire breakfast and smoothy bowl, also coffee with coconut milk. Everything was amazing, good size meals with very fresh produce. Definitely recommend this place!Waiter was super friendly, good vibes!

Refreshing place. Beautiful architecture. It’s in a heritage building with great ambiance. We ordered a range of juices and smoothies. It was very refreshing and deliciously made. We enjoyed a small break after the shopping spree in Kandy.

Quaint place to stop for a drink after walking around Kandy - not the cheapest place to stop, but nice and clean and good selection of drinks.Didnt eat, hut saw other tables and the food looked good!

Nice and old restaurant... good feeling when u see antique things in the hotel... if u want to get a feel of old times definitely u hav to try this cafe and night stay...

We stopped in here after a visit to the temple. The food was delicious and the staff were the best weve had in Sri Lanka. Id highly recommend it.

Lovely cool place with a great heritage and a great welcome. Right in the centre near lake and temple. Helpful waiters. Tasty food and a very fair price. Menu a little limited but what there was was very good. They were helpful with babies too. Cant fault it.

Excellent fresh, taste-rich food. Very kind service. Meeting a waiter Sathees was probably the best part :)

Very good food and juices. Service is ok but takes quite a while to get the food. Otherwise would recommend it

Delicious food! A lot of healthy and vegetarian stuff. The interior is excellent and original.

Food is great. We had the hummus platter and slow veg roll. Both were amazing. Drinks were good too.Service is super slow. You will have to wait for atleast 30mins to get your first plate of food even if you are the only one in the restaurant.

My first experience was awesome however my second visit was disappointing because the ice cream tasted very different on my second visit.

I felt this restaurant A bit over rated. Food was okay I ordered vegetarian Sri Lankan curry and rice. Meal portion is less for a good appetite person.

Great service. I had the Lankan wrap and a smoothie which were both tasty. A little more expensive than most but still cheap by western standards.

Delicious food with chill vibe. Right next to Temple so location is great. Waitor was hospitable and overall a great experience.

Food was delicious. Empire Cafe has a very nice look and feel to it. Delicious food and well priced. It was just what we needed after the long train journey from Ella to Kandy.

This restaurant is located next to the temple of the tooth. Menu with many western food choices. Grilled chicken was delicious. Fresh juices are tasty and refreshing. Not cheap and portions are rather small. Very friendly staff and chill atmosphere.

Had a great lunch. They had wraps we made vegan and it was delicious. We were served by Dunstan and he was absolutely fantastic guy. So on it. Thanks Dunstan!

We came here after exploring Kandy by foot for a few hours and it was a nice way to rest for a bit.We sat in the patio which made for great people watching.The staff were friendly and attentive.The food was good, but not great. The rice and curry wasn’t as good as other places in Kandy as the chicken was a bit tough and flavours somewhat forgettable, but definitely not bad either. The food prices were pretty reasonable, though.Overall, it’s a nice place with good food and an excellent location with friendly staff. All in all, can’t really go too wrong here.

The staff are extremely friendly and the place has a classy but relaxed atmosphere that we found appealing after an aggravating experience at the temple opposite. This was the perfect tonic. The passion fruit curd tart was amazingly delicious, as was the passion, mango & lime milkshake. The passion & kithul juice was a little tart but that is to my liking, so no problem for me. The tart really was a highlight though, as someone who loves passion fruit but cant get it for a reasonable price at home in the UK.

Cozy cafe/restaurant in the centre of Kandy, close to major tourist attractions. Food and service is excellent. Toilets are also clean.

Delicately cooked Sri Lankan curry for me with a banana, treacle and coconut smoothie that was all sorts of ace. She had a bacon and avocado wrap which was fairly colonial of her, but it seemed to go down well. The service was just the right side of friendly and we both ate well for 20 quid.

This place is a run of the mill tourist trap at the town’s main attraction site.Fruit juices overpriced and bland.I had the worst curry not only of my Sri Lankan experience but my life. The other main dish we had (vegetarian pancakes) were literally the same dried out (definitely not fresh) vegetable curries and condiments that they served for the Meze Starter and the Rice and Curry, filled into some pancake dough.The service was quick and helpful, that and google’s review rules are the only reason I give 1 star instead of 0.

Set in an old colonial style building which is interesting. Mostly western style food. I had heir signature salad which wasnt much to brag about. I have heard their curry is better. Probably a good pit stop if you want a change of scenery but I would go out of my way

Food is really slow. Takes more than one hour!. Not satisfactory.There are plenty of nearby places with quality food, reasonable prices and shorter waiting times than this. Spend over 5000rupees for 4 yet the food was late, tasteless and slow.DO NOT RECOMMEND.

We had a great time there... good food ( luks beautiful 👍🏼) & great service.

Tasty food. Good menu. Good service. If youre around the tooth temple then pop in for lunch.

Very nice food and a trendy and chilled out location - nice for an afternoon snack or coffee mid-exploring. We stopped twice due to the convenient location, not far from the Temple of the Tooth - the avocado on toast was very nice, as was the curry; ice creams went down a treat, too! It was a nice mix of trendy modern eatery and old-school colonial architecture - not necessarily traditional Sri Lanka, but we didnt leave disappointed by our meals.

Excellent food, very clean, prompt and friendly service. Would recommend. We ate here twice while in Kandy for 3 days. Swordfish was well cooked and the smaller Local Lankan fish curry was delicious. Five stars

The price for the food is relatively high compared to other places, but it tastes good. Also the portions are smaller as what you might be used to in Sri Lanka. Though, if you would like to have something different than curry, it is a good place to go. In addition, they serve some tasteful home-made ice creams.

Big rating for one of the nicest retro interiors I coukd find in Kandy and for the movie posters

Delicious food, well priced, clean, light filled, seems very popular among the travelling set. Free wifi.

Lovely colonial building, nice chilled spot. I only had the banana and coconut milkshake which was delicious. Cost 540 rupees with service charge though.

Not bad

Great space to sit but most items on the breakfast menu were not available. And then they took ages to bring out basic items like pancakes or fruits with treacle. We ended up leaving after an hour long wait. Would give it a zero if possible.

A Cafe you must visit if you are staying in Kandy. Its near the lake so not very difficult to spot. Its a cute little European style cafe with value for money food and beverages. The staff is also very courteous and friendly here.

Good food, reasonable prices, quick serving and nice smoothies and cappuccino. Also the staff is really nice. Every now and again you might be lucky and spot a rare ginger-boy flexing his muscles which is an additional plus. Would recommend overall!