Lakruwana

There’s plenty of Sri Lankan food on Staten Island, and Lakruwana is one of the best places to eat it, in a room full of masks and elephant statues, behind a carved wooden door. On weekends, this family-owned restaurant also has one of the city’s best all-you-can-eat deals. A line forms at lunchtime, and the smells of incense and pork curry will test your patience, but the $20.99 buffet (and BYOB situation) is worth it. Head to the line of clay pots in the back, and load up on dishes like fried rice, egg curry, dal, and eggplant, which has been cooked down to almost nothing, in a way that makes it very much something. On weekdays, get the a la carte lamprais, a complete meal wrapped in banana leaves.

photo credit: Willa Moore