viharamahadevi park north

Otherwise, head straight to the action at the Park Street Mews alley way. This is largely an upmarket café and restaurant strip which comes alive in the evening offering Thai, Middle-Eastern, French and Japanese cuisine to name a few (so make a note to come back). But the reason you are here is Sonali Dharmawardena on your left as you enter the mews (open until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays if you’d like to come before your evening meal). Sonali has brought her background as an artist to batik design, creating hand-made Sri Lankan fashion couture of striking colour and beauty. This includes a range of batik covered clutches and her Allure contemporary Sri Lankan jewellery line, made in collaboration with a grand old Sri Lankan jewellery house, Lalitha Jewellers.

If you have time, duck across the road to one of the famous Spa Ceylon outlets for retail therapy, spa therapy or both!  Spa Ceylon is Sri Lanka’s premier luxury ayurvedic treatment products which combine ayurvedic wisdom with natural ingredients. Their products are also in beautifully designed packaging, making gifts of them a breeze. Don’t worry if you miss this one though. Spa Ceylon are well located in other shopping areas and department stores. Also on this side of the road (directly opposite Uga Residences) is Park Street Gourmet which has largely international brands but stocks a growing selection of Sri Lankan fine foods such as Teaeli teas, Sri Lankan bee honey, treats by Bites Colombo and Café Kumbuk granola. They also have a interesting selection of wine to BYO at your favourite Park Street Mews restaurant across the road.

Back on Park St, head south until it intersects with Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha, turning right there to reach the flagship store of the Cotton Collection, a pleasant department store selling reasonably priced clothing for men, women and children, including accessories and leather goods (you will find that leather goods are a rare commodity in Sri Lanka). They also stock other Sri Lankan brands (e.g. Arienti, Beyond Basics and Original Source and Supply) aligned with their breezy, linen/cotton style so you won’t have to go looking further afield for them. There are a handful of popular casual eateries in front of Cotton Collection if you need a pit-stop.

You’ll have to backtrack along Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha past the Park St intersection to newly opened flagship store of Urban Island, a contemporary Sri Lankan design store focused on well-crafted, designer homewares. You’ll find everything bold patterned batik and handloom cushions, contemporary woven baskets and tableware which reminds you something of Scandinavian chic but is infinitely rooted in Sri Lanka. That's not to mention their other carefully curated and locally produced products ranging from specialty teas to essential oils.

Continue east along Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala Mawatha until you reach the Colombo Plan Memorial where you find the flagship store of Paradise Road on your left, set in an old Colombo mansion. This iconic store has for a long time been the leader in contemporary Sri Lankan homewares - it’s really the shop which started it all over a quarter of a century ago, not just for the Paradise Road family but for stores of this nature in Sri Lanka. Known for their signature black and vintage white table linens and ceramics, hand-painted door stoppers, preserves and condiments through to granite elephant sculptures. And the best part is that they pack fragile items exceedingly well for your trip home. They also have a small café on the top floor where I had a superb carrot cake.