Yuzu margherita
Buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano, a slow lick of yuzu zest from Akiko's hometown.
Tucked behind a curtain of bougainvillea on Passara Road, AK Ristoro is where Akiko's Tokyo kitchen meets Kasun's wood-fired Naples ovens. One short, handwritten menu of fresh pasta, mango-wood pizza and Japanese small plates, served slow, under the lanterns.
たくえつとびんしつ
Nothing is pre-made, nothing comes frozen. Pasta is rolled by hand each morning. Fish arrives twice a week from the Negombo lagoon and is sliced in front of you. Vegetables come from the farmer two streets over, and the wood in our oven is from the mango tree in our own back garden. If a dish isn't right that night, it doesn't leave the kitchen.
Check MenuThey met in a Colombo kitchen in 2017. Two years later they opened a five-table place at the edge of Ella town, behind a curtain of bougainvillea. The menu hasn't followed any rulebook since, only what tastes right that morning at the market.
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2019
first dinner served
38
dishes on the menu
4.8
★ on Tripadvisor
Dalla cucina italiana
Every morning at six, Kasun is in the kitchen with semolina up to his elbows, laminating tonnarelli, folding ravioli, shaping orecchiette by hand. The wood-fired oven gets lit at four, mango wood from the back garden, ready at exactly 480°C by service.
06:00
Pasta on the boards
480°
Wood-fired oven
17:00
Doors open
"Mia nonna said good pasta is half flour, half patience. The patience is the hard part."
Buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano, a slow lick of yuzu zest from Akiko's hometown.
Fresh tonnarelli, panko-crusted chicken katsu, guanciale and a soft 63° yolk.
Mascarpone whipped with white miso, hojicha-soaked savoiardi, smoked sea salt.
Quiet moments from the open fire, the pass, the garden at dusk. Photographs taken on slow Sundays.
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また会いましょう · See you soon
Full galleryWe came for a pizza and ended up staying for three hours, three cocktails and a plate of chicken katsu that I'm still thinking about a year later.
"The katsu carbonara should be illegal. We came back two nights in a row."
"Akiko walks each plate to your table herself. It's a tiny place that punches way above its weight."
"Best pizza in Sri Lanka. Don't @ me. The yuzu margherita actually changed how I think about pizza."
AK Ristoro on Tripadvisor
"Best dinner on our two-week trip"
We had the katsu carbonara and the yuzu margherita. Both blew us away. The garden setting at night with the lanterns is magic.
"Akiko & Kasun are wonderful hosts"
The chefs came out to chat after dinner. You can tell every plate is made with care. The miso tiramisu is something I'm going to dream about.
"A hidden gem in Ella"
Walked past it twice before finding it behind the bougainvillea. Worth every minute of searching. Live music on Friday made it perfect.
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Passara Road,
Ella 90090
5 min walk from town centre
Hours
Tue — Sun
5:00 pm — 11:30 pm
Closed Mondays