Staten Island
Tompkinsville
Little Sri Lanka, a short walk from the ferry: hoppers, lamprais, and devilled chicken.
Step off the Staten Island Ferry at St. George, walk south along the water for fifteen minutes, and you arrive in Tompkinsville, one of the oldest settlements on the island and home to one of the largest Sri Lankan communities in the United States. Victory Boulevard climbs inland from the waterfront, and along it and Bay Street toward Stapleton runs what New Yorkers call Little Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan cooking is its own world, distinct from Indian: coconut milk and curry leaf, roasted curry powders, sour goraka, Maldive fish, and chili that does not apologize. Here you can eat string hoppers and egg hoppers, kottu roti chopped on a hot griddle, lamprais baked in a banana leaf, black pork curry, and the sambol called lunu miris — red onion, chili, and lime pounded together. Small cafeteria-style counters on Victory Boulevard serve it cheap and fast; sit-down rooms on Bay Street make an occasion of it.
The ferry ride is half the pleasure. Cross the harbor past the Statue of Liberty, eat a long lunch, and ride back as the light falls on lower Manhattan. Few trips in New York give you this much, and the ferry costs nothing.
Sri Lankan counters climbing Victory Boulevard
Hoppers, kottu, and lamprais in banana leaf
The free ferry and the harbor in both directions
Old waterfront streets between St. George and Stapleton
Local notes
Lakruwana
A family-run Sri Lankan restaurant on Bay Street toward Stapleton, its dining room filled floor to ceiling with murals, carvings, and Buddhist statuary brought from Sri Lanka. The weekend buffet is the classic introduction; lamprais, devilled chicken, and lunu miris are the highlights. Recognized in the Michelin Guide's Staten Island picks.
Victory Boulevard's Sri Lankan counters
The blocks of Victory Boulevard just up from the waterfront hold small Sri Lankan restaurants, cafeteria-style curry counters, and groceries stocking curry leaves, jaggery, and Ceylon tea. Hoppers and kottu are the orders; most places are casual and inexpensive.
The Staten Island Ferry
The free ferry between Whitehall Terminal in lower Manhattan and St. George runs around the clock and passes close to the Statue of Liberty. From St. George, Little Sri Lanka is a short walk or one stop on the Staten Island Railway.
Through the lens
Shoot the harbor and the statue from the ferry's open stern decks, ideally on the return trip at golden hour. Victory Boulevard's storefronts are a daytime subject. Lakruwana's interior is a gallery in itself; ask before photographing it and the buffet.
Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.