Va-nak-kam East-Grinstead in Mid Sussex - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Had a lovely dinner, food was delicious and very attentive staff, family run restaurant and very reasonably priced - would definitely be back!

Great authentic food. Excellent service. I will return when I am in the area again. Thank you.

Food was sublime and well priced, service very friendly. Will definitely be back soon!

The food was fantastic, unique dishes and full of flavour. Service was excellent, warm and welcoming. We will be coming back.

Superb! Visited this restaurant for the first time for birthday meal. The food was amazing ,we tried lots of new dishes and loved them all! The service was great and staff were so friendly. Will be back again soon!

The waiter did tell us beforehand that the food was very authentic and there wasn’t any sugar etc however I booked a Korma expecting it to be mild however it tasted spicy which I’m sure as many people are aware of, in UK Indian restaurants Kormas are one of the only non-spicy curries, with creamy textures and sweet flavours. The waiter did kindly offer to remake it or give me some extra cream so the added cream made it more enjoyable for me! Came as a bit of a shock to me. But very good for spice lovers! The roti was flavoursome and thick.

Fantastic food, served with a smile.

This is a lovely restaurant offering traditional Sri Lanka food. It is a family run business with the mum cooking the dishes and my god are they tasty. Every dish we had packed a flavour punch and was cooked to perfection. Great ambiance and service in this “Jewel” of a restaurant. I thoroughly recommend.

Unbelievably good. First time eating Sri Lankan. Everything was delicious. 10/10

Cracking takeaway. Interesting authentic meals with. Worth travelling for.

Va Nak Kam catered for our party and it was a stress free and happy experience from start to finish. Great communication with Dino from the start, and he was very helpful on menu choice, etc. They supplied a bain-marie, serving spoons and copious amounts of food! We catered for 20 but the portion sizing was generous and we packed our guests off with leftovers and stuffed our freezer in the process. Food was delicious and arrived piping hot. It was incredibly flavourful, varied and all our guests loved it. We thoroughly recommend them.

Stunning food. Delightful experience!!! must try!!!

This was a by chance find. And what a find . Myself and my family enjoy most food and are discovering Shri Lankan foods. I was looking for something that would be authentic. The food was lovely, full of flavour, cooked to specific spice preference. It had a real sense of home cooking. Pride was taken to serve each dish at a standard of perfection. The service was friendly, welcoming and un-intrusive. The ambiance for me personally was just right with the lighting and comfort level. This restaurant is a small gem that shines bright in all areas of service Can’t wait to take other family members here. Lovely lovely evening Thank you yo all of you… see you soon ☺️

Food was absolutely delicious, full of flavour and the service was great too. Delivered way faster than they said to expect. I called not knowing the menu, they was very helpful and suggestive or dishes and they didn't disappoint. Definitely be going back!

First time visiting and wasn’t disappointed. Service was excellent and the food delicious - didn’t have room for desert as the meal was so filling. Will definitely visit again.

Great food and service, lovely place!

First time having Sri Lankan food and it was amazing. Staff and service was exceptional. Will definitely be recommending and returning.

First time having Sri Lankan food and it was amazing. Staff and service was exceptional. Will definitely be recommending and returning.

Fantastic meal with a lovely host. The food is amazing fresh and tasty. The owner explains everything perfectly and will tailor the spice level to your desire. Unmatched service and attentiveness. Large portions freshly cooked. Highly recommend anyone to come.

Fabulous authentic food - so very different to the normal curry houses around .... a real find ....Friendly and helpful staff ... we particularly liked the Devilled chicken livers and the mutton Kothu . Just wish the ambiance was a little better .... but the food and staff more than make up for it !

Great food and very friendly staff

Had a very pleasant meal here of Sri Lankan specialities with very friendly and personable experience in this family run restaurant. Highly recommended.

Very good service.freshly made delicous food.friendly staff and excellent customer service.

Fab food with great ambience. Dropped by once and became a regular customer. The people here are really warm and friendly too. A must visit if you’re in and around East Grinstead

My friend introduced & treated me to a delicious meal here. I am english born and I am half Indian on my Dad’s side, so I have a taste for authentic Indian cuisine. (My Dad mastered his native cooking skills & I enjoyed!) The reason for telling you this should reinforce my praise for the stunning flavours encountered in this restaurant. There are some tasty curries out there but My Dad said they were devised for the english market so not really authentic. That’s not so in this unique place, we started with the mutton rolls which were so flavoursome, gorgeous coating & tender filling, I very highly recommend. We then followed this with a vegetable biryani, a chicken and also a mutton curry with a couple of sides & paratha. The ingredients felt so fresh & of high quality, the immense flavours bounced off the tongue in every mouthful, as my Dad once said they should. It’s not about the ‘hotness’ as much as the intense flavours. I rarely leave reviews but I felt I needed to let everyone know how great the food is here, along with the impeccable, personal service! So, I am now left with a new problem! I live in Crawley & the few decent Indian restaurants I use don’t come close to this place! Am I now going to travel to East Grinstead every time? Yes I think I am! Enjoy guys, I am confident you won’t regret! By the way this was my first visit here, I don’t know the owners, I am just genuinely impressed & want to share this amazing eatery with you. 👌🏽

Great food, very authentic and tasty. Would recommened. Staff helpful. All the dishes we had were spot on and attrativey presented too.

Always great service from Deeno's, great menu variety with good pizza deals. Really tasty kebabs, chicken and rice dishes too!

All great. Authentic Sri Lankan cuisine with experienced chefs . Family run business.

This place is hidden gem and a vegans paradise. I just got back from South India and the food took me right back to my holiday the dosa’s are incredible! A lovely friendly family run restaurant.

Wow! Visited last night for sit down meal and was blown away by how good it is. I have eaten at a different Shri Lankan restaurant previously so knew what to expect as very different from Indian, but the flavours here were so well balanced and fresh. The vegetarian options are amazing, I had a Thali and my mum had a mixed biryani, both were amazing. I cannot recommend this gem of a place highly enough, way more interesting that regular Indian. I will definitely be returning.

Great food, friendly and well priced

We visited here first time to try the Sri Lankan version of curries and the food amazing. A great choice also very authentic. If you’re a curry lover then must visit to this restaurant and try the Sri Lankan curries.

Loved it. First time there. Food was excellent. Service excellent. Price very reasonable. Will definitely go back.

Service was amazing, and the food was exceptionally amazing. Came here for Valentine’s Day and the atmosphere was perfect. Highly recommended, my new favourite spot.

Some of the best tasting food I have ever had, really friendly service and such a great night! Thanks guys

We had an excellent meal here last night. The food was so delicious and the staff couldn’t have been nicer. We will be ordering a regular takeaway and will be back in soon.

I had just returned from Sri Lanka and couldn't resist checking this place out to see if it was authentic. Let me tell you, the food is exactly that same as what you would get in Sri Lanka, we loved it and reminisced about our holiday all night with the owner.

What a fabulous restaurant! A hidden gem 🥳 The maître d' was friendly and very helpful indeed. His mother is in the kitchen making the food. It’s all authentic srilankan food. Made with coconut milk - no dairy. My vegetarian friend was delighted with all the menu choices she had! And we both loved loved the dishes that we chose💕. Definitely recommend this restaurant. Treat yourself to something new and refreshing. The ambiance was great, service splendid and food was delightful! Photo’s of the food don’t do it justice as it was all delicious, so much so that we already starting eating one before the pic was taken and forgot to take anymore pics!

Incredible authentic food Really tasty, great portion sizes and good service

Great service and wonderful tasty, good quality food. Looking forward to going back.

What an amazing meal last night. Truly exceptional. Tasty and intriguing. Highly rated. Will be back. Thank you

A superb restaurant serving Indian and Srilankan dishes. We were a group of 20 and had ordered a range of dishes. Every single one of them was very good and packed with flavour. The portion sizes were quite good. Excellent service. The dishes arrived quite quickly too. There was absolutely nothing to fault. We were quite surprised to find such an awesome place. In short a very unforgettable experience. Many thanks.

Great range of original dishes. Options on spice levels were welcomed by some of the party. Excellent care and service. Food was amazing!

Wow!! absolutely amazing! A totally unique, authentic and delicious dining experience. I have never had anything like this before, I will definitely be ordering again.

Absolutely terrible for the price is ridiculous minimum flavour close to no flavour

Lovely food, good portion sizes, excellent flavour and delivered quickly :)

Had an amazing meal with my family at Va-nak-kam yesterday. The service was absolutely fantastic and we were recommended some amazing meals and wine pairings as well as which bases (rice, breads etc) would go well with our dishes. The food itself was so tasty, with big portions that kept us full all night, as well as being great value for money! We had a great time and will definitely go again!

Amazing food and amazing service!

I’m not one to usually review, but had our first meal here tonight and totally loved the place. Food was traditional Sri Lankan home made and very fresh. Each dish was offered a choice of spice heat and we were happily assisted with the menu as it was great to see dishes you don’t see in every other Asian restaurants. Very friendly, helpful, family run restaurant with lovely ambiance. We will most certainly return. And I would encourage anyone to visit

First time trying this type of food! Was unreal and different to all usual indian food! Food was lovely, cooked to perfection. Service was great! Would highly recommend! Would definitely be going back! Great local restaurant

We recently moved to the area, and for our date night (also known as the evening my husband is cooking), he randomly chose Va-nak-kam. What a delightful surprise! The food was beyond incredible, unlike the typical restaurant fare; it genuinely tasted like a homemade meal. Let me take a moment to rave about the parata—words can't do justice to how amazing it was! I've had my fair share of paratas over the years, but there's one particular taste from years ago, abroad, that has lingered in my taste memory. I’ve given up to taste the same flour ever again - surprisingly, Va-nak-kam managed to recreate that exact flavour. It not only satisfied my taste buds but also brought back a flood of memories. We ordered a veggie curry and a meat dish, and I must admit, as a devoted meat eater, I was sceptical about the vegetarian option. However, this curry was so incredibly delicious that I found myself questioning if I'd ever need to eat meat again. If all veggie dishes were as good as Va-nak-kam's curry, I wouldn't mind making the switch. For those not familiar with the area, parking can be a bit tricky, but where there's a will, there's a way. We parked at Majestic/Halfords because enjoying a date-night dinner without a glass of wine would be a sin! In summary, Va-nak-kam is nothing short of amazing. The food and the warmth of the place make it feel like you're walking into someone's home for dinner rather than a restaurant. It's a rare gem, and we're excited to keep exploring their menu. Highly recommended!

Excellent authentic food. Dino is a legend. Highly recommended.

I discovered this restaurant a few weeks after it opened last year. Being SriLankan, I was excited to have a SriLankan restaurant opening up near work. I booked a table for my work colleagues and we have never looked back. The food is authentic and home cooked by the owners mother. Thank you to Bharat who looked after our table last night. We had a great evening with a variety of dishes which included my favourite street food dish mutton Kotthu rotti, dosas, pol roti and so on. SriLankan food is very different to Indian food so if you haven't tried it, here's your chance. After a long shift at the hospital, I'm always grateful for those mutton rolls on my route back home. Thank you Dino!

Lucky enough to have been to Sri Lanka - Va nak kam was authentic and delicious! Good value and great food and drink

Amazing, authentic food and friendly and attentive service! Dino is so welcoming and passionate and knowledgeable about food, and provided some great recommendations from the menu. Highly recommend this lovely family run restaurant!

Excellent food on a quiet lunch time. Service was perfect. Good value for money. Roti the best I have had in years.

I had an amazing experience dining there, they have outstanding customer service and are helpful with anything and give good recommendations. The food itself is absolutely amazing, quite unique and authentic. They have good variety of dishes as well as vegetarian options. I really liked that there are also authentic desserts and drinks which are rather hard to find in the UK. The mood is well set and it's a rather aesthetically pleasing restaurant. Thank you so much for providing a lovely experience!

While hitchhiking Dino picked me up and mentioned he had a Sri Lankan / South Indian restaurant in East Grinstead. He was on his way to Forest Row to do an open kitchen at the Hop Yard, which is where he dropped me of. There was a family opposite me eating his culinary creations and they ate too much because it was so good... Dino invited me to try some dishes as well and he served me a vegetable samosa and a big plate full of rice and different curries, all of them delicious! The aubergine curry is serious competition for the Sticky Pan Curry I had before. Credits to Dino and his mother for sharing their culture. Such a kind souls!

Incredible food, an authentic taste of India... Absolutely awesome, highly recommend! We’ll be back again soon, thanks 🙏🏼

The staff were super kind, attentive and happily explained the dishes to us. As it was an anniversary celebration they gave us some beautiful flowers which were waiting on our table for us. Great tasting food and would happily recommend and return to this restaurant.

Great customer service and unique flavours

These guys are excellent with food and company

I enjoyed a lovely lunch here today with a friend. Food was cooked fresh, well seasoned and had much flavour. The service was excellent and I was able to receive good information about the menu before making my choice. I am looking forward to having dinner here next time.

Visited twice with great welcome and perfect food!👍

Went for dinner Friday evening with friends. We all really really enjoyed our meals, we had a gluten allergy in the group and the owner made sure she knew what she could have. Lots of yummy food options for meat eaters for vegetarians, we had all of the starters on a platter! I personally had the Dosa, it was great! Service was brilliant, nothing too much hassle 😃 Would highly recommend eating here, will come again soon. Thanks!

My wife and I had a meal here one evening mid-week and were exceptionally pleased that we did. The food was fantastic and the service exceptional. The only thing lacking was the atmosphere but that was because there was only one other group eating. We will definitely be back!

Met my father here for a lovely mid-week lunch. Fantastic authentic and incredibly tasty food. Plenty of vegetarian options, which were so delicious I had to fight off the meat eater! Lovely owner and excellent service. Highly recommended and will definitely be back with family and friends.

Really good food but the evening was a bit spoilt by feeling ripped off, £4.50 for ONE LIME AND SODA!! I really was shocked and whereas the food is fairly priced, a 15p drink should not have a 3000% mark-up. Pubs charge about 1.25 or 1.75, but never this much.

Excellent food, reasonably priced for what you get, and genuinely lovely service as we chatted for 5 minutes about the history of Ceylon/Sri Lanka.

Love this place....great food and friendly people..

Les plats sont excellents, le service très attentionné. Il vaut mieux réserver car la salle n'est pas très grande et les clients sont nombreux à vouloir manger cette très bonne cuisine du Sri-Lanka .

First time there this evening. Excellent, friendly service, food was fantastic, and the restaurant is very nice place to spend the evening. Very reasonably priced too. Will definitely be going again.

Friendly people chill place, would recommend.

This was our first visit to Va-nak-kam, and we were very impressed. Very friendly service and amazing food. I hadn't had Sri Lankan food before, so was looking forward to trying something new. We had the two different Vadai to start and then the dosai and kathu. Everything was delicious - and they will prepare the food to your desired spice level. All that and very reasonably priced - under £20 a head and we were so full we didn't have space for dessert. Thanks for a great meal - we will definitely be back.

Amazing service from the staff, beautifully decorated restaurant, food was delicious and mouth watering 😋. Mutton rolls and fried rice my favourite from the menu. One time visit will makes come back many times. Thank you dinoshan for you lovely customer service, will be visiting soon with my family.

Super friendly people, looking after you. Amazing curries and starters, definitely recommend visiting 🙏😊

Straight 5’s. Amazing depth of authentic flavour. Sensational food, charming, efficient service. Concise menu, look forward to seeing how that develops. Quite excellent.

Absolutely delicious freshly cooked food. I am not familiar with Sri Lankan food and was worried it might be too spicy but the server assured us it could be made mild, medium or hot. All four of us really enjoyed it and would highly recomend

My dad is from Sri Lanka so we went for a meal here. Friendly service and great food. I had mutton rolls and chicken curry which were both really good.

Food was unbelievable, unreal staff and restaurant beautiful.

An excellent meal. Beautifully cooked to order (and taste) and truly delicious food. Friendly and efficient service too. We will be back!

Awesome food ! Great service ! Super friendly ! Will be coming back again ! Delicious !

Amazing!!! The food here is a rare find…

Went here for a Charity event so there was a set meal. The chef was the owners mother and we got tasty home cooked food which I suspect would be standard fare at home. I thoroughly enjoyed the flavour. It is relatively new to the town and it should be supported. Will I go again........yes to try something else but from the regular menu. Give it a go and make your own mind up.

South Indian and Sri Lanka specialities with a contemporary twist. Recomended

We had the most delicious, authentic, tasty food at Va Nak Kam last night. We shall definitely be back.

Great food with great customer service!

Amazing Staff and Amazing Food. Would recommend to everyone❤️

Great food from here. I’ve been into the restaurant and also the pop up in Forest Row. Really lovely people that run this place too! Highly recommended :)

Excellent food and excellent service.

Amazing food, nice looking restaurant, great service. Would recommend happily .

Tip service great food highly recommended

Best food in East Grinstead. Excellent service at a reasonable price. Left nothing to be desired. We had limited time as we had a plane to catch, our dishes were served to us with perfect timing - quickly but not all at once so we didn't feel rushed or overwhelmed. Thank you for a brilliant lunch!

Really tasty, generous portions, lovely people, family run business. Can’t go wrong. Can’t recommend enough.

Delicious authentic Sri-Lankan cuisinethey myself and friends really enjoyed a lot. Not the standard dishes that you get in every other Indian restaurant, so it was helpful that the waiter was very helpful when offering advice about what dish to try. I had a type of mutton curry. The meat was so tender and it was packed with flavour.

Amazing people & such special food ❤️

Absolutely amazing food! Highly recommend! Will definitely be regular customers

Amazingly tasty, fresh and delicious food served by a friendly and quick team. Authentic Tamil cuisine (South India/Sri Lanka), zesty and spicy dishes, rich curries, great dosas and parathas…. Simple menu but very, very delicious - my 8 and 10 year old daughters were also bowled over and we will be back! It’s location is not really walk past, but we parked in Halfords on the opposite side of the road and all was fine - well worth the trip!

Best restaurant in East Grinstead. This meal blew me away, a taste of Sri Lanka in not so sunny EG. Completely authentic dishes, this is a family run business with the mum cooking the most incredible dishes while the sons serve. Tasty food and excellent service.

Nicest people, couldn't be more welcoming and helpful. The food was wonderful. Big flavour, big portions. Thrilled with everything.