EKHO Ella

EKHO Ella is the newer entry in Ella's cliffside hotel cluster, opened in the early 2020s under a Colombo design-studio brief. The hotel has positioned itself as the contemporary alternative to 98 Acres — same cliff edge, same panoramic view of Ella Gap, a younger design vocabulary, and a restaurant that reads more contemporary on plate.

The dining room is indoor-outdoor, with a full-glass pavilion opening to a cantilevered terrace over the escarpment. Seating is about fifty across tables of two and four, with a six-seat chef's counter facing the open kitchen. The cooking is contemporary Sri Lankan with an Asian pivot — the chef is Singapore-trained and threads Japanese, Thai, and Chinese technique through local ingredients. Signatures include the tuna poke built from Trincomalee-landed tuna, the sri lankan crab curry with rice cooked in coconut milk, and a lamb rack with Ella pepper rub served with estate vegetables.

The wine list is the most contemporary in Ella — a natural-wine sleeve, a full New World sparkling programme, and Japanese sake as the pairing alternative to wine. The bar runs Asian-pivoted signatures; the Matcha Old Fashioned is the standout.

Service is young, international, and informed. The brigade is Colombo-trained with several Singapore-experienced floor staff. Non-guests are welcome with 72 hours' notice; the chef's counter is the book for couples who want cooking-as-theatre and should be reserved a week ahead in season.

EKHO Ella is the impress-clients room in Ella for the counterpart who wants contemporary rather than classical. The chef's counter, the natural-wine programme, the Asian-technique pivot, the designer room — every element signals 'modern'. For a proposal alternative to 98 Acres, the cantilevered terrace two-top at sunset is the younger choice. For a first date, the chef's counter gives the evening the structure a chef's interaction provides.