We looked at how you ordered on Uber Eats last year and discovered Sri Lanka’s love-hate relationship with onions. 

While onion prominently featured among the list of the most ordered grocery items, it was also the most maligned item on the food menu with Sri Lankans asking for the bulb to be removed from their meals most frequently. 

The Uber Eats Cravings Report 2022, a snapshot of the country’s favorite cravings and the most popular binge-worthy dishes, threw up some interesting revelations. 

Apart from ‘no onions’, top special instructions hinted at Sri Lankans’ love for spice over sugar. ‘Make it Spicy’, ‘Extra Spicy’ and add ‘No Sugar’ was the most common requests on orders on Uber Eats. It also turns out that Sri Lankans remained impeccably polite, as nearly half of all instructions included the word ‘please’. 

Sri Lanka’s long love affair with ‘Short Eats’ continued with Fish Patty, Chicken Puff Pastry, and Fish Bun topping the list of most popular items ordered as mid-meal snacks. 

Interestingly, in the island nation that is one of the world’s largest tea exporters, iced coffee trumped milk tea as the most popular beverage.  

The list of most popular dishes confirmed what we all know – Sri Lankans love their rice. 3 out of 5 most ordered dishes, clocking millions of orders, were rice-based. Here’s the list:

  • Spicy Chicken Sub
  • Mixed Fried Rice
  • Nasi Goreng 
  • Chicken Biryani
  • Chicken burger

Grocery orders on the Uber Eats app were along expected lines with a focus on vegetables for home-cooked meals and milk for popular beverages. Here’s the list of the top 5 grocery items ordered: 

  • Tomatoes
  • Carrots
  • Big onions
  • Beans
  • Fresh Milk

Delivery partners delivering your loved meal always bring a smile to your face. This love and appreciation across Sri Lanka translated into more than LKR 82,000,000 in tips to delivery partners last year. 

We all have our favorites but one Eater took this to another level by ordering a whopping 294 times from the same restaurant in 2022. Another Eater splurged LKR 62,600 on a single order making it the most expensive order on our app last year! 

So, we now know that Sri Lankans love their food extra spicy, less sugary, and with lots of rice! No matter what your cravings are, we will continue to deliver your order just the way you love it.