The lockdown, isolation and quarantine may have restricted access to food outlets but they certainly did not stop locals from making Sri Lanka’s very own ‘yellow rice and chicken’ the most sought-after meal in 2020.

‘A Year in Review: 2020’ by food ordering and delivery platform Uber Eats revealed that locals preferred ‘yellow rice with chicken’ over other dishes, making it the most ordered meal in the country throughout what was the year of pandemic.

In addition to the comfort food being the popular choice, Uber Eats shared that eaters also managed to “travel across cuisines” by opting for Indian, American and Chinese dishes, which were the top three choices for Sri Lankans.

The review, which provided a snapshot on the changes in the order pattern brought about by the pandemic, showed that personalising of plates was a new trend observed.

“During quarantine, eaters wanted their food prepared exactly to their liking, with requests for ‘extra sauce’, increasing the most. They however, did get a little less picky when it came to portions, as the demand for ‘both leg pieces’ decreased significantly,” Uber Eats quipped.  

Despite the struggle and frustration of staying indoors, Uber Eats said Sri Lankans maintained their etiquette through the challenging year too, with ‘please’ figuring in nearly half of the order requests.

Another new trend observed was that the highest number of orders per day did not fall on a weekend but on a weekday.

Uber Eats shared that the most popular day of the week for food delivery for the year 2020 was Thursday, whereas the most popular time of day to place an order was noon.

Furthermore, Uber Eats pointed out that although the households were faced with financial challenges, with job slashes and pay cuts, Sri Lankans demonstrated gratitude by using the new ‘tipping’ feature in the Uber Eats app; Rs.24 million in tips were extended to delivery partners.