Save for a scattering of independents, Sri Lankan food has only really established a presence in the UK over the past decade. In London, the JKS Restaurants-backed Hoppers, which launched in 2015, helped bring dishes such as mutton rolls, hot butter squid and kottu roti to a wider audience, paving the way for restaurants including Kolamba, and its more recently launched spin-off ADOH!, Paradise and Rambutan. Beyond the capital, regional operator The Coconut Tree has also played a role in raising the cuisine’s profile, growing to six restaurants across the South West.
Starting from a relatively low base, Sri Lankan food has steadily gained traction, helped in part by the UK’s enduring appetite for spicy food as well as the broadly familiar flavour profile it shares with its much larger neighbour India. Now, in what is being billed as a first, a Sri Lankan-born restaurant brand is making its UK debut. ISSO – named after the Sinhala word for prawn – is looking to make a splash, launching two projects almost simultaneously: a permanent 90-cover restaurant in Canary Wharf and a month-long pop-up in Hackney. The concept sounds premium - top quality prawns don’t come cheap - but fairly casual and fast-paced. Guests choose their preferred prawn variety before selecting a preparation, including Hot Butter Style, Jaffna Curry or Negombo Curry, alongside a choice of rice and bread.
ISSO’s arrival mirrors a trend that has been gathering pace at the premium end of the Indian restaurant sector. As British diners have embraced regional Indian cuisine, operators from the subcontinent have increasingly looked to establish a presence here themselves. Recent arrivals include Chourangi, Bulbul and Passion F&B’s Trèsind. While the latter was founded in Dubai, it is led by an Indian team and has since built a significant presence in India.
Yet importing a successful restaurant brand from overseas is rarely straightforward, as the recent launch of Trèsind Mayfair illustrates. Himanshu Sain is one of the best chefs in the world - his Dubai flagship is the only Indian restaurant on the planet to hold three Michelin stars, and there is much to admire in the London debut. However, the execution feels slightly off, with the restaurant not quite landing its marketing positioning or communications strategy. The food is largely excellent, but it sits uneasily in its setting: a short tasting menu delivered in a dimly lit room that, aesthetically, has more in common with a nightclub than a fine dining restaurant (through a British lens, at least). It feels caught between targeting the serious foodie crowd and a more social, party-led audience, and ultimately doesn’t fully satisfy either.
While UK diners have become increasingly adventurous, international operators still face the challenge of translating a concept that has worked in one market to a very different audience that is less familiar with the cuisine. Alongside differences in consumer tastes, operators have also got to contend with a differing and in most cases more challenging operating environment: high property and staff costs and intense competition mean that even world-famous brands can struggle to make the numbers work.
Without naming names, several Asia-born restaurant groups have arrived in the UK with ambitious expansion plans, only to scale back or bow out altogether. Others have found success, but only after adapting their offer to suit local tastes. ISSO, however, arrives with a clear point of difference. Rather than offering a broad tour of Sri Lankan cuisine, it has built its reputation around one hero ingredient: prawns. In a crowded restaurant market, that tightly defined proposition could prove to be one of its biggest strengths.