Sri Lankan street food restaurant The Coconut Tree confirms Bath opening date

Pioneering Sri Lankan street food restaurant group The Coconut Tree has confirmed its seventh site will open in Bath at 5pm on Monday 24th May, and will be offering 50% off all food (eat-in only) for the first 10 days.

The independent boutique operators are front-runners in bringing fresh Sri Lankan cuisine to the UK. Their newest site, based at 36 Broad Street, joins branches in Cardiff, Bristol, Oxford, Cheltenham and Bournemouth. 

Bookings for Bath are now live at www.thecoconut-tree.com/bath.

Brand Director Anna Garrod said: “We searched for a site in Bath for two years, so it feels wonderful to finally have an opening date to look forward to. We can’t wait to bring a little piece of Sri Lankan hospitality to the city!”

Despite the massive challenges facing hospitality over the last year - The Coconut Tree team is holding fast to their ambitions to put Sri Lankan street food firmly on the UK culinary map in 2021, and will continue to offer 50% off for all eat-in customers from Monday to Wednesday until the end of January 2022.

The street food pioneers said that they were originally inspired to offer their own scheme after experiencing success with ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ last year.

Brand Director Anna Garrod said, “As a result of the UK government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ offer last year, we saw a real surge in bookings; it gave us a new audience who saw it as an opportunity to try new things. Now we want to introduce even more people to our unique dishes and laid back, island vibe, so will again offer 50% off Monday - Wednesday. 

Sri Lankan food hasn’t yet been taken to the heart of British culture in the same way Indian food has, and we really want to be the ones to change that, we want to hear people say – ‘let’s go for a Sri Lankan tonight!’ 

Two delicious new dishes have been developed for The Coconut Tree’s menu in time for their opening in Bath:

• Mango Curry – Fresh young mangos are sliced and marinated in a rub of deep, warm Sri Lankan spices with garlic, cinnamon, ginger, padan leaves, and a splash of  coconut vinegar. This is then slow cooked in rich coconut milk, giving a delicious, sweet & sour island vibe.

• String Hoppers or ‘Idiyappam’ - a traditional Sri Lankan specialty. Rice flour pancakes are popped into a press to form noodles; a perfect partner for all  dishes, and eaten ‘back home’ from dawn ‘til dusk. An alternative to the original Egg Hoppers (see below). 

What else is on the menu at The Coconut Tree?

In recent years, Sri Lankan food has been having a moment, with The Times identifying it as a key food trend, and BBC Food attributing its popularity to “most of the food world looking towards exciting new cuisines.” 

The Coconut Tree’s take on the cuisine is made up of smaller tapas-style dishes embracing plants, fish and meat - it’s an abundant menu that naturally offers something for everyone.

The menu at The Coconut Tree is made up of smaller tapas-style plates including ‘Hot Battered Spicy Cuttlefish’; ‘Hoppers’ – bowl shaped coconut pancakes served with sambal & Sri Lankan Salsa, ‘Cashew Nuts’ and green peas soaked and cooked in coconut cream; and ‘Cheesy Colombo’ – cheese cubes fried and mixed Colombo style. ‘Jaffna Goat Curry with potato’ is also a firm favourite, as is the ‘Black Pork’ which consists of diced pork belly cooked in 30 roasted spices.

Whilst The Coconut Tree prides itself on traditional Sri Lankan cuisine, their legendary sweet and fiery ‘Cocotails’ have always been a huge part of their offering. The menu of 15 different drinks leans heavily on authentic Sri Lankan flavours and ingredients including turmeric, Ceylon tea and Ceylon Arrack.

For every purchase of a 'Cocotail' with Ceylon Arrack in it, the spirit brand donates a percentage to The Elephant Transit Home run by The Department of Wildlife and Conservation in Sri Lanka.