Isso

Isso started in 2016 as a small store on Sulaiman Terrace and has grown into a home-grown Sri Lankan seafood chain with branches in Colombo, Battaramulla, Weligama and Trincomalee. Its flagship restaurant is at 53 Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha in Colombo 3, and it is a casual place built around prawns.

The format is easy to understand. Isso uses sea-caught flower and tiger prawns, and diners build a combo by choosing the prawn size, the cooking style and the side. The current menu highlights King Prawn combos and a Szechuan-style prawn dish with soy, tomato and a homemade ginger chilli sauce, alongside Lankan mud crab combos, an Isso biryani, a Jaffna curry combo with tamarind and spices, and a sweetcorn and crab meat soup.

The flagship opens every day from 11am to 11pm, while the Colombo City Centre branch opens from 10am, and has both indoor and outdoor seating, which makes it a flexible choice for lunch or a late dinner. It suits families, groups of friends and solo travellers who want a quick, satisfying seafood meal without the formality or price of a hotel restaurant. Reservations and delivery orders go through a single phone number, and booking is worthwhile at peak dinner times.

The company is led by co-founder and chief executive Apinash Sivagumaaran, and the build-your-own format means a group can order several prawn sizes and cooking styles and share them, which is the most enjoyable way to explore the menu.

Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha runs through Kollupitiya in Colombo 3, close to Galle Road. Cinnamon Red, whose 26th-floor Cloud Red rooftop bar is a short walk along the same road at number 59, makes an easy place for a drink before or after dinner; it opens from 5pm to midnight and has views over the city and the ocean. Galle Face Green and the seafront are a few minutes away by tuk-tuk. Other Colombo 3 addresses worth combining with a meal here include The Gallery Café, in Geoffrey Bawa's former offices on Alfred House Road, and Barefoot's shop and garden café at 704 Galle Road, which is open until 7pm from Monday to Saturday. A lunch at Isso followed by an afternoon of browsing in Kollupitiya makes an easy, unhurried day.