Colombo Street owner thanks customers as restaurant's time in Nottingham is coming to an end

There have been great achievements - but equally there have been great challenges for Nottingham restaurant Colombo Street, where its days in the city are coming to an end. The unit where the colourfully decorated Sri Lankan restaurant is based in Adams Walk, off Fletcher Gate, has gone up for sale for £125,000.

Colombo Street opened in September 2021 - although the business started in 2018, selling street food from under a gazebo, before graduating to a truck which visited events such as The Garage in Chilwell and Nottingham Street Food Club at Sneinton Market.

The city's one and only Sri Lankan restaurant acquainted food lovers with the signature dish kottu, a mix of chopped up roti, stir fried with meat or fish, vegetables and spices, along with coconut-based curries with the spicy condiment sambal, and hoppers, the famous crispy bowl-shaped pancakes made from rice batter.

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The restaurant was crowned Sri Lankan restaurant of the year 2023 at the National Asian Food Awards and won many other awards but founder Pasan Nissanka said rising costs and fewer people eating out had been challenging. Despite the impending closure of the restaurant, it's far from the end for Colombo Street, which will be out and about in the truck at events and focussing on its new range of Heat & Eat meals with nationwide delivery.

Pasan, who originally came to the UK to study aerospace engineering at university, discovered a love of cooking after rustling up the flavours from his homeland for himself and his student mates. It grew from there into a business.

He said: "Being a niche cuisine, we have identified that operating with a flagship restaurant has many limitations. From the start in 2018, our mantra was to share the rich Sri Lankan cuisine and warm hospitality with as many people as possible in the UK. People across the UK have been asking us how they can try our food in their towns or homes.

"This means that our time at Fletcher Gate is coming to an end but we are going to continue with our vision to make Sri Lankan food affordable and accessible by launching our Heat & Eat meals delivery across the UK, opening outlets in food halls and continuing outdoor catering in our food trucks. It’s really exciting that we are taking a long term residency in Pop Brixton London soon and a few more in the next few months.

"We are so thankful to our loyal customers who have carried us all this way and shared many memories with us. We will announce a closing date soon for everyone to have a good time for the last time at the venue."