The Sri Lankan street food outfit concept Konchi is to open its first standalone restaurant. Kochchi has been operating at the Bonnie & Wild Edinburgh food hall concept from the founders of Scottish restaurant brand Mac & Wild – since 2022.
Kochchi will launch in the former The Hanoi Bike Shop in Glasgow’s Ruthven Lane. The £500,000 investment in Glasgow will build on its Bonnie & Wild concession with an expanded menu of regional curries, grilled seafood, street-style snacks and flame-fired plates along with a dedicated bar. The drinks list will feature Sri Lankan-inspired cocktails, craft beer and tropical softs.
The restaurant will have 80 covers over two floors plus externa seating. Founders Shehan Fernando and Suki Jayaratne grew up in different parts of Sri Lanka, but it was Colombo – the country’s capital – that united their culinary vision.
Jayaratne said: “Shehan’s childhood was spent among his family’s hotels in Nuwara Eliya before discovering Colombo’s kitchens and streets, where food was rhythm and theatre. I grew up in Kandy’s gardens and coastal markets but found in Colombo the energy of a city where every influence collided – from black pork curry and seafood fried rice to lunch boxes filled with dosas, sambols, and biryani. Kochchi is our way of bringing that story to life.”
Author: George Shaw
Former BBC journalist and founder and CEO of an award-winning London advertising and PR company for 20 years, providing restaurant consultancy services. Spent a decade as the director of communications of the Asian Catering Federation in the UK and lead judge for its various restaurant and chef awards programmes. Now returned to journalism, specialising in food and travel and currently the Editor-in-Chief for Taste London, Taste Asia, the Good Curry Guide and CEO of International Culinary Guides.