The Coconut Tree, Clifton Triangle – restaurant/bar review

Less than two months after the first Bristol branch of the Coconut Tree opened on Cheltenham Road, the doors have opened on Clifton Triangle in the former Illusions Magic Bar. Small plates of Sri Lankan street food are on the menu, and the casual dining vibe, which started with a group of friends opening their first premises in Cheltenham, has turned into an award-winning formula with a second restaurant in Oxford, and now a third and fourth in Bristol.

The similarities between the Cheltenham Road and Clifton branches are clear the moment you step through the door: the same furniture, decor and lighting make it clear that the team have found a style and are sticking to it.

Sheets of newspaper (from the front page of the Independent  to the Daily Mail sudoku) are stuck on the ceiling above the long bar, which is topped with tuppence pieces. The copper continues into the cocktail measures, shakers and even the beer taps themselves, while old crates nailed to the wall hold a display of canned Lion Lager and Sri Lankan spirits including golden bottles of Ceylon Arrack, made by distilling the sap of the coconut flower.

The walls are covered with a big tuk-tuk mural, shocking pink palm tree wallpaper and what might pass for driftwood after you’ve had a few. Details like the cocktail menu being spelled ‘cocotails’ can’t help but feel affected when the staff member handing it to you is a British student fresh out of their A Levels.

Sri Lanka’s culture is distilled into poppy murals inside the restaurant

There’s a couple of fellow students eating on this dark Tuesday evening, plus a raucous Christmas party in festive fancy dress tapping their feet to the bass-heavy music that is undeniably loud. Only half the tables are full, but the staff have cranked the volume up high to create atmosphere.

The food options are plentiful, ranging from battered spicy mushrooms (£5) and crispy rolls (£4) to devilled king prawns (£7) and Sri Lankan mixed fried rice (£7). Mixing and matching is encouraged, with three dishes per person the recommendation. It’s a thoroughly millennial-friendly menu, with lots of vegan, gluten free and vegetarian choices, and descriptions that are peppered with exclamation marks and emojis to denote how spicy or large the dishes are.

Mixing and matching the small plates is encouraged

My three dishes of black pork (£7), ‘fat sister’ pumpkin curry (£4) and battered spicy cuttlefish (£7) arrive extremely fast and all together, along with a portion of roti (£2.50) that the waitress suggests to go with the wet dishes. They are good-sized portions and all come steaming hot.

The belly pork has been cooked in a complex mix of spices, with a slow burning peppery heat within the heart of the meat. Certain pieces fall apart tenderly under the fork, while others turn out to be nothing but lumps of fat covered in the same spice mix. As I make my way down to the bottom of the tin plate, the coating becomes gritty and I don’t finish it off.

The curry contains large chunks of pumpkin with the skin still on, which have been cooked thoroughly in the thick sauce. The waitress recommends pairing it with the beef, and their flavour profiles complement each other. The coconut sauce also stops the meat from being too dry. Sweeping up a combination of both with a piece of  warm fresh roti is a joy.

The cuttlefish has a lovely light batter but the flesh itself is a little tough from taken out of the hot oil a fraction too early. The standout part of the dish – even the whole meal – are the caramelised onions buried at the bottom. The salty, crunchy flakes of batter plus roaring heat from a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes mingle with the sweetness of the onions in perfect balance. I’m offered a cardboard takeaway box for my leftovers and as I’m transferring the last of the cuttlefish pieces out of the bowl, it’s the onions I finish off.

The bar stocks a range of Sri Lankan drinks and specialises in cocktails

The bill arrives in a tin can for no reason other than it looks the part, and it’s another example of this well-meant theme ringing hollow. A beachside bar under a coconut tree with a torn awning and an open kitchen might chuck you a can to catch your coins, but here there’s a polite queue in front on the state-of-the-art digital till to pay contactless, each patron clutching their can uselessly.

The Coconut Tree is the sort of place you should come on a flirty third date, where you have to sit close to hear each other over the music and you can share a plate of something light along with a pair of sweet and lethal cocktails (two for £10, all day, every day). The magic formula might not be universal, but its fun touches can’t be faulted, and it’s sure to find a natural home with the students who think nothing is strange about a menu with emojis printed on it.

The Coconut Tree, 2 Byron Place, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1JT
0117 929 3120
www.thecoconut-tree.com/bristol-clifton-triangle