A newly opened Sri Lankan restaurant is hoping to see more customers as the weather eventually warms up.

The King Coconut is a Sri Lankan street kitchen eatery which opened in January, owned by friends Mahesh Mohottala and Sajith Thammiage.

While the restaurant had a slow start, business is picking up and the friends plan to hold lunch time openings for students and workers in due time, giving people the taste of their home country, Sri Lanka.

Mahesh is an accomplished chef, working in Dubai before moving to the UK in 2001 employed by The Hilton Manchester Airport Hotel.

The Bolton News:

He said: “Sajith and I worked together for seven to eight years and then decided to open something of our own.

“So, that’s where the concept came in because we wanted to bring to Bolton the street food of Sri Lanka, things we don’t get much here.

“We are trying to fill the gap.”

The street food at The King Coconut focuses on using coconut milk rather than cream in dishes, which ensures the food is lighter than their Indian counterparts.

Mahesh said: “We want people to experience this and to bring a different taste to Bolton.

“We were looking for some time for a place to open and then a friend helped us to get this one in Bolton.

“It’s all worked out for us because there’s a big Sri Lankan community in Bolton too, and they support us.”

But it isn’t just the support of the Sri Lankan community Mahesh wants at The King Coconut, but the people of Bolton who are yet try the delicacies.

This includes egg kothku and devilled prawns and fish, and even their own version of nasi-goreng.

Mahesh said: “We have people coming from Preston, Leeds and even as far as Stoke-on-Trent.

“We want to encourage people, but it has been hard since we wanted to open in December, but because of some issues we had to wait till January.

“People eat out less in January and sometimes people like to go to the places they know, so we hope they will try our food.”

The King Coconut is located in Tonge Moor Road.