The Team at The Coconut Tree invited us to review a takeaway from them recently. My only regret now was that I hadn’t tried it sooner!
Located in St Clements, The Coconut Tree offers an abundance of Sri Lankan street food dishes. Most dishes are served as smaller tapas-sized portions, allowing you to try a wide variety of dishes, plus a few larger. There are vegan, vegetarian, meat and fish options, making it suitable for everyone. Dishes are full of flavour and affordable, what more could you ask for?!
Between two of us, we had: chicken and cheese kotthu (£9), veggie and cheese kotthu (£7), pineapple curry (£6), devilled chicken wings (£6), hot battered spicy cuttlefish (£7), yellow rice (£3), cheesy colombo (£6) and porotta roti (£3). We washed this down with two of their cocktails – Beach Boy (£10 for 2) and Rio Rumble (£10 for 2).
Bring on the food!
Kotthu roti is a traditional Sri Lankan dish that has taken many parts of the world by storm. At its base, kotthu is made up of chopped roti, egg, and vegetables. After this, the dish is adapted to your liking: add meat, make it vegan or even have with cheese; all seasoned with delicious spices. I had the veggie and cheese option and was impressed with the combination of flavours. The buttery flaky roti, combined with the egg and veg, really works. No wonder it’s a popular dish! My co-taster was equally happy with the chicken and cheese version.
The pineapple curry was also delicious – chunks of juicy pineapple served in a deep coconutty sauce with fennel and cinnamon. The contrast between creamy coconut sauce and sweet, juicy, bursts of pineapple made it a hard dish to fault. Plus, it had the perfect amount of spice – a slight kick but not too much. I’d definitely order this again.
Veggie & cheese kotthu 
Porotta roti 
Cuttlefish
As a vegetarian, I didn’t sample any of the meat or fish options, but luckily my co-taster did. First up were the devilled chicken wings. Coated in a spicy, peppery sauce, mixed with grilled peppers… let me tell you, these wings did not sit around for long. Devoured in a few minutes with the expense of any table manners (they don’t apply to chicken wings, right?). The flavouring was apparently great, with the right amount of spice and plenty of sauce to coat. The chicken itself was tender too.
The hot battered cuttlefish was my co-tasters’ favourite, as an established chicken wing fan this came as a surprise! Strips of cuttlefish coated in a polenta batter served with caramelised onions and a wedge of lemon. The batter to fish ratio was spot on – not too much that it took away from the flavour of the fish. The use of polenta combined with the perfect cooking time gave it a lovely crisp, encasing the tender cuttlefish.
Hit me up with sides & drinks
To accompany our mains, we had a few sides. The porotta roti was lovely (the naan of the Sri Lankan world – but better, in my opinion); soft, flaky and buttery with the perfect thickness to scoop up sauce, a must-have.
The cheesy colombo is the only dish I wouldn’t rave about – admittedly, it wasn’t actually a side, but felt as though it was. This is the only dish I wouldn’t rave about. Fried cheese coated in a sticky sauce; it was just that. I felt the cheese was a little tasteless and the sauce didn’t do much to enhance its flavour.
We washed our feast down with a few ‘cocotails’. I really liked this aspect of the takeaway. Served in small glass bottles with instructions on how to serve, they came with a mixer and even a garnish! Both were tropical flavours, a great accompaniment to the food.
The Beach Boy, a mixture of coconut rum, pineapple and grapefruit mixed with Lilt. The Rio Rumble a combination of Rum and Passoa mixed with RIO. Oh, to be on a beach right now…
And so, overall?
I’d really recommend The Coconut Tree. On the whole, the food is extremely tasty and affordable and I can’t wait to visit when it opens its doors again!
Takeaways available Sunday to Saturday 5pm – 9pm, click here to order.
The Coconut Tree
76 St Clements, Oxford OX4 1AW
thecoconut-tree.com/oxford
We dined as guests of The Coconut Tree, all views remain our own.
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