The Coconut Island

Before I start, we visited mid week, so my score for atmosphere is only a 4, because it was quiet. This new, authentic Sri Lanka restaurant has the makings of a phenomenal place, and once word gets out, this score will no doubt go up to 5! Only our second delve into Sri Lankan food, so we wanted to get a good try of a variety of dishes, and did exactly that - completely over ordered for our smaller stomachs though! The cocktails to start were amazing, a theatrical display with fire at the table for both Skull on Fire and Fire It Up. Fresh and fruity, perfect to wash down our food. We went for traditional hoppers (a must, but we only needed one between us really), chicken kothu (my favourite), seafood rice, coconut sambol, dahl, potato fry, and hot battered prawns (the absolute best!!)

What a find. Authentic food. We ordered lots of dishes so had a great variety of food and it was all delicious. I would highly recommend and we will go again as it was an excellent restaurant. Have the squid, pineapple curry, pork, a hopper and whatever they recommend as you will not be disappointed.

As a family of five with two young kids, we were on the hunt for an authentic Sri Lankan restaurant near Brighton, and we struck gold with The Coconut Island. This gem of a place exceeded all our expectations! The food was an absolute delight—bursting with authentic Sri Lankan flavors and presented with such care. They even had fantastic options for our 2-year-old daughter, who couldn’t get enough of the poll (coconut) roti. We sampled a variety of dishes, and each one was a hit. The Squid Game, hot battered prawns, soy cheese, and black pork were perfectly cooked, beautifully presented, and packed with bold flavors. The fiery cocktails were a highlight, transporting us straight back to Sri Lanka. A special shoutout to Naveen, who demonstrated how they’re made—absolutely worth experiencing! For dessert, we indulged in milk hoppers and watalappam. The hoppers were tender yet crispy, and the watalappam was the perfect, delectable finale to our meal. If you’re in Brighton, The Coconut Island is a must-visit. The authentic Sri Lankan food, vibrant vibes, and warm hospitality make it a standout. We can’t wait to return!

Definitely not your typical Sri Lankan restaurant, but very much worth the visit. Some delicious food, especially if you like it spicy. Very friendly owner. Good vibe and atmosphere. Would definitely go again.

Such a lovely place with great service. All the food was so flavoursome and fragrant. We had the fried chickpeas, egg hopper, prawns in tomato sauce, coconut roti and pumpkin curry and they were all delicious. Lots of vegan options too. Highly recommend and will definitely be coming back!

Our group of ten had a lovely meal at this new restaurant. As we were a large group they suggested the sharing menu where they just brought out a large selection of different dishes. All the food we had was excellent and great for vegetarians and meat eaters. Favourites were the cashew nut curry and the pineapple curry Service was good and the restaurant is nicely decorated, with fun paintings on the walls. Only thing to improve was that our sharing menu at 35 per head was waaaaay too much food. They suggested it'd be around 3-4 dishes per person, but lots of the dishes were quite large curries so you don't need that much. We took a load home so it wasn't wasted but would have preferred paying less for less food, as nice as it all was!

First time I ate Sri Lankan food, it was very good ! We were two and didn't book on a Saturday evening at about 7, it was busy but still some spaces. Very friendly staff and a good atmosphere. Although we didn't take anything spicy on the menu, it was a bit spicy! It's a standard for Sri Lankan food to be spicy, just didn't know about it. For two people we spent 45 pounds ( one more dish to come on the picture, and just took sparkling water to drink ) definitely will go again !

Absolutely amazing experience and food/drinks from Naveen and the team. We went on a weekday for our football team end of season meal and it didn’t disappoint. We had 20 people in the back room which was perfect. We will absolutely be returning! The food was delicious and the drinks were instagram worthy! Food portions are really decent sizes, we opted for a mixture of plates and shared all family style. Thanks coconut island team!