So this weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to The Coconut tree, to sample both their regular, and festive-with-a-South-Asian-twist menu. Along with a guest (my ever obliging partner Dan) I headed to the Bournemouth restaurant on Saturday eve for what promised to be an evening of delicious food and cocktails. And boy was it!
Firstly, let me mention that there is more than one branch of this Sri Lankan tapas restaurant, so don't panic if you're not a Bournemouth local, it just happened to be the nearest one to me. I hadn't actually stumbled across it before, but when I arrived it made a lot more sense as The Coconut Tree is not really on the main drag in Bournemouth, but up out of the main hustle and bustle of town, perhaps to its detriment, however, the restaurant was bright and welcoming, not to mention extremely well spaced out for social distancing, one of the best spaced out restaurants I've seen in honesty!
Arriving in from the bitter cold, Dan and I were warmly welcomed and shown to our table ... the menu situation is fab for the current circumstances, and is all paper-free and accessed on your phone via a QR code....why are more places not doing this?! It certainly keeps cross contamination at bay, not to mention reducing paper wastage.
Our fantastic waiter AJ, recommended we order 2-3 tapas dishes each, and whilst we perused the delicious sounding Sri Lankan menu, took our mock-tail order (I'm currently pregnant and Dan was being a gent and driving for the evening so we both went mock...and weren't disappointed, great tasting and really didn't feel like we were missing out or an 'afterthought'). Drinks in hand, our arms were very much twisted by AJ into trying the 'Ho-Ho Hoppers' ... and I'm not mad about it! Im assuming these bad boys are on the standard menu too, and that the Ho-Ho side of things accounted for the beetroot red colouring (don't quote me on this, they could be red all year round - and I reckon they should be!) anyway, they're basically a sort of holey coconut milk pancake with a fried egg in the middle, then dollops of a Sri Lankan salsa, caramelised onions, and then a coconut sambol... we were a little baffled by it until AJ popped back and told us to mix it all up, roll the pancake and then eat it like a wrap....mind BLOWN! So simple, but wow, all the flavours... a must try!
Following our Hoppers, our tapas dishes arrived, we went for the Jaffna Goat Curry, Black Pork, Spicy Cuttlefish, and then from the festive menu, the Devilled Pigs in Blankets and the Split Sprouts and Cashews. AJ was kind enough to bring us over some plain rice to accompany it all. I honestly couldn't pick a favourite dish but the Black Pork and the Goat Curry were definitely up there! We were so impressed with every single dish, Dan adored the sprouts ... sprouts! honestly, so good! who knew!
The Coconut Tree is running their festive menu until the 31st Jan, and not only that, they have 50% off Monday-wednesday until the 31st too! As if you needed an excuse to head down there!
In 2019, food critic Jay Rayner reviewed The Coconut Tree citing 'raucous, rough-edged enthusiasm to the food' which manages 'that rare trick of being totally laid back and completely on point at the same time'. And you know what... I couldn't agree more! With a warm and relaxed, friendly atmosphere... so completely unpretentious and welcoming, its hard not to feel right at home. The street-food style menu and set up has something for everyone with a huge variety of vegetarian and vegan options, varying levels of spice and all round deliciousness, just perfect for sharing as a couple, group....or just to treat yourself to a plethora of flavours. We will most definitely be heading back asap, colour us well and truly converted!
Huge thanks to The Coconut Tree for the invite and for laying on such a feast for us, and to the fantastic staff at the Bournemouth branch who even when faced with a very difficult table of customers on the evening in question, handled it calmly and with smiles on their faces. Book your table now by heading to www.thecoconut-tree.com
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