Kochchi

Kotthu is made by chopping godhamba roti into curry with two metal blades on a hot griddle, and the clatter is why Cate Devine wrote that "You hear it before you see it."

Why go

Shehan Fernando and Suki Jayaratne ran Kochchi as a Glasgow street-food operation and then as a residency at Bonnie & Wild in Edinburgh's St James Quarter before spending GBP 500,000 on the old Hanoi Bike Shop unit off Byres Road. It opened on 29 January 2026 with 80 covers over two floors and a heated balcony (Larder Magazine). The sourcing is the part worth knowing: single-origin spices bought from artisan growers in Sri Lanka, with meat and seafood from Campbells of Linlithgow (Bite Magazine). Sri Lankan black curry gets its color from roasting the spice mix almost to charcoal before grinding, which is what separates it from an Indian gravy, and here it is finished with tamarind and vinegar. Fernando describes the intent as "rich curries, street snacks, and seafood dishes that carry the flavours of home" (DRAM Scotland).

Order this / avoid

• Order: the black pork kotthu, then the Colombo chicken curry, which Devine called "simply magnificent for its depth of new-to-me flavours" ref. Start with short eats: the mutton roll, butter squid, fish cutlets. Before 3pm there are hoppers on the brunch menu, including a bacon one.
• Avoid: chancing a weekend table. The restaurant took 2,500 bookings before it served a plate and closed to walk-ins in its first days.

What locals & experts say

• Cate Devine (Bite Magazine, 30 Jan 2026), on the mutton roll: she got "the full flavour of the meat before my tastebuds got whacked by its spicy hit." She read the room, whitewashed with wooden beams and French doors onto the balcony, as carrying "tropical heat, space and light." ref
• DRAM Scotland (11 Nov 2025), quoting Suki Jayaratne on why the menu is a city rather than an island: "you taste more than Sri Lanka." The trade piece also fixes the site as the former Hanoi Bike Shop and the fit-out at GBP 500,000. ref
• No settled review yet. The List, The Skinny, Glasgowist and The Glasgow Bell were searched by name on 29 July 2026. The only published visit is from the opening weekend, so nobody has yet written about this kitchen at cruising speed.

Good to know

• Where: 8 Ruthven Lane, the pedestrian lane off Byres Road, in the unit the Hanoi Bike Shop used to hold.
• Timing: open daily noon to 10pm as reported in January 2026. Brunch runs to 3pm.
• Booking: book, especially at weekends. There is a five-course set option, the Kochchi Experience, if you want the kitchen to choose.
• Drinks: Sri Lankan-inspired cocktails, craft beer and tropical soft drinks.
• Hygiene: the Food Hygiene Information Scheme lists the premises as awaiting its first inspection, recorded 3 November 2025. ref
• Provenance: added by curation, not from Jeff's own list.

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

should-visit — Shehan Fernando and Suki Jayaratne took their Sri Lankan street-food brand from a Glasgow truck to a residency in Edinburgh and then spent GBP 500,000 turning the old Hanoi Bike Shop into an 80-cover restaurant, which opened on 29 January 2026 with 2,500 bookings already taken. The kitchen buys single-origin spice from growers in Sri Lanka and its meat and fish from Campbells of Linlithgow, which is a real sourcing position rather than a menu note. Glasgow had no Sri Lankan room at this scale, and kotthu chopped to order is worth crossing the city for.