Family-run Sri Lankan kitchen Kamu will open its first central London residency at The Sun & 13 Cantons in Soho on 28 October.
Founded by Deshan Warnasooriya, Kamu has built its business through a series of pub residencies across London, including the Coach & Horses in Leyton, Old Fountain in Shoreditch, Stapleton Tavern in Finsbury Park and Erin’s in Beckenham.
The concept began in 2022 after Warnasooriya started making and selling lamprais during the pandemic, drawing on his family’s Sri Lankan culinary heritage.
His father had moved from Sri Lanka to Watford around 30 years earlier and established a catering business supplying restaurants across London.
Warnasooriya is supported by his sister, Sasanthi Warnasooriya, who previously worked as Sous Chef at Paradise, the contemporary Sri Lankan restaurant formerly based in Soho.
The menu at The Sun & 13 Cantons will combine traditional Sri Lankan dishes with British pub favourites influenced by Sri Lankan flavours.
Traditional dishes include mutton rolls, Ceylon buri-yani and kottu roti, made with shredded roti, vegetables, egg and curry cooked together on a hot griddle.
The Royal Sri Lankan Lamprais will feature yellow rice, sweet-and-sour aubergine, seeni sambol, tempered potatoes, egg and poppadom, with a choice of Ceylon chicken, Jaffna lamb, Galle prawn or dhal.
Small plates will include Negombo prawn tempura with Katta sambol aioli and garlic and chilli corn ribs.
Kamu’s pub dishes include the Colombo Cheese Burger with Wagyu beef, truffle mayonnaise, American cheese, seeni sambol and pickles, alongside The Hot Lankan, made with buttermilk-fried chicken and Sri Lankan chilli oil.
Other dishes will include Lion Lager-battered haddock and chips, devilled buffalo wings and slow-cooked Sri Lankan lamb curry served on a house-made paratha taco.
The residency continues The Sun & 13 Cantons’ history of hosting restaurant concepts before they move into permanent sites.
Previous operators have included Darjeeling Express, Sambal Shiok and Mamapen.
Deshan Warnasooriya, Founder of Kamu, said: “We’re really excited to bring Kamu to the Sun & 13 Cantons and follow in the footsteps of some brilliant food residencies that have called it home. Kamu started as a bootstrapped business during COVID, so bringing our family’s Sri Lankan cooking to Soho means a lot.
“Our menu reflects growing up Sri Lankan in Britain, bringing traditional dishes like lamprais and kottu roti together with pub favourites given a Sri Lankan twist. Everything is made to be enjoyed with a drink, and we can’t wait for people to come down and try it.”
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