Isso: Turning 5, ready to thrive

The island’s most popular and novel prawn-themed restaurant, Isso, turned five on 23 March. Isso began operations in 2016, in a small outlet down Sulaiman Terrace. Today it has grown from a small store to its iconic flagship outlet down Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 3. 

Isso soon became renowned for serving high quality, delicious prawn dishes from around the world, at a reasonable price bracket. In fact, prawns are a commodity which is often seen as a luxury item, ISSO reintroduced prawns to the market as an easily accessible food option, at an affordable price bracket. The popularity of the prawn-themed restaurant soon grew, owing to its novel menu, delicious food, and cult following. 

In addition to the restaurant’s exciting menu and diversity of dishes, there are a host of surprises to celebrate Isso’s 5th anniversary. Some of the specials customers can look forward to, half priced Isso burgers for the first 100 customers and free cupcakes at the store from 5-6 p.m. for all customers. 

Commenting on Isso’s journey, CEO and Co-Founder Apinash Sivagumaaran said: “The past five years has been an exciting learning experience for all of us – today Isso has grown five years strong. We’ve fallen, we’ve grown, we’ve learned, now we are ready to serve and cater to the needs of our customers more than ever before! A big thank you to our prawn-crazy customers, our team, our vendors, our partners, families, and friends; who have all been a massive part of our journey. I am deeply grateful for all the support extended to us over the past five years and look forward to personally welcoming you all back to ISSO soon! We look forward and are excited to present what is in-store for the future of Isso in the coming year.”

The brand envisions towards becoming a well-known global restaurant franchise brand, and to represent Sri Lankan cuisine and hospitality around the world. Isso aims to open 100 outlets across the world through a mix of company-owned and franchised outlets in the next five years. 

Isso uses only sea caught flower and tiger prawns, which are highly regarded by seafood lovers and chefs for their flavour. This combined with the use of fresh, locally and sustainably sourced, high-quality ingredients, along with a team of expert chefs have enabled Isso to create a variety of signature dishes. At ISSO, you are able to customise your combo meal, by picking the size of prawn, style of cooking and side. This enables the consumer to try multiple variations of their menu on each visit.Isso’s efforts haven’t just earned them the trust and love of their prawn-crazy customers, but has made a mark in the international arena too. Isso has also been the recipient of numerous accolades, a few of which include ‘The Best Restaurant Concept of the Year’ at the QSR Media Awards 2020 in Singapore, The Rocheston Award in 2019 for ‘Distinguished Restaurant’ and the TripAdvisor Excellence awards for three consecutive years. 

ISSO continues to build on its ethos of disrupting the market and has pivoted into the RTE market segment under the brand name; EasyMeals, during the pandemic to service the needs of their customers. Isso is one of 51 companies from India and Sri Lanka, taking part in the Stanford Seed Transformation program: A GSB-led initiative that works with entrepreneurs; to build thriving organisations, strengthen their businesses, gain traction, and impact lives.

Isso is open every day for dine-in customers from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a choice of indoor and outdoor dining. For delivery and reservations, you can reach out to them on 011 777 0300 or via www.isso.lk.