ISSO means prawns in Sinhalese, and the menu does not stray far from the translation. It is a Sri Lankan restaurant built around a single crustacean by people who have spent their lives obsessing over it, making it into their very own “Wagyu of the Ocean”.
Almost everything starts in the Jaffna seas and the Mannar Basin off northern Sri Lanka. The prawns there come out naturally sweet, with a meaty snap that earned them the Wagyu nickname locally long before anyone put it on a menu in London. Getting them to Canary Wharf takes a 5,000 mile cold chain, the catch flash-frozen at -32c within hours of leaving the water. Every prawn dish then arrives at the table with a small card naming the species and the fishery it came from. A small effort that lands with a big impact – there’s something quite magical about reading all of the details of a crustacean that you would otherwise think nothing of in any other restaurant.
I worked through the teaser menu. Cuttlefish Fritto came out first, flash-fried strips tossed in sea salt and chilli flakes, small bites dipped into a passion fruit, mango and chilli dip. The coating shatters, the cuttlefish underneath stays soft rather than turning to elastic, and the dip is sharp enough to reset your mouth between pieces. Calamari has never done this for me.
ISSO Wade followed, the street-food staple. Spiced lentil patties, each one with its own prawn tail sticking out the side, green mango chutney and a tamarind glaze to pack even more flavour. Crunch arrives first, then the sweetness of the prawn, then the sourness of the chutney catching up behind it.
The main event is the Odyssey, where you build your own plate: a protein base (sweet or salty, freshwater or ocean prawn), a flavour profile (curries, gravies or glazes), and a carrier of rice or parotta.
I went with wild sea-caught flower prawns, sweet with an oceanic saltiness, originating from Jaffna. The Negombo curry pooled around them, a rust-coloured coastal gravy of coriander, cumin and coconut milk, rich without going heavy. The Parotta was buttery, the layers pulling apart in strips for mopping. It’s hard to tell if I lucked out with my combinations, but looking around at others’ dishes – they all somehow seem to work.
Dessert luckily included no prawns. Instead, Wattalapam, a dark set coconut custard with chopped cashews scattered over the surface. Jaggery and cardamom help to give it almost smoky sweetness, packed with spice.
Canary Wharf lunches tend to be a scramble between meetings, so having this in walking distance is a genuine upgrade. The teaser menu fits inside an hour, and I’d come back for the cuttlefish on its own.
