Cabot Square venue is first branch of the business outside Sri Lanka as founder and CEO Apinash Sivagumaaran targets global expansion
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It wasn’t really all that long ago that ships coming from and going to Sri Lanka were frequenting the docks of east London.
Typically those trade routes saw cargoes of raw materials arriving in Britain while we exported tech and empire overseas.
The arrival of Isso Prawn Crazy flips that narrative, however.
This time it’s Sri Lanka delivering a fresh business model and cutting-edge tech into the Canary Wharf hospitality market.
Having built a brand back home, CEO and founder Apinash Sivagumaaran is now determined to make a splash in London, a city he considers the food capital of the world.
Born and raised in Sri Lanka, he studied banking and finance in Australia, working in restaurants and cafés while at college.
“I figured out my passion was in hospitality and so I went into hotels and moved to Singapore to train at one of the best schools in the world,” he said.
After returning to Sri Lanka he worked his way up to become a resort manager and then worked for a major operator overseeing the whole of one company’s South Asian operation by the time he was 25.
It was then that he spotted a niche.
finding a spot in the market
“Whenever I’d come back to Sri Lanka, I’d meet up with friends and go for food,” he said.
“There were a lot of new concepts popping up, but they were focusing on crab, which is quite expensive and not accessible for everyone.
“I talked to people and realised there was a middle income audience that wasn’t being served and there was an opportunity to develop a seafood brand.
“Everyone else was doing crab and lobster, but I’ve always loved prawns.
“As a kid, if my mum cooked a prawn curry, I’d give my father one, my sister one and I’d take the rest.
“So I came up with the concept of Isso – which means prawn in Sinhala, one of the languages of Sri Lanka – Prawn Crazy.
“We built a prototype restaurant, about 80sq m, with only 16 seats and we had lines of cars parked outside because we’d priced it correctly.
“We saw growth month on month and we even saw Ferraris and Lamborghinis pulling up to visit.
“Basically we’ve taken one of the best proteins you can find in Sri Lanka and we’re serving it to the mass market.”
from Sri Lanka to Canary Wharf
Off the back of this success, Apinash has expanded the business to five locations in Sri Lanka and has now opened in Canary Wharf.
He puts the company’s success down to a somewhat unusual business model.
“From day one, we’ve partnered with Alpex Marine in Sri Lanka, which gives us something rare in this industry,” said Apinash.
“Through them we work directly with 150 fishers in the north and north-east of the island who use small boats to catch prawns.
“They go out to sea for four hours, chill their catch and then we quick freeze it to -36ºC as soon as they return which means the shellfish you’re eating in our restaurant are as fresh as it gets.
“I call them the wagyu of the sea and when you eat at Isso, you’re supporting a fleet of sustainable, small-scale day boats in Sri Lanka because we import all the prawns we serve in the UK from them.
“We make sure we pay them fairly and I’d love to grow this business until we’re working with 1,000 boats.”
Visitors to Isso’s new 90-seat restaurant at 25 Cabot Square, a unit previously occupied by Vagabond, will find a menu centred around three core species – flower prawns and black tiger prawns, both caught wild at sea, and giant freshwater prawns.
The latter Apinash dubs “the lobster of the river”.
small boats and robots
The space features an open kitchen, complete with robotic equipment to help speed up service, varied seating intended to encourage both formal and casual dining, a private dining room and a mural by artist Geshany Balder celebrating the main ingredient.
Inspired by the original Sri Lankan venues, the Canary Wharf restaurant’s menu features a central “combo” option, where guests choose the type of prawns they’d like, the style they’d like them cooked in and a side to go with them.
This ranges in price from £19 to £45, depending on the shellfish selected.
Diners can also choose from a series of starters such as mutton rolls featuring rich spice and slow-cooked meat, cuttlefish fritto tossed in sea salt and chilli flakes with a fruity dip and coconut prawns if you just can’t get enough. Each is priced at £12.
“Personally, my favourite dish is the great freshwater prawns cooked hot butter style with rice,” said Apinash.
“I also love the mutton rolls. My head chef, Karan Kashyap, has really elevated the whole thing.
“We use more meat in the dish and less potato and serve it with this amazing spicy sauce.
“We’re here to represent Sri Lankan food, take it to the next level and then take it across the world. London is the most exciting market on the planet.
“Most of the Sri Lankan businesses here are UK-born, but we’re offering something different.
“We want to be what the future of restaurants looks like – the supply chain, automation in the kitchens to make them more efficient.
“We’re creating value for everyone involved, our staff, the people catching the prawns and our partners.
“Sri Lanka has gone through a lot – a two-decade civil war, back-to-back recessions and political unrest.
“Back home, there isn’t a lot of time to dream big because there are many problems to focus on.
“For me, I want Isso to be a motivation for all of our entrepreneurs on the island.
“You don’t have to be born in New York, Paris or London to dream big.
“You can have those aspirations from Sri Lanka and take over the world.”
- Isso Prawn Crazy will also be operating a month-long pop-up in Victoria Park at the Pavilion Cafe in east London throughout August, 2026, open from 2pm-10pm. Booking details are expected to go live in the third week of July.
key details: Isso Prawn Crazy
Isso Prawn Crazy is located at 25 Cabot Square and is open every day for lunch and dinner.
You can find full details including menus on the restaurant’s website here.
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