Street food truck in Coventry aiming to provide 'Sri Lankan vibes' to the city
A food truck in Coventry is aiming to make Sri Lankan street food more popular in the city. Trevo Croos is the owner of Sri Lankan Street Food and Cafe in the city centre which has been open since 2022.
He noticed a growing Sri Lankan community in the UK and their desire for authentic Sri Lankan food when visiting the country itself. He told CoventryLive: "People would go to Sri Lanka, taste the amazing food, and come back to the UK and look for Sri Lankan food but there was no place in Coventry that did it, so we decided to open our venture."
The initial location was a container in the city centre on Tower Street and then expanded to a food stall at Ricoh Arena in March this year. The business started to attractlocal students and many other communities that helped Trevo gain positive feedback on the business.
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In terms of which dishes are most popular on the menu, Trevo says 'Kottu' is a hit, made from chopped flatbread (roti) that's stir-fried with eggs, vegetables, meat, or fish. The menu also includes South Indian dishes that have been blended into the menu such as dosa and idli, curries, as well as chicken rolls and Sri Lankan coconut roti.
Trevo added that the Sri Lankan chicken curry and the black pork curry are also popular as they offer ' a unique blend of spices' which caters well to a mix of students and the local community, not just Sri Lankans. When I visited the cafe, I tried the Vegetarian Kottu, and I must say, it was delicious. It had an intense and spicy flavour, with the vegetables cooked well, and was quite rich and savoury with a cheesy taste. It was quite filling for lunch and since it was my first time trying a Sri Lankan dish, I was impressed (and they weren't kidding about the spice level).
When asked about what makes their business stand out, Trevo said: "I'd say we stand out because we offer a niche street food vibe and the service we provide is like no other. As we are also a family business, we cook with passion and cook like we do at home, so we have a nice, homely vibe here too."
From April to June this year, Trevo decided to give back to the community after gaining good feedback from customers. Sri Lankan Street Food and Cafe gave away 1,000 free meals to refugees at Coventry Refugee Centre.
"I get to meet different types of people every day, and I always like to help out when I can. The customers have been lovely so far and they always understand when we have to increase the price, but compared to other cafes around Coventry, we are cheap."
"We also help the student community, for example, if they don't have a job and they ask for one, we say if they are specialised to bring in some food that we can taste and if it's good enough, we give them a platform to showcase. We buy the food from them and sell it here, so we both help one another in some way, he added."
Trevo hopes to do more events such as birthday parties, private parties, festivals and corporate events and strives to bring the 'Sri Lankan vibes' to the UK.
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