Trinco East Dulwich: Community, Sustainability and Seriously Good Food
Some restaurants are about more than dinner and Trinco East Dulwich is just the perfect example. The Tamil Sri Lankan-inspired restaurant at Oru East Dulwich on Lordship Lane is built around community and sustainability. It cooks with seasonal, locally sourced produce, some of it grown on Oru’s own rooftop gardens. The whole menu is vegetarian, and much of it is vegan. The atmosphere is relaxed and refreshingly unstuffy, but don’t let that fool you: the food is seriously good. Last week, we were invited to the launch of Trinco’s autumn menu. In the midst of a very busy week, we began with a welcome early-evening sauna, just before tucking into the new menu.
Oru is hard to sum up in a word, and that is rather the point. It brings co-working, wellness, food and community together under one roof. Oru Space East Dulwich has hot desks and private offices, yoga, Pilates and sound healing classes, treatments, a sauna and a rooftop. It’s also home to Trinco, one of the most interesting and unusual additions to my London restaurant reviews.
In Dulwich, Trinco caters for both day and evening. During the day, it’s a café serving Sri Lankan-influenced mains, sandwiches, salads, and freshly baked cakes and bread, with coffee from Assembly and Square Mile Roasters. In the evening, it becomes a Sri Lankan restaurant serving a modern interpretation of Tamil cuisine. The new autumn menu runs from Thursday to Saturday, from 6pm.
Oru has a second London space in Sutton, with a spa due to open in November 2026. Trinco also operates there as a café and restaurant. It serves speciality coffee and vegetarian and vegan brunch and lunch, from pastries to dhal, then homemade pizzas, small plates and house cocktails in the evening. In summer, there’s also the Trinco Rooftop. Further afield, there is Oru El Saltador in southern Spain, which sounds like the perfect retreat if you want to unwind or the place to work if you are a digital nomad. Oru is also a certified B Corp.
The Setting: Sauna, Sri Lankan Art and a Neighbourhood Feel
Before dinner, we were invited to try the new sauna at Oru East Dulwich. The nine-person sauna offers both traditional and infrared heat, so you can choose a classic hot session or something gentler. Honestly, I can’t think of a better way to unwind in the middle of a hectic week, and it’s a lovely way to feel happier and healthier as the nights draw in.
The space is lovely. My only wish is for somewhere to lounge within the sauna area between rounds. There is a relaxation space in the wellness hub, but it’s better suited to after your session than in between.
Then it was time for dinner. Trinco is simple and convivial, with plenty of tables spread around the room, a bar and a scattering of potted plants. Traditional Sri Lankan masks and a couple of art pieces decorate the main wall. It’s cosy and unpretentious, with a real community feel. It feels less like a restaurant and more like a neighbourhood gathering place, which is exactly what Oru sets out to be.
Trinco
Trinco was launched in 2023 by Vibushan Thirukumar, co-founder of Oru, with a vision to create a “community focused, sustainable restaurant”. His family are first-generation refugees who moved to the UK during the Sri Lankan civil war. The restaurant is named after his seaside home town of Trincomalee, and its cooking is rooted in Tamil Sri Lankan home food.
The autumn menu is all about seasonal, carefully sourced produce. The delicata squash comes from Michael Hall’s farm in East Sussex. The wild honey is from Black Bee. Some of the produce is grown on Oru’s own rooftop community gardens.
Trinco’s Autumn Menu: What We Ate and Drank
The Trinco autumn menu is served every Thursday to Saturday evening from 6pm. It’s seasonal and made for sharing: five starters, two mains, roti and rice, sambols and two desserts. If you enjoy sharing plates, then you’ll feel right at home.
Drinks
We started with the Blueberry Pandan Cloud (£12), made with arrack, lemon, pandan syrup and blueberry purée. Arrack is Sri Lanka’s coconut-blossom spirit, so it was a lovely way to begin. We also had the Virgin Picante (£8.50), made with alcohol-free Everleaf Marine, coriander, agave, chilli and lime. It’s proof that alcohol-free doesn’t have to mean dull. With the meal, we drank the red house wine.
Starters
Our favourites were:
- Delicata squash pakora: crisp fritters of East Sussex squash on whipped ricotta, drizzled with ginger-infused wild honey. Autumn on a plate.
- Idli: soft steamed rice cakes served with rassam onion broth and coconut chutney. Comforting and ever so moreish.
- Chickpea, coconut and citrus salad: bright, fresh and zingy, served with sweet potato crisps. A brilliant contrast to the richer dishes.
We also tried the vazhakki varuval (fried plantain with green chilli) and the goat’s cheese and Buddha’s hand samosa with chilli mayo.
Mains
The mains were all very tasty, so it is hard to pick favourites:
- Banana blossom burger: stacked high with pol sambol, rassam onions, garlic yoghurt and pickles. A clever, satisfying and truly delicious meat-free burger.
- Coconut and chaat masala pongal: Trinco’s take on the comforting rice and lentil dish, slow-cooked with coconut milk and topped with seared mushroom. We had it with fragrant rice and pol roti.
- Roasted squash: not listed on the menu, but a gorgeous, deeply autumnal dish.
Sambols
Don’t skip the sambols, the traditional Sri Lankan relishes and condiments that make every mouthful different. There’s pol sambol (coconut), seeni sambol (sweet caramelised onion) and a cooling raita.
Desserts
I usually have a clear favourite, but not this time. Both desserts were amazing:
- Dark chocolate, delicata squash and caramelised pistachio layered cake with Chantilly cream and toffee sauce.
- Pandan and candied ginger ice cream with a sesame crispy thosai and candied ginger syrup.
Not Vegetarian? What Else Is on the Menu
There’s no meat or fish at Trinco. It’s a fully vegetarian restaurant in East Dulwich, and much of the menu is vegan. Committed meat-eaters shouldn’t let that put them off. It’s a great restaurant that just happens to be vegetarian. Dishes like the banana blossom burger and the squash pakora are so generous and full of flavour that you won’t miss the meat.
The menu also marks gluten-free dishes and those containing nuts, so it’s an easy place to eat with dietary requirements. Vegan dishes are marked on the menu, and several others can be made vegan on request.
The Service
The service was genuinely friendly and relaxed. Combined with the cosy room, it gave the whole evening a warm, community feel. We shared our table with three other guests and had such an enjoyable evening.
The Verdict: Is Trinco Worth a Visit?
That’s a resounding yes. Trinco’s autumn menu is seasonal, generous and full of flavour, and it shows just how good meat-free cooking can be. If you’re looking for a Sri Lankan restaurant in East Dulwich, this is the one. Pair it with a sauna first and you have the perfect antidote to a busy week. Go hungry, go with friends, and enjoy!
Trinco East Dulwich: Contact Info Essentials
- Address: Trinco at Oru, 20–22 Lordship Lane, London SE22 8HN
- Autumn menu: served Thursday to Saturday from 6pm.
- Bookings: via OpenTable.
- Websites: trinco.restaurant · oruspace.co
- Nearest station: East Dulwich
- London sister space: Trinco at Oru Sutton, 7 Throwley Way, Sutton SM1 4AF
Disclosure: we were guests at the launch of Trinco’s autumn menu. As always, all opinions are my own.
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