Veeraswamy
Coordinates: 51°30′36″N 0°8′17″W / 51.51000°N 0.13806°W
| Veeraswamy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1926 |
| Current owner(s) | Chutney Mary Group |
| Food type | Indian (Northern, Goan, and Anglo-Indian) |
| Dress code | Smart casual |
| Street address | 99-101 Regent Street |
| City | City of Westminster, London |
| Country | England |
| Website | www.veeraswamy.com |
Veeraswamy is an Indian restaurant in London, located at 99-101 Regent Street. It was opened in 1926 by Edward Palmer, the great-grandson of an English soldier and an Indian princess, and is the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the United Kingdom.[1][2] In its early years, Veeraswamy served Anglo-Indian cuisine, but in recent decades, based on the popularity of authentic Indian food in the UK, has served a menu of regional Indian cuisine, including dishes from Punjab, Lucknow, Kashmir, and Goa.
The restaurant was taken over by Sir William Steward in 1930. He was married to a singer and artist of the time Greta Gaye. Throughout the 1930s trade was very difficult but the couple used great resourcefulness and came through the challenging times. In the 1940s and 1950s the restaurant became a great success. The first ever curry in a can was introduced under Veeraswamy Food Products brand in the early 1950s. The restaurant was sold by Sir William in 1967. The food products business under the Veeraswamy name continued to be owned by the couple into the 1990s.
The restaurant decor was updated a number of times, and adopted an ultramodern theme in the late 1990s; however, for its 80th anniversary in 2006, it was redecorated in a 1920s motif. Veeraswamy is currently owned by the Chutney Mary group.[1]
The origins of lager drinking with Indian food may be related to Prince Axel of Denmark's visit to Veeraswamy restaurant in London in 1924 (two years before it opened). He arranged for a barrel of Carlsberg to be served and made sure the restaurant received one annually thereafter.
Notable diners at Veeraswamy have included Winston Churchill, King Gustav VI of Sweden, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Charlie Chaplin and Ian Sinclair.[1] Sir Abdul Qadir dined at the restaurant in February 1939, when the menu consisted of Mulligatawny Soup, Kashmiri fish, Chicken Madras and suji halva.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 Singh, Rashmi Uday (26 April 2006). "Metro Plus Chennai". Online edition (The Hindu). Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- ↑ Gill, AA (23 April 2006). "Veeraswamy". Online edition (London: The Times). Retrieved 2009-06-13.
- ↑ An Indian Dinner Origin Of Mulligatawny Soup The Times, 10 Feb 1939