Oldest Indian restaurant in UK may be closed forever due to…, its name is…

Veeraswamy restaurant, London’s oldest Indian dine-in, has been a fixture of British-Indian dining ince it first opened its doors in April 1926 on the day of Elizabeth II’s birth. It has been a host for dignitaries like Marlon Brando to late Queen herself.

However, there has been difficult days for this building off late. Despite surviving the Blitz and London’s relentlessly competitive restaurant sector, a dispute with the current monarch’s property developer threatens the survival of London’s oldest Indian restaurant just short of its 100th anniversary. The crown estate, which owns Victory House, the listed building housing the Michelin-stared Veeraswamy restaurant near Piccadilly Circus, has said that it cannot continue to extend its lease. The Crown Estate claims it needs to take the restaurant space back to extend the ground floor reception for offices on the building’s upper floors. Knocking through into Veeraswamy would give it an extra 11 sq mts.

Veeraswamy’s co-owner Ranjit Mathrani is now heading to the high court to attempt to have the lease extended. He intends to lodge objections to the plans. Mathrani is also sure that the royal family would be unhappy to hear what is being done in their name to a restaurant long regarded as the grand dame of British-Indian food.

If the Crown Estate refuses to allow the restaurant to stay put until he finds and fit out an alternative space, with its iconic décor inspired by the art nouveau of the 1920s and maharaja’s palaces, the restaurant will have to close, leading to possible redundancies and loss of business until a new site is found.

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