Chef Niaz Caan has opened his first restaurant as patron at the age of 23 – at the Lyceum Theatre in the heart of the West End. The 120-capacity Paro is inspired by the cuisine of Calcutta and West Bengal. Niaz began his working life in Brick Lane at 14, where he rose to become executive […]
The India Club in the Strand is to close down on 17 September, after apparently losing a six-year battle against redevelopment. The freeholders, Marston Properties, first submitted plans to develop the site as a luxury hotel in 2017. The Club – which these days is not restricted to members – raised funds to fight for its survival, […]
Empire Empire, a double tribute to the Indian disco scene of the 70s and the traditional cuisine of the Old Punjab, has opened in Notting Hill ahead of a formal launch next Thursday, 15 June. The restaurant, in All Saints’ Road, is a follow-up to the successful Gunpowder trio from Harneet Baweja (pictured), and features a […]
The Criterion in Piccadilly Circus, one of the West End’s most famous and lavish restaurant sites, is to re-open next month as a branch of the Indian restaurant Masala Zone. Designed by architect Thomas Verity in the Neo Byzantine style, the glittering, Grade II-listed Criterion opened in 1873 and hosted the movers and shakers of […]
Asma Khan has relaunched her Darjeeling Express as a pop-up in a Kensington pub while she looks for a new permanent site, having closed last month after less than two years in Covent Garden. The restaurant opened this week in its temporary siding at the Pembroke, almost next door to the Troubadour in the Old […]
Former Barnsbury pub The Cuckoo reopens today as The Tamil Prince, showcasing the food of Tamil Nadu on the southern tip of India. The transformation has been led by Tamil Nadu-born chef Prince Durairaj and former Bao operations manager Glen Leeson, who first worked together at Roti King. They are also the team behind Tamila, […]
A third-generation chef who virtually grew up in her family’s well-known Southall restaurant has opened a new central London venture under her own name. Dipna Anand Restaurant & Bar in Somerset House, the arts complex on the Strand, shares its Neoclassical accommodation with the Courtauld Gallery and Skye Gyngell’s highly related restaurant, Spring. The first […]
Mowgli, the Indian street food chain that has found extraordinary success since its launch in Liverpool seven years ago, opens its first branch in London next week, in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia. Dubbed “Liverpool’s answer to Dishoom”, Mowgli was founded by former barrister Nisha Katona to showcase the sort of food that Indian people eat at […]
Chef Atul Kochhar’s long-planned temple to South Asian gastronomy, Mathura, will finally open next week (October 20) in the Grade II listed 1906 former Westminster Fire Station in Greycoat Place – around the corner from Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Club, another grandee of Indian cuisine currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. The 200-cover restaurant was scheduled to […]
Indian restaurant mogul Anjan Chatterjee will open his first UK venture next month with the Marylebone launch of Chourangi, showcasing the cuisine of Kolkata. Chatterjee’s Speciality Restaurants Group has 130 venues in five countries across South Asia and the Middle East, with plans for expansion into Britain and North America. Chourangi, also spelt Chowringhee, is […]
