The story
Veeraswamy occupies the first floor of Victory House on Regent Street, a position it has held since 1926. It is the city’s oldest surviving Indian restaurant, and in its centenary year it remains a standard bearer for Indian cuisine in London. The Michelin Guide, which awards it one star, notes: “It may have opened in 1926 but this celebrated Indian restaurant just keeps getting better and better!”
The interiors are as storied as the menu. The Regency Room offers eclectic luxury, with a cabinet of artefacts and Maharajah-era dress at its entrance. The Verandah Room brings in foliage and natural light for lunch overlooking Swallow Street. The Paisley Room, with its 1920s velvet and flowing fabrics, most directly recalls the restaurant’s illustrious past. As the Michelin Guide observes, “The room is awash with colour, and it’s run with great charm and enormous pride.”
The menu journeys through the Hyderabadi and Mughal traditions that shaped the restaurant’s founding, while reflecting the contemporary expertise of owners MW Eat. Among the standout slow-cooked dishes is a shahi patalia raan – a lamb shank wrapped in golden puff pastry, served with a sauce of bone marrow, saffron, and rose, in the tradition of southeastern Punjabi palaces. Another signature is the rogan josh from Kashmir, with the heady fragrance of saffron and mawal, the cockscomb flower.
Alongside these rich, slow-cooked curries and royal biryanis, lighter grilled seafood dishes provide balance. At lunchtime and weekend brunch, the menu shifts to brisk, lighter offerings. A pioneering wine list, developed alongside sibling restaurants Chutney Mary and Amaya, precisely matches white, red, rosé, and sparkling wines to the unique spicing of each dish, complemented by a playful range of Indian-inspired cocktails.
Nearly a century after opening, Veeraswamy continues to offer a memorable array of dining experiences on one of London’s grandest streets.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
High quality cooking
Like all good things, the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant (estab. 1926) has spawned a string of imitators under the aegis of Ranjit Mathrani, Namitha and Camellia Panjabi (the family behind Chutney Mary, Amaya and the Masala Zone group), but Veeraswamy simply shrugs off the years and carries on as before. A lift whisks you from street level to the first-floor dining room where large windows overlook Regent Street and the warm, cossetting decor nods to the Days of the Raj with vintage memorabilia. Backstage, chefs deftly layer flavour upon flavour in home-style cooking that blends renditions of the classic repertoire with some exceptional house specials. Ideas are lifted from all over India: Malvani prawn curry from the south Konkan coast comes in a rich sauce heady with turmeric, red chilli, coconut and dried kokum flower, while an unusual crab biryani from Bhatkal (in the coastal area of western India) is a superb exploration of the power of aged basmati rice to absorb flavours – here saffron and cinnamon leaf – while letting the delicacy of the fresh crustacean to shine. Street food puts in an appearance too: momos (Tibetan dumplings) are now fully absorbed into Indian street culture – here they are filled with chicken, softly steamed and finished in the tandoor. The sourcing of ingredients is important too. Welsh lamb supplies the tender chops that are grilled with a blend of cloves, fennel and rose petal, and go so well with a fine pineapple curry. And one of the most likeable things on the menu is the excellent homemade paneer prepared using full-fat Jersey milk and served in a light tomato sauce with peppers, garden peas, and cashew nuts. Naan fingers with garlic and sea salt are light and soft, service is friendly and attentive, and wines have been chosen for compatibility with the food.
Location
Facebook
Instagram
X