An historic Indian restaurant in central London will close its doors for good this weekend after serving the Indian diaspora community for seven decades.
Open since 1951 by members of the India League (a British-based organisation that campaigned for an independent India), The India Club is due to hold its last service on Sunday, September 17 in its current location on The Strand.
It is believed its charmingly nostalgic premises, with walls lined with portraits of those involved in liberating India, will be turned into a luxury hotel, ending a long-running battle to keep the venue open.
Current owners Yadgar Marker and his daughter Phiroza have held the lease for 26 years. They told press the venue’s closure was “heartbreaking”.
Phiroza said: “It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the closure of the India Club, with our last day open to the public on September 17.
“We have run the place for 26 years. I have been helping here since the age of ten. This is heartbreaking.”
A “home away from home” for many Indian immigrants, The India Club, a restaurant, bar and lounge, was as much of a community hub as it was a restaurant.
Serving classic Indian dishes such as dosas, biryani and street food favourites for starters, the restaurant has long been a place for London’s south Asian community, and others, to meet and connect while basking in the comforts of familiar flavours and faces, and often an early port of call for new arrivals to Blighty.
One regular Kusoom Vadgama, who regularly frequented the restaurant after moving to the UK I 1953 told The BBC that The India Club helped new immigrants “feel a little less alone”.
She said: "In the 1950s and 60s, it was the only place Indians could go to meet people who spoke their language and ate their food.
"The India Club helped all of us feel a little less alone in our new home."
Indian MP for the Indian National Congress party Shashi Tharoor and son to Chandran Tharoor, one of The India Club’s founders, expressed sadness at the restaurants imminent closure.
In a post on X, the British-born politician wrote: “I am sorry to hear that the India Club, London, is to close permanently in September. As the son of one if its founder, I lament the passing of an institution that served so many Indians (and not only Indians) for nearly three-quarter of a century. For many students, journalists and travellers, it was a home away from home, offering simple and good quality Indian food at affordable prices as well as a convivial atmosphere to meet and maintain friendships.”
The BBC reports The India Club had been fighting closure for years. It appeared Yadgar and Phiroza won their battle a couple of years ago following a petition, however the pair announced the restaurant’s closure in August.
The father and daughter team have said they are “looking for alternative premises”, however, even if the restaurant does find a new home, an historic chapter of British-Indian post-colonial relations closes for good when the final serves comes to an end on Sunday.
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