This Sunday, The India Club, a beloved London curry house with ties to India's fight for independence, will bid its customers farewell after a failed attempt to stop a plan to develop a hotel.
This restaurant opened only four years after India gained independence in 1947, tucked away discreetly at the top of a steep staircase along the busy section of The Strand in the heart of London. Members of the India League, a British-based advocacy group that strongly supported the freedom of India from British colonialism, established it.
The India Club has drawn many different types of customers over the years, including regulars who long for masala dosa or bhuna lamb served with a pint of Cobra or Kingfisher beer and Londoners of Indian origin.
Indian politician Shashi Tharoor, whose late father Chandran was involved in establishing the India Club, shared his views in a Reuters report, "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 India Club's manager, Phiroza Marker, told Reuters that the business saw an increase in customers in the days before it closed. She is actively looking for a substitute location close by to carry on the restaurant's legacy. The Formica tables and mustard-coloured walls of The India Club replicate the ambience of an Indian coffee shop from the colonial era.
The India Club, a representation of historical significance and cultural heritage, has wrapped up its chapter in London's culinary world. Its shutdown serves as a heartbreaking reminder of the lasting effects of India's struggle for independence as well as the cross-cultural links it forged through time, uniting people through a shared appreciation of Indian culture and history.
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