Veeraswamy’s founder, Edward Palmer was the great grandson of General William Palmer (Military & Pvt secretary to Warren Hastings – The 1st Governor General of India) and the Moghul Princess Faisan Nissa Begum. Palmer was greatly influenced in the creation of the menu by his great-grandmother.
As one of London’s most historically significant restaurants, on one of London’s most historically significant streets, it has lived many remarkable lives, while standing steadfast on Regent Street through over 95 years of changing tastes in London.
After being taken over by MP William Stewart in 1934, with his obsessive attention to detail and quality - Veeraswamy entered its golden era, with visits from global royalty and a reputation as the most glamorous, and important restaurant of its time.
Veeraswamy’s menu at that time offered some Western dishes too.
Stewart’s tenure ended in 1967, when Indian hotelier Mr Kapur, and then Rembrandt Hotel owner Mr Vora, took over the restaurant.
The restaurant then went into decline. Current owners – Namita Panjabi & Ranjit Mathrani of MW Eat bought the restaurant in 1996, and soon modernised the interiors and menu which was well received.
In 2005, to pay homage to the restaurant’s prestigious history and standing in the history of London dining, the menu and interiors were renovated again, this time sitting between contemporary London and the royal history of India.
With its 90 year anniversary in 2016 came a Michelin star, which it holds to this day.
Veeraswamy’s menu has acquired a new kind of timelessness, whose attention to the tastes and trends for regionality, specificity, and nuance in Indian cuisine is no less suited to the wants and expectations of 2023 than those of Palmer in 1926 or Steward in his stint from 1935. It is set up to continue to help define the terms of Indian cooking in the city for decades more, from the same Regent Street address where its story began, nearly 100 years ago.
