“Abdul, Indian food is not for Indians, it’s for Queens!”
Early Indian restauranteurs ensured only the wealthy could taste Desi cuisine. England’s first Indian restaurant – Mahomed’s Hindoostane Coffee House 1810 - was designed for the English upper classes who craved a taste of the colony’s exoticism. The pricey menu (pictured) meant most Indian migrants couldn’t afford Britain’s only source of Desi food, alongside the average Briton. Next time you’re at Lords watching Kohli send Archer for a six, look out for the plaque - 102 George Street, Marylebone!
Other early Indian restaurants like Veeraswamy (est. 1926) were still tailored towards the Old-Etonian, Rolls-Royce driving, White elite, over a century later (pictured 1962): My grandparents/parents didn’t eat there, but Churchill did…
2005 Westminster Cultural Heritage Plaque Commemorating London’s First Indian Restaurant <https://londonist.com/2016/06/the-story-of-london-s-first-indian-restaurant> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
Menu Of Sake Dean Mahomed’s Hindoostane Coffee House 1810 <https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/rare-menu-from-uk-s-1st-indian-restaurant-fetches-over-usd-11-000/story-sUHnDOGV1HoF5fCpcYZccO.html> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
Veeraswamy, 1962 <https://www.ft.com/content/2165379e-b4b2-11e5-8358-9a82b43f6b2f> [Accessed 1 March 2021]