‘One heart and one mind’: Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant takes Crown Estate to court over eviction, co-owner Ranjit Matrani says all talks have failed

Veeraswamy, Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant, takes Crown Estate to court over eviction.

Veeraswamy, the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant, will take the Crown Estate to court this month over its ongoing eviction dispute. Co-owner Ranjit Mathrani said all negotiations with the Crown Estate, King Charles’ portfolio, had failed because the estate was bent on fighting a costly court case. The estate hopes to convert the restaurant space in the Victory Building into office space. According to British media reports, Veeraswamy’s parent company MW Eat will present its case to Central London Magistrates’ Court during a five-day hearing starting on June 29.The estate said it wanted to carry out a “comprehensive refurbishment” of offices on the building’s upper floors, which have been vacant since flooding in 2023 affected its power supply. This required them to knock down the wall that separated Veeraswamy’s entrance. It is said they hope to create a larger reception area for office tenants, which will allow them to “substantially increase” the rent they can charge. Veeraswamy agreed to the offer and said it could be done without evicting them, offering to pay the estate’s estimated rent for office space.“We did make every effort to answer all of their concerns,” Matrani said, adding that the estate lost more money in the legal dispute than was needed for the renovation project, which also involved lost rent, because Veeraswamy’s lease was not renewed.“A number of reputable contractors were fully capable of delivering the defendants’ plans of works in a manner suitable for the restaurant business. This was a standard part of many similar refurbishments in London and elsewhere in the UK,” Matrani said in his witness statement.

The sacred history of Veeraswamy

The restaurant opened in April 1926 and has served guests including Winston Churchill, Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Laurence Olivier, Charlie Chaplin and even Queen Elizabeth II. Its menu was created by Edward Palmer, who was inspired by the recipes for Hyderabadi palace dishes he learned from his grandmother. The King of Denmark, who visits Veraswami every time he comes to London, decided to send a keg of Carlsberg beer to store in his restaurant and give him a drink whenever he ate curry, The Guardian reported.

What does the Crown Estate say?

“This is not a decision we take lightly,” a Crown Estate spokesman said. “We need to completely refurbish Victory Building to bring it up to modern standards and make the most of it. We understand how disappointing this is for MW Eat and are offering assistance in finding new premises within our portfolio so that the restaurant can remain in the West End, as well as providing financial compensation. “The estate said: “Following external advice we reviewed alternatives, including that proposed by MW Eat, but unfortunately none of the alternatives met our responsibilities as stewards of this heritage-listed building, our legal obligations and responsibility to steward public funds.”MW Eat says estate compensation is not enough.A petition calling for Veeraswamy to remain at its original location has gathered 20,000 signatures and was sent to Buckingham Palace by the restaurant’s owners in February.