The India Club is closing its doors for good

Catherine Hanly 21 August 2023

the india club on the strand is closing

For the past five years one of London's oldest Indian restaurants, The India Club on the Strand, has been fighting a battle against developers. Back in 2018 there were plans by the building's owners to redevelop the space that housed both the restaurant and the Strand Continental Hotel. Now it seems the developers have won and will be replacing the current building with a new luxury hotel. Sigh.

As a bit of background, if you haven't been, the restaurant was first opened back in 1946 by the Indian League. It's long been a place for expats to enjoy a taste of home and more recently found a new legion of fans who loved the untouched interiors as much as the food. London's restaurant critics were also enamoured, Marina O Loughlin describing it as "a curio, a living, breathing museum piece, a pearl."

Tens of thousands signed petitions against the India Club's closure and in the middle of covid, almost £50k was raised by crowdfunders to keep it afloat. But all of that wasn't enough to save it. On Twitter, the son of one of its founders, Shashi Tharoor, said: "I lament the passing of an institution that served so many Indians (and not only Indians) for nearly three quarters of a century."

The news was met with dismay by the restaurant's many, many fans.

I have been a fan of the India Club since I started going in 1982. When I was a King's theolog. I would often eat there because it reminded me of mum and Baba. And often it was because it was cheaper than the canteen. I live in the US now, but I'm sorry to see it closing.
— Simon Majumdar (@SimonMajumdar) August 21, 2023

So the spirited fight to keep it open has ended? How very sad. Is it possible for committed liberal Indians to reinvent it? Had lunch there recently so feel incredibly disappointed.
— Mediarama (@Mediaramaback) August 19, 2023