Today, I want to take some time to remember a long-standing, and much-loved hidden London restaurant that closed its doors last year after 70 years. Here, you were always guaranteed a warm welcome and a seat in the bar room on the busiest of Friday nights in London. Inside, the decor remained the same as it did when it opened in 1951, as a community focal point and became an important home away from home for a generation of immigrants.
For me, it was always an absolute joy to seek out hidden at the top of a flight of stairs above the Strand Continental Hotel. It made the perfect down-to-earth spot for a quiet drink and bite to eat after work if you ever found yourself near London’s busy Covent Garden and wanted somewhere to go away from the thrum of Theatreland.
It was founded in 1951 just after Indian independence, initially as a members’ club by Krishna Menon, chairman of the Indian delegation at the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1962, President Nehru and Lady Mountbatten, to ‘promote and further Indo-British friendship’. It quickly became a vibrant hub for a growing British South Asian community in London.
The India Club at 143 Strand came to be recognised as a welcoming space where visitors could seek advice, connect culturally and speak their native language. The Indian Journalist Association, Indian Workers Association and Indian Socialist Group of Britain were just some of the groups which used 143 Strand for their events and activities.
The building was also a base for the new wings of the India League, which ran a free legal advice bureau and a research and study unit from this address. At a time when the daily lives and experiences of Asians in Britain could be difficult, 143 Strand was a significant focal point for the subcontinent diaspora communities.
Before it closed, it looked pretty much as it did when it opened in the 1950s. It had simple decor; walls hung with the odd Independence-era portrait, and the feel of a classic first-generation ‘curry house’. I along with hundreds of others will surely miss feasting on the the delicious and cheap Southern Indian dishes, like scampi pilau, chicken with mushrooms, egg curry, and snacks like masala dosa. Goodbye to The India Club.
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