The legal showdown between Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant, Veeraswamy, and the Crown Estate has been put on hold after a judge delayed a much-anticipated hearing.
The Crown Estate wants to evict the Michelin-starred restaurant from its premises above Regent Street, in the West End of London, which has been its home for the past century.
Veeraswamy was set to get its day in court on 29th June, before the Central London County Court told the legal teams that the five-day hearing would be delayed for “administrative reasons”.
Ranjit Mathrani, chairman of MW Eat, Veeraswamy’s owner, reported that “because of the prior commitments of the legal team and expert witnesses on both sides, it is unlikely to be before late Autumn this year”.
The legal battle has been running for more than a year.
Mathrani said Veeraswamy “will make every effort to see if the dispute can be settled before” the hearing. Veeraswamy wants the court to allow it to stay in Victory House, near Piccadilly Circus, where it has been based since it opened in 1926. The restaurant’s £205,000-a-year lease expired last summer after the Crown Estate decided against renewing it, although the pending legal action means it has stayed open.
The landlord wants to take back the building to carry out a “comprehensive refurbishment” of the offices on the upper floors, which have been empty since the end of 2023 after a flood in the basement. The damage did not affect Veeraswamy, which has a separate power supply to the offices. The Crown Estate also wants to knock down the wall that separates the entrance to Veeraswamy and the entrance to the offices to create a larger reception area for office tenants, which it says would allow it to “materially increase” the rents it can charge.
Veeraswamy has proposed sharing the larger entrance and has offered to match whatever rent the Crown Estate believes it can charge to new office tenants.
A spokesman for the Crown Estate said: “We need to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment of Victory House to both bring it up to modern standards, and into full use.The Crown Estate has a statutory responsibility to manage its land and property to create long-term value for the UK and return its profit to the UK government for public spending.”
Author: George Shaw
Former BBC journalist and founder and CEO of an award-winning London advertising and PR company for 20 years, providing restaurant consultancy services. Spent a decade as the director of communications of the Asian Catering Federation in the UK and lead judge for its various restaurant and chef awards programmes. Now returned to journalism, specialising in food and travel and currently the Editor-in-Chief for Taste London, Taste Asia, the Good Curry Guide and CEO of International Culinary Guides.