Veeraswamy Restaurant Review: Fine Dining at the UK’s Oldest Indian Restaurant Veeraswamy Regent Street

I say it every time and I’ll say it again – Indian food really is my secret guilty pleasure. I love bold flavours, intense spicing a little bit of heat and service in an Indian restaurant is always outstanding. The only bad part about it all is the sheer calories, butter and clarified ghee it all contains, though it makes it all taste good. With our Indian cravings calling we found ourselves at Veeraswamy – the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant on Regent Street.

One thing that Veeraswamy have spot on, is the starters and street food items. A little rustic around the edges, full of flavour, precisely cooked and very generous on the portions. They have the spicing perfect too. Enough for you to notice it, but not so you’re sipping on pints of water with each bite. The best way to start a meal here is with one of the bars expertly mixed cocktails and a grand sharing platter. It’s full with succulent tandoori green prawns, tender angara chicken tikka and a wildly spiced venison mutta kebab, served similar to a scotch egg. I loved the Nawabi chicken. A supreme of poussin stuffed with almonds and rose petal. The large puri filled Raj Kachori was legendary too.

The curries here are not messy, greasy or soaked in too much ghee – but refined plates and bowls of deliciousness. To celebrate Veeraswamy’s 90th Anniversary the restaurant has created dishes which herald back through India’s vibrant culinary scene, with some dating back to 17th and 18th century. We loved the Shahkahani badami chicken. Again the spices had been so well mixed that it had a refinement not everywhere can manage, full of almonds, nutmeg and saffron which ran through the dish like silk. The spinach and garlic saag was another tasty affair – so good in fact you really could eat it on its own with just a bowl of rice.

Star dish of the entire evening was the Amritsari lamb chops. Two chops crusted in a mix of pistachio & almonds, served in a sauce of royal cumin, saffron and star anise. Everything was so well cooked we really couldn’t fault any element of it. The buttery and crispy naan was fantastic for scooping up that saffron fragranced sauce. My photos really don’t give the dish justice, but with a romantically lit restaurant I didn’t have much to play with.

Desserts didn’t let us down either. The rose kulfi came beautifully presented as two rose moulds. There was none of that perfumed potpourri flavour here as if you were tucking into a glass of Chanel No.5, but a fresh quality infusion. The glass of Remy Martin helped wash it down nicely too.

Saving the best till last we finished up on a lovely chocolate and raspberry mousse and espresso martini – two of my favourite things all at once. We had such a lovely evening at Veeraswamy and it really did catch me by surprise. I knew to expect the good old classics, but I didn’t expect them to have moved so fluidly with the change in the London dining scene, still retaining its history and origins. Veeraswamy is quite easily the best Indian restaurant its area and I can’t wait to come back.

NB: I was invited to review and my meal was complimentary. All views are as always, my own. My views are not influenced by anyone other than my own palate and slightly poor eyesight.