Veeraswamy - London's Oldest Indian Restaurant (1926)

To celebrate Valentines, Freddo took me to a sophisticated restaurant for some high class dinning.

 

Located on Swallow St. in Mayfair, Veeraswamy is one of London's oldest Indian restaurants (1926).

 

 

 

We stepped into a small corridor beautifully decorated leading to a silver lift. Our coats were taken and we took the lift to the first floor of the building. As we stepped out of the lift doors, we were immediately welcomed by polite, friendly staff. The ambience was warm and intimate, with views of the very impressive Regents St. by night - a very romantic setting.

 

 

We were shown to our table, which was romantically dressed with red rose petals and a pretty window view of Swallow St. decorated in fairy lights.

We both ordered the lychee lemonade - this was sweet and fragrant. For starters we began with the vegetable bhajias. Unlike traditional bhajias, these were whole vegetable pieces cooked in a spiced batter and accompanied with tamarind and mint sauces. The selected vegetables included asparagus, broccoli (my personal favourite), courgette and spring onion. These were so delicious that it didn't take long to eat them!

 

 

Next followed the main course. Freddo ordered Butter Paneer Lababdar. This is the Indian equivalent of cottage cheese in a creamy onion and tomato sauce. I ordered the Vegetarian Crescent Platter. The vegetarian platter consisted of 4 small bowls, each deceptively filling and satisfying.

 

 

 

Bowl 1 featured a traditional lentil curry, Daal. This is a stew of lentils cooked with tomatoes, spinach and a variety of spices including turmeric which gives it its bright yellow colour. The daal was light, not heavy like most and the tomatoes used were fresh.

Bowl 2 included a Kolhapuri Kofta. The Kofta consisted of blended vegetables cooked in spices, moulded into a ball shape and then served in a sweet, caramelised onion sauce.

The spiciest dish of the 4 mini meals was bowl 3, Bharta. Of all 4 bowls, this was my favourite and contained roasted mashed aubergine in a spiced garlic and onion sauce.

And bowl 4 featured Butter Paneer Lababdar - the same as Freddo's meal. The panner was soft and delectable, and perfectly suited the creamy onion and tomato sauce.

 

 

The experience, atmosphere, delicious food and friendly service made this a very special Valentine's celebration (thank you Freddo :) ). I highly recommend Veeraswamy for any special occasion.