India Club on the Strand was easy to miss from the pavement. On this 2016 visit, I step through the entrance of the Hotel Strand Continental and head upstairs for masala tea and a vegetarian lunch in a dining room unlike the busy street outside.
From the Roberts London archive: first published on 5 November 2016. The Strand venue closed in September 2023. This article records the earlier visit, rather than current dining arrangements. Read the closure announcement.
Finding the India Club on the Strand
The address was 143 Strand, inside the Hotel Strand Continental. In the film, I point out how little the entrance gives away. From outside, you could pass the building without realising there was a restaurant and bar above you.
The staircase is part of the arrival. Once upstairs, the yellow walls, wooden chairs, hanging lights and framed portraits create a very different atmosphere. I describe it as a time warp in the video. Looking back, the footage preserves the details that made it feel that way.
A dining room with a history
The club’s own account of its history explains its roots in the India League and its role in encouraging Indo-British friendship after independence. It became a meeting place for community groups and people seeking familiar company in London.
A correction to my original commentary is needed here: the club was formally established in 1951, not 1946. It later moved to the Strand premises. The historical record separates those dates from the older associations I discuss in the film.
On my visit, the room is especially quiet. I have time to look around, film the tables and take in the portraits before concentrating on lunch. The setting is a large part of what I remember.
Masala tea to start
I begin with masala tea. It is a gentle start to a meal that soon fills the table with several dishes. Outside, the Strand is busy; from my seat upstairs, I can pause and enjoy the contrast.
Tea stays with me through lunch. In the video I discuss the restaurant’s bring-your-own arrangements and the drinks it served at the time, but on this occasion the cup in front of me is all I want.
Masala dosa, bhajis and coconut chutney
The centrepiece is a masala dosa, filled with potato, onion, chilli and spices. Alongside it are sambar and coconut chutney. I also order mixed bhajis, dal, plain rice and naan, so there is plenty to try.
The waiter warns me about the chillies in the bhajis. That warning gets my attention, and trying them provides one of the livelier moments in the film. The coconut chutney offers another flavour to return to between bites.
With the dosa, I enjoy the filling without adding much to it. I treat the sambar as a small bowl of soup and use some chutney with the other dishes. Later, I move on to the dal, rice and naan. It is a meal of different textures and combinations, with no meat needed.
I explain at the end that I chose an entirely vegetarian lunch because I was making a film around Diwali. I am not vegetarian myself, but I leave pleased with everything I have eaten. The original review also praises the service and value I experienced that day.
A last look at the restaurant and bar
Before leaving, I turn the camera back towards the dining room. The tables, service hatch and portraits are worth recording in their own right. These are the views that make the film more than a record of the food.
Then I go down one floor to look at the bar. Its tall windows, plants and small tables give it a different feel from the restaurant above. In the film, I imagine it as somewhere to sit for a quiet drink and conversation.
Coffee at Somerset House
Back outside, the sound and pace of London return. I make a short detour to Somerset House for takeaway coffee from Fernandez & Wells, then look across the courtyard. The open space makes a striking change after the rooms upstairs at the India Club.
Watch the original India Club visit
The ten-minute film below captures the entrance, vegetarian meal, dining room and bar, followed by the Somerset House stop. It is a personal record of this London restaurant in 2016. For another meal from the same period, see my full English breakfast at the Stockpot in Chelsea.
