REGENT STREET

 

    The layout of Regent Street was completed in 1825, replacing earlier roads, and was an early example of town planning in England. John Nash’s Street layout has survived, but all the original buildings except All Souls Church have been replaced following reconstruction in the late 19th century. Most of Regent Street is owned by the Crown Estate, on behalf of the Queen.

BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place

     The headquarters of the British Broadcasting Corporation  opened in 1932. The ‘Beeb’ is the world’s oldest and largest national broadcaster, employing over 22,000 staff. In my days with BBC TV I never worked here as it was primarily for radio. I occasionally had lunch in the canteen.

      In the 2000s, Broadcasting House was expanded to include a new wing (above, right). Originally named the Egton House, it was renamed the John Peel Wing in 2012, in memory of the radio broadcaster. Following revelations about Peel’s sexual ‘adventures’ in his youth it has now been renamed Zone H – a safe option one would imagine.

     The BBC News TV studios are mounted on huge steel springs to dampen the vibrations caused by the Bakerloo line which runs underneath.

     The Langham Hotel, Langham Place

All Souls Church, Langham Place

The Apple Store, Regent Street

Hamley’s (no queue here)

    The world's oldest toy store, Hamley’s was founded by William Hamley as Noah's Ark in High Holborn in 1760. It moved to its current site on Regent Street in 1881.

     The flagship store is set over seven floors, with more than 50,000 lines of toys on sale. It receives around five million visitors each year. The chain has 15 outlets in the United Kingdom and has more than 90 franchises worldwide.

 

Once there were many classy restaurants in Regent Street, especially the Café Royal ….

   The “N” symbol above the doors was added by the son-in-law of Nicols who was flattered to be honoured until he discovered it was an homage to Napoleon.

    Given the demise of the Café Royal, Veeraswamy is a no-brainer as my Regent Street restaurant-of-choice …..

     This, London’s first Indian restaurant, was founded by the grandson of an English general and Mogul princess whose family name was Veeraswamy. It is exactly the same age as the Queen, having opened on the day she was born - April 21, 1926. 

    Still owned by the same family, National Geographic rated Veeraswamy among the ten best “destination and special restaurants” in the world.

      The origins of drinking lager with Indian food are believed to have started here in the 1920s following the decision of Prince Axel of Denmark to bring a barrel of Carlsberg along to his meal. He sent a barrel every year afterwards. It proved so popular, Veeraswamy started importing Carlsberg.

      I arrived quite early for lunch and was greeted by the doorman with a cheery “go straight in mate”, as he rolled out the blue carpet.

     The food was superb, such a sumptuous mix of flavours I didn’t want to brush my teeth for a week. And you get to look down on the people huddled aboard open-top tourist buses. The only surprise was that Carlsberg is no longer on their otherwise expansive drinks menu.

     I started with Tandoori Wild Tiger Prawns with coriander, mint and chilli followed by Kashmiri Rogan Josh (intensely aromatic lamb curry of small shanks of lamb with saffron and cockscomb flower) and a side of cauliflower with chilli and cumin.

    For dessert I predictably went for the Shahi Tukda - Royal style Indian bread pudding.

     It was nothing like the bread pudding my mum used to make ‘when we were poor’ (her words).

    At £8.50 she would be turning in her grave. But then her recipe didn’t include silver leaf. (Occasionally there would be a sliver of greaseproof paper).

    The minimum spend for lunch at Veeraswamy is £44 per person.

    The chance of me not getting my money’s worth was never in doubt; I ended up with not much change from £100 despite only having one beer.