Punjab Restaurant

03/07/2026

This advert for Punjab Restaurant was created circa 1974, commissioned to a young local advertising executive named Michael Bell in return for a meal! 😁

The marketing strategy was to attract customers from the local Covent Garden tube station to the , and this poster was prominently displayed in the Covent Garden tube station lifts.

In today's world, adverts are created in minutes and be shared almost anywhere, but the effort to create this artwork was certainly appreciated. It reminds us of the kitsch 1970s when cars used to park in Neal Street before its “gentrification”. If you look closely, you can even see the tube station sign! 🚇

Michael Bell became a great friend and is the same regular customer who has held his annual Christmas party lunch at the - that's over 50 years! 💛✨

30/06/2026

🙏🏽💛

From serving homesick Indian students in post-war London to welcoming a King, this iconic restaurant has spent 80 years proving that great food never goes out of fashion.

Founded in 1946 by Sardar Gurbachan Singh Maan, Punjab Restaurant began life as a humble dream and has grown into one of Britain's most treasured culinary institutions. Its rich history even earned a visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla, who sampled its famous dishes in 2023.

Now, as it celebrates its 80th anniversary, we look back at the remarkable journey of a restaurant that helped shape London's South Asian food scene and the family legacy that continues to thrive today.

🔗Link to read the full story in comments

30/06/2026

In April 1946, the entrepreneurial Gurbachan Singh Maan took over an existing lease of a teahouse at 5 Braham Street in Aldgate, which became known as the Punjab Restaurant and Cafe. It sold tea and sandwiches in the front, while was made for his fellow countrymen in the back. So this was the original site of the Punjab Restaurant, where it all began!

Following the Second World War and the breakup of the British Empire, Indian migration to the UK increased. Many that had come from India notably included university students, lawyers, doctors and Indian High Commission officials, who all wanted Gurbachan Singh Maan to move to a more central and convenient location.

He finally gave in to his customers’ demands and started searching for a new location. He found two: one in Soho, and one in Seven Dials, Covent Garden. He eventually chose to go for the latter location as it was closer to the Indian Embassy and likely to attract greater business for his .

And so it was that Gurbachan finally made the move to the present location and the Punjab Restaurant reopened on 11th June 1951 at 80 Neal Street in CoventGarden.

This location had been a former tea house for the local Covent Garden porters, and just as he had done in Brahms Street, Gurbachan continued to serve both English and Punjabi food. However, the move had been a wise one and the demand for Punjabi food alone was profitable. After just six months the English menu was dropped and began to serve just Punjabi and North Indian cuisine. At the time, the premises were rented, and seated just 28 people.

23/06/2026

As we enter a , an apt reminder of the outside last Thursday - symbolically served for us to remember to stay cool and calm through adversity and the heat of the moment, stay focussed, and remain in (high spirits) 🙏✨🥤

21/06/2026

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers and father-figures today! 🙏💛

As a family-owned restaurant spanning four generations since 1946, we would not have continued to survive and thrive for 80 years had it not been for the values and principles of our elders.

You may have wondered about the second generation link - these photos show all four generations and if you follow clockwise...

The first photo you may recognise from the walls of the restaurant, showing our founder, Sardar Gurbachan Singh Maan holding his great grandson, Amrit Maan, our current MD.

The second picture once again shows Sardar Gurbachan Singh Maan in the village with his eldest son, Sardar Channon Singh Maan. Channon Singh stayed with his mother and had been left in charge of his father’s affairs in 1936 as Gurbachan Singh travelled to the UK to explore the promises of opportunity here.

The third picture is that of Sardar Channon Singh Maan with his son, Sardar Sital Singh Maan, our Chairman, whom many of you know and love. This was a rare visit by Channon Singh to the UK, who throughout his life remained in to manage the Maan estate. His eldest son had been sent to the UK in 1956 with his grandfather to also take advantage of opportunities life offered in London, but also to help his grandfather run the Punjab Restaurant. Sital Singh took over from his grandfather in 1970, but still under his watchful eye. Gurbachan Singh, fondly known to the staff as Babaji (grandfather/wise elder man) was present at the restaurant daily whilst his grandson ran the show.

With the fourth image we go full circle, with the two faces you are all most familiar with, Sardar Sital Singh Maan with his son, Amrit Maan. While Amrit is now MD, Sital Singh Maan remains Chairman and remains actively involved in the business. Like his own grandfather, Sardar Sital Singh Maan is very much seen as a to the current staff and many of our guests – we all call him Bapuji (father). Amrit is now paving the way for under his father’s watchful and loving eye.

18/06/2026

Today, Sikhs around the world remember the sacrifice of their 5th Guru, Guru Arjan Dev Ji 🙏🔥 We'll be marking it at this afternoon too - learn more about why and how below...

, the Sikhs' fifth Guru, was forward thinking and inclusive, and his popularity at the time was growing. He had established so much for the people: he designed Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) with entrances on all four sides to symbolising that it was open to all castes; he founded the cities Tarn Taran Sahib, Kartarpur and Sri Hargobindpur; he formalised the practice of Dasvandh (donating 10% of your income) and created a social welfare system. The authorities within the Mughal Empire felt threatened.

In 1606, the Mughal emperor Jahangir wanted to remove Guru Arjan as a threat by imprisoning Guru Arjan in Lahore Fort and ordering him to convert to Islam. On his calm refusal, Guru Arjan was tortured by several means, including being sat on aburning hot iron plate and having hot sand poured over him.

Throughout, Guru Arjan remained calm, accepting the torture as the sweet will of God. He would rather protect the people's right to follow their own beliefs. Eventually, he was executed, becoming the first of two of the Gurus to be martyred. Europeans in India at the time have documented their accounts of the torture. In the greater scheme of things this wasn't that long ago!

Just as so many Sikhs will be doing today, we too will be paying our tribute with a at today. Do come and enjoy a free sweet cold drink, symbolically served for us to remember to stay cool and calm through adversity, to meditate, to stay focussed on doing the right thing, and remain in (high spirits) in that knowledge. 🙏✨🥤

17/06/2026

As Punjab Restaurant celebrates its 80th anniversary, we recognise the contribution of fourth-generation family member, Amritpal Singh Maan, or as we say, “Boss”, Amrit Maan 😊

The great-grandson of founder Sardar Gurbachan Singh Maan and son of Chair, Sardar Sital Singh Maan, Amrit grew up around the restaurant, spending much time naturally learning the values that have guided Punjab since 1946. After qualifying as a solicitor and completing an MBA, Amrit built a career supporting businesses and enterprise development 👨‍🎓

His first formal involvement in the family business was in 2001 as part-time Company Director. He was keen to use his business acumen and wanted to shine a light on the restaurant's unique brand with changes such as refreshing the menu descriptions. He also introduced the now famed images on the walls of the restaurant, a mixture of family, historic images related to the restaurant, and images related to Punjabi icons; each has its own story to tell. 🖼

Amrit joined Punjab full-time in 2008, becoming Managing Director in 2012, and since rebranded the logo to as we recognise it now. Importantly, he also ascertained the correct year of establishment as 1946 by going through old paperwork - Sital Singh had always believed it was 1947 and this finding resulted in having to to redo the restaurant canopy to correct the error! 🤭

In 2018 he signed the Armed Forces Covenant on behalf of and the pandemic saw the restaurant become a vital community resource. In 2022, he received an OBE for his services to Charity & Community.🎖

Working alongside the watchful eye and guidance of his father, Sital Singh Maan, Amrit has helped steer the restaurant through changing times while ensuring that the traditions, recipes and welcoming spirit established by his great-grandfather remain at the heart of Punjab.

As Punjab enters its ninth decade, Amrit continues to balance tradition with new ideas, helping ensure that this much-loved family business remains viable and relevant for future generations while staying true to the values on which it was built nearly 80 years ago 💛✨

15/06/2026

Many who dine regularly at will not only know Sardar Sital Singh Maan, but have grown to love and respect him. We lovingly call him “Bapuji” – our wise father-figure at the restaurant 💛

Sital Singh has dedicated over 70 years to . He arrived in Britain from Punjab in February 1955 at just 15 years old, joining his grandfather, Sardar Gurbachan Singh Maan, and living with him in the one room above 80 Neal Street (now known as Grandad’s Room). He attended school by day and worked at the restaurant evenings, weekends and holidays, learning not only the business, but the values that built it.

He worked across the family’s other restaurants, supported relatives through difficult times, invested in his own ventures, and quietly earned his grandfather’s trust through hard work, loyalty and determination.

So when, in 1970, Gurbachan Singh Maan decided to sell the restaurant rather than pass it to his sons, it was his agent who brought Sital to his attention. In the space of an afternoon, Gurbachan Singh handed his grandson the reigns to what he had started nearly 25 years earlier from the following weekend (with conditions) – just like that! 😯

Punjab Restaurant has received nothing less than a lifetime of dedication from Sital Singh Maan. He helped save from redevelopment, secured the restaurant’s freehold, expanded into neighbouring properties, and transformed Punjab from a 28-seat restaurant into the institution we know today.

Yet throughout it all, he remained guided by the same principles his grandfather taught him – to welcome customers as guests in his home, to serve food made with the love of their Punjab, and to ensure those far from the homeland would always have a .

Here he is about to share a portion of his beloved Grandad’s Kali Daal, still made to the same recipe today 😋

As Punjab Restaurant celebrates 80 years, we honour not only our founder, but also Sital Singh Maan – the man who carried his grandfather’s vision forward and helped shape the Punjab Restaurant in Covent Garden as we know today. 🙏💛

29/05/2026

If you’ve dined here at , you may recognise this image. This is our founder, Gurbachan Singh Maan, and he opened the Punjab Restaurant 80 years ago in 1946.

Keen to see the “Great Britain” from the many stories he had heard, he first arrived in the UK by boat in 1936. Like many others he became a pedlar, and it was during his peddling days that he had met the famed revolutionary Udham Singh, and they became good friends.

Gurbachan was definitely forward thinking and progressive, and saw an opportunity to do something more for himself and for the Indian migrant community. In April 1946, he took over an existing lease of a teahouse at 5 Braham Street in Aldgate, which became known as the Punjab Restaurant and Cafe.

The demand for his traditional pressured him to relocate and the Punjab Restaurant moved and re-opened on 11th June 1951 at its present location, 80 Neal Street, Covent Garden. The premises were rented and seated just 28 people.
He lived upstairs on the first floor, in the room we now call “Grandad’s Room”, where you may even have dined. He is grandfather to Bapuji, Sardar Sital Singh Maan and Great-Grandfather to Boss Amrit Maan. Even after Bapuji officially took over the business in 1970, he remained living independently above the restaurant for as long as he could before eventually moving in with family.

Gurbachan Singh’s values and ethos have made the Punjab Restaurant in Covent Garden what it is, and they very much remain the foundation of the restaurant as it is today, as indeed do his recipes. We look forward to sharing exciting stories of this great man with you over the coming months!

29/04/2026

Last Tuesday, the British Sikh Consultative Forum (BSCF) once again held celebrations in the State Rooms at Speakers House in Westminster, with the kind permission of the Speaker of the House, Sir Lindsay Hoyle .  This year was once again hosted by Sonia Kumar MP.

had the privilege again of providing catering and refreshments, and with it being a special year for us, Bapuji, Auntyji, Uncle Jagtar were all in attendance as well as Boss .  We were honoured to hear Sir Lindsay Hoyle congratulate Punjab Restaurant on our 80th Anniversary in his address! ✨️

Thank you to all involved for putting on such a wonderful event 🙏🏽🧡

   

📷 (H'Art80)