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It’s a balmy 22C in Southall as I make my way to the Brilliant, one of London’s most celebrated Indian restaurants, which is just days away from closure. It is cooler inside and the co-owners Gulu Anand and his daughter Dipna are at a round table by the window. There’s a pint of Kingfisher waiting and two trays of vegetable samosas for snacking.
Gulu, still with the most immaculate of moustaches, opened the Brilliant in 1975, paying £17,500 for a former fish and chip shop. He tells me “Little India” was still in its infancy back then, but early trade was fruitful and four years later he was buying the unit next door, a butchery, for £127,000. There were six further expansions.
“The area felt very small then,” Gulu says, “and there wasn’t much around, not many Indian restaurants. But a community was starting to form. There were a lot of Punjabi people coming, people from Somalia and eastern Europe too.
Gulu Anand and his daughter Dipna
“Along this street, we were the only restaurant. We had 36 seats to start with. Formica tables and white plastic chairs. But we would fill the place up every day. People would come from Kenya, India and from other parts of London. My very first customer was a local builder. He carried on coming for 20 years.
“I think Indian food is one of Britain’s most important cuisines. It’s up there with fish and chips and roast dinners. There’s a real love for it and I’m proud of what curry is here, to have played a part in that.”
As time passed, the Brilliant only became more famous and Gulu and his team would turn tables up to three times a night. Kevin Costner was known to swing by for butter chicken after landing at Heathrow, directing his driver towards this part of town en route to his hotel in the West End. In 2010 it appeared on Ramsay’s Best Restaurant on Channel 4, while King Charles’s love for the place has been well documented for years — he first visited with Camilla in 2007.
“We heard he was opening a factory nearby, so I wrote to Clarence House inviting him to come and try our food,” Gulu says. “They politely declined to begin with, so I wrote to them again. It worked. They came and spent almost two hours here meeting staff and having something to eat.”
Brilliant Restaurant around 1992
Dipna, now 41 and with cookbooks and TV shows behind her, remembers the queues. She says dishes have always been rooted in Punjabi tradition, though there has been some modernisation too, going some way to build on old fame. And there are Kenyan influences: the Anands have Punjabi heritage but moved to the UK from Kenya, where Gulu started life as a businessman with a nightclub, also called the Brilliant.
“A lot of the recipes used were my grandfather’s,” Dipna says. “They’re as authentic as you can get. Once you eat the food here, you realise what real curry is. A lot of it dates back to the Mughal empire and when Persians moved into the Indian subcontinent. People travel from all over to try it.
“I guess what was a neighbourhood restaurant became a destination restaurant. Kids we served became adults and started bringing their kids.”
The word institution is used too freely today, particularly in London food writing where hyperbole reigns. Here, the notion held fast, a time-honoured place that captured the hearts of locals as it did weary travellers, A-list or otherwise.
King Charles’s love for the place has been well documented for years
In the weeks before its closure, news of the coming finale reverberated around London. There was much dismay. One regular offered Gulu, now 70, a £1.5 million investment for half the business. The only condition was that he would have to be there.
“Dad wants to retire,” Dipna explains. “It’s well deserved after half a century of work.”
It isn’t only about retirement. Even restaurants such as the Brilliant have been witnessing the cruel bite of a turbulent economy.
“People told us they were sad that we were closing,” Dipna says, “but many of them hadn’t come in for years. It’s understandable — a lot of people just can’t afford to eat out as much any more.”
Brilliant Restaurant in Southall
Gulu says the issues go further: “We were sometimes half empty before we announced we would be going, which caused a huge rush. It’s just a different climate today. Taxes, utility bills, food prices. Six big tins of tomatoes are £17 today when they were £9 a few years ago. Vegetable oil is three times the price. And this is after Covid, when I had to remortgage the house to survive.”
In a darkly comedic turn of events, a long-time fan, Michael Tiney, a funeral director, arrives. He joins us for a beer and a samosa or two. He’s been coming to the Brilliant for 35 years and is one of many bemoaning the end after such a spicy crescendo.
“The food is amazing, so are the staff,” he says. “I’ve grown up with them and I’ve always loved the atmosphere. I’ve grown up here in the wider community. It’s always been a favourite. My other half and I sometimes try other curry houses and they don’t compare.”
Gulu and his daughter Dipna, who has a new project on the horizon: Brilliant Gastro
RICO PATEL
It’s been hours since I arrived in the Southall sunshine. Dipna has another meeting to get to — her new project, Brilliant Gastro, a casual, Indian-European dining concept at the new Parkside Yards in Southall, is soon to open — and I sense it might be time to let Michael and Gulu catch up before the last sitting.
After all, Gulu has 50 years to reflect on, and as I’m offered a samosa for the road, he says: “You know, the journey has been brilliant. From 36 seats to 280 now, and some days we’ve been short of space.
“It is an emotional time for me, for my family. There have been tears. But mostly, this has been a tremendous journey. We’ve cooked for all types of people, from locals to the King, and it’s been an honour.”