The story behind the award-winning restaurant Swadish in Glasgow

Ingram Street restaurant Swadish, which was recently crowned the Best Restaurant in Scotland at the ‘Curry Oscars’, was founded by Chef Ajay Kumar who opened the spot as he wanted to create a "modern menu" with a twist.

The eatery opened on May 28, 2019, less than a year before it had to shut its doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ajay Kumar (Image: Robert Perry)

Ajay says: "Of course, there was the worry we wouldn’t be able to reopen.

"At one point I felt we were done because it’s a prime location and it’s difficult to carry on and first of all have a restaurant in Merchant City and then be able to pay the bills, but I’m grateful to my landlord, he was very supportive.

"We’re a team of 23 people, so it was hard to think what we were going to do because we have all these people who rely on us for their bills, and we just couldn’t let them down so we had to keep going and then there was some support available from the government but it wasn’t enough just because we were a new business.

"We restarted doing takeaways after one year of being completely shut down, it was mainly the heat and eat home kit, but the focus was on quality and that actually was received very well in Glasgow so there were weekends we were doing good numbers of takeaways and then after a while we also had to do hot food takeaways but still the focus was just limited numbers to give quality.

"After 18 months we were able to open the doors and then that was it, once we were allowed to reopen it was okay, I knew we were fine now, we’ve made it."

READ MORE: Woman raises money for charity with impressive Christmas light display

Ajay says the support of customers helped them get through the pandemic.

"It’s been phenomenal," he says.

"We are still a new business, in total three and a half years old including roughly two years of Covid.

"I just felt it was the end because we opened and then we had to close doors after seven months, but the support in Glasgow has been phenomenal, I cannot even express my gratitude towards people in Glasgow and they have not let me down."

Despite its rocky start, the restaurant fully reopened in 2021, and this year alone it has won a total of six awards, including Best Fine Dining Restaurant at the Prestige Awards, Best Indian Establishment at the Food Awards Scotland, and Scotland’s Best Indian Restaurant at the Scottish Entertainment & Hospitality Awards.

On Monday, November 28 they were crowned the Best Restaurant in Scotland at the prestigious British Curry Awards 2022.

"There are two main feelings at the moment [after winning]," Ajay, who grew up in Punjab in India, says.

"One is yes it feels really good because after Covid it’s great that the hard work we are putting into the business and the whole team has been recognised and everybody looks for that kind of motivation, so it feels great.

"But the other feeling we have is that we’ve taken on more responsibility, and we know that we have to keep the game on another level so every win brings another goal.

"So, it feels honestly great and we appreciate the support of the customers, they nominate us, but it brings more responsibility and more feeling that we have to keep doing the best, we just have to keep getting better and better with every single award."

READ MORE: Still game star Boaby the Barman to visit Glasgow's Barras Christmas Eve event

So, what sets Swadish apart from other Indian restaurants across Glasgow and Scotland?

Ajay believes it’s to do with the quality of the ingredients.

He explains: "Our menu is small.

"We have two chicken curries and that’s all we do on the menu, we have two lamb curries, five fish curries and the main difference is that I source the best produce, local wild fish, chicken and lamb wherever we can find the best and at the moment all the ingredients are being supplied from Scottish suppliers, local small businesses.

"The menu changes every six to eight months depending on things going in and out of season, so it’s the quality of the food based on ingredients."

And while Butter Chicken and Chicken Masala are on the menu, Ajay is proud that it features a range of different dishes from the well-known curries, including Roe Deer Korma, Curried Mussels and Roasted Glenfeshie Pigeon.

"My focus is on bringing something different because there are hundreds of restaurants, and they are really good restaurants, doing the same thing," Ajay says.

"So I chose to bring some of the best dishes and combine them with local produce."

He added: "We are not everybody’s place, we’re not going to be, we are for people who understand quality, health and the relationship between both."

Swadish is located at 33 Ingram Street.

You can find out more HERE.