Go-karting at the Regency

Why I - and you - should always make the Regency in Queensbury, north-west London your No 1 (pit)stop

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It was the summer of 2023.

My book had just been published and I travelled to the Regency in Queensbury, north-west London, to meet journalist Phil Mellows, who was to interview me about my experiences visiting desi pubs up and down the country.

I suggested the Regency to meet because I had fallen hard for its soothing welcome and this warmth always seemed to be reciprocated; the waiting staff - young and old - whenever I visited greeted me with so much affection I was moved. But also I wanted to give Phil a taste of the kind of journey - both physically and mentally - I undertook in the book, travelling to the outskirts for something different. Something desi.

Phil deftly described the trip in the article: “On the northern outskirts of London, past Wembley and past a surprise splash of countryside, you come to Queensbury, an example of 1930s built-for-purpose suburbia, the Tube sign skewered high on a spike, proud of its role in commuter-land.”

We broke (naan) bread, watched the cricket and he kept notes. I didn’t care too much about what he would write and wanted the excuse to spend time with a friend who had been given expenses. So I guess after a few pints of Rothaus I was loosened up and able to share this about how tricky it was to earn trust when trying to conduct interviews:

“Some publicans were reluctant to talk. I had to coax them into it because no one had shown any interest in them until I came along and they didn't understand why anyone should find it worth writing about. Their culture had been undervalued.”

The Regency’s kitchen: 36,000 portions a year of garlic mogo