Swagat

The food and service at Swagat was fantastic! The ambiance is quaint and within a short walking distance to shopping and pubs. We enjoyed lamb and prawn dishes which were both outstanding. I will definitely be returning!

First time here. Location is fantastic. And it is a quaint place. The service is tip top and the food is awesome. I will be going back. I have eaten at a few Indian places but this by far was the best. The price is like others but the quality of the food is great. Try the potato dish as it is one of my favorites. My wife had the chicken biriyani and it was very tasty. Solid 5 stars no doubt!

Indian food is so good in UK. On my last trip to London a local colleague recommended this little gem of a place in Richmond and it is probably the best north Indian food I have had in a while, including in India. Well done Swagat! I had a spicy lamb curry that the server recommended to me – I don’t exactly recall whether it was the Kadai Gosht or Handi Gosht — but after weeks now the taste still lingers in my mouth.

I was in London last year for work and stayed in Richmond. I walked by this restaurant several times and saw the great reviews, but I had only eaten Indian food once before and I didn’t want to go alone and not know what to really order. Flash forward to this past week, I was there for work again, stayed in Ealing this time. Luckily my co-​worker was there this time and had already tried it and LOVED it. I met him there for dinner and my mind was blown. Hands down, one of the best meals of my life. I let him do the ordering, so I honestly can’t remember all that was ordered, but everything was amazing! The service is fabulous, food reasonably priced and the ambience is wonderful. This is definitely worth the trip into Richmond.

Not usually a fan of restaurants due to
previous bad experiences, I decided to try Swagat. Considering my wife was not
a fan of Indian food, I was willing to take a risk as I heard many good views
on this restaurant. And I must say it didn’t fail to impress. It was a completely
different experience to your normal Indian food. They had a touch of class
along with delicious food. I can confidently say I will be returning, along
with my wife who has taken an interest in Indian food.

These guys got it right. Everything was done well from the micro-​samosas to the delicious main courses. They’ve got all the usual Indian favorites. The servers did a fine job of presenting the dishes together with great flourish. Their pickle is delish! A couple of giant Cobra beers makes this place ideal.

All the food we’ve had at Swagat has been great. The restaurant is very smart and the staff very attentive. They take great care with their flavours and offer really delicious dishes. The only thing I would say is that if you like really hot and spicy food Swagat may disappoint as I can eat even their spiciest dish (which I never can in most Indian restaurants). As some of the other reviews have said Swagat is a little pricey, lovely for a treat though (and to be fair not nearly as pricey as some of the other restaurants in Richmond!)!

This is a modern-​style Indian restaurant with a focus on good ingredients. This is reinforced by clean, modern décor, crisp linens and waiters in sharp black shirts. Even the poppadoms are unusual — very fresh, and not circular. The sauces also don’t taste like jam from a bottle.
My main course was very nice, as was the aloo saag side, but it was the garlic naan that really stood out as an example of how well the food was prepared.
The menu is commendably short compared to most curry shops and doesn’t enumerate vast repetitive sets.
Portions are reasonable but not vast and the price is about right for the quality.

I know this is a little out of the way for Central Londoners but if you happen to be in the super-​lovely Richmond (I could write a small booklet about it now), and you like Indian food… Swagat is THE place to head out for dinner.
I had seen this restaurant a couple of times when I went up Richmond Hill to visit friends but it looked like a small, wannabe Indian restaurant of the type that mushrooms in London… serving peppered up stuff in the name of spicy.
I was however intrigued enough by the number of diners inside (on a Tuesday night), to check it out. The menu looked reasonable and to top it up, the Chef had won a Michelin Gourmand Bib… that was more than enough to take me in.
We ordered for starters, Samosas and Aloo Tikki Chaat. They were excellent and just enough to leave us looking forward to the main courses.
For main course, we had Chicken Tikka Makhani (a glorified description of the ubiquitous Punjabi Butter Chicken), Daal Makhani, Paneer Tikka masala and assorted breads.
I’ll be short here… the food was fingerlickin’ awesome. Swagat is my first North Indian restaurant in London that cooks like a real North Indian restaurant. Most of the restaurants I’ve been to so far, are owned by Bangladeshis and you can always feel the Bengali touch when there’s too much oil floating around or the dishes just dont taste right. I dont want to knock Bangladesis but they should run Bangla restaurants — it is a different and awesome class of cuisine in itself.
The food here however was not oily at all, extremely tasty and in decent quantities. The bread was freshly made and soft. No complaints. I would have been served up similar food in a good restaurant in Delhi.
We went there yesterday again, tired after a long walk along the Thames (much recommended in Richmond). We were a little dismayed by the crowds — the restaurant was packed but were lucky to get a seat after a 5-​min wait. The food quality was consistently good. We did have to wait about 25 min for the food to arrive because the waiter had warned us that they were shortstaffed and had a lot of orders to deliver too. As long as you let me know that there is a problem, I am willing to accommodate. So that was appreciated.
Price point: Decent. Not expensive, not dirt cheap.
Ambience: neutral. The restaurant itself is a little small and can feel cramped on a weekend when its packed. We were also concerned that there were no Indians/​S Asians in the restaurant (you can tell it serves up good Indian food if there are Indians eating there) but I found out later that Richmond has a 90% white demographic which was adequately represented there.
Food: Great
Service: very Friendly. They didnt recommend when we asked them if we should go for Paneer or Baingan Bhurta so we got them both on our 2^nd trip and both were great.
Location: involves a bit of a trek up the hill and a little difficult to spot. But the fact that it was packed, seems to bear out that people will find a good place. I think the Michelin Bib also plays a big part in the restaurant being full of genteel folk.

Excellent Indian food using proper cuts of meat and innovative dishes. The Lamb Shank Murgh is fantastic as they develop dishes for mouth watering flavours and away from the usual take away menu dishes.
The dishes are generally less fatty and heavily sauced and whilst it is more expensive than a normal Indian this is one to go to to savour the flavours rather than after 10 pints of lager.

food was very good. not like the average indian. But prices were also steep not like the average Indian.
A vegetarian side dish for 5 Pounds
Dessert menu was extremely disapppointing. They only had the standard cheap bad desserts like the frozen orange etc. The only Indian desserts on the menu were not available — only prebooked. Slighlty off putting.
Service was ok.

Swagat is a cut above the average Indian Restaurant, and doesn’t cost that much more.
There’s a feeling the food has been freshly cooked, not just reheated, service is good.
My starter of mixed kebab was very good, and like the other starters a very generous portion.
My ‘special’ lamb main course was very good if a little spicier than I expected, but I should have checked, again portions were generous I’m not sure you need Naan as well.
Deserts looked good.
Reasonable wine list, ut £5 for a pint of Cobra was steep, so plenty of tap ater was drunk!
I’ll go again.