A Desi pub is a British pub owned or managed by a landlord of Indian origin. They generally serve Punjabi food while maintaining traditional British pub elements, such as ale and pub games. The term "Desi" comes from Hindustani, and is derived from the Sanskrit word for "land" or "country". Desi pubs originated during the 1960s following migration from the Indian subcontinent to the UK. They have been cited as a successful example of cultural integration between Asian and British communities.
The introduction of the British Nationality Act 1948 following the breakup of the British Empire and the end of World War II precipitated an increase in immigrants arriving in the United Kingdom from former Commonwealth nations. Between 1951 and 1971, it is estimated that the British Indian population grew from around 30,000 to around 483,000.[1] These new arrivals were not well received by some sections of society, and many establishments introduced colour bars, including some pubs which had separate "white" and "coloured" rooms.[2] In 1965, the American human rights activist Malcolm X was invited by Avtar Singh Jouhl of the Indian Workers' Association to visit one such pub, the Blue Gates in Smethwick, near Birmingham, to experience this discrimination and protest against racial segregation in the town.[2] [3]
Three years earlier, the first known landlord of Asian origin in a British pub, Sohan Singh, had taken over the Durham Ox in Leicester. The brewery that owned the pub had chosen an Indian manager as many of its clientele were from multi-ethnic backgrounds.[2] In 1968, Hans Raj Dhanjal became the first Indian publican in the Black Country when he leased the Heart of Oak, a Mitchells & Butlers pub in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton.[4] These bars spread throughout the region during the 1970s, often taking over struggling traditional pubs and targeting them towards a new customer base.[5] [6] They came to be known as Desi pubs; the term "Desi" is borrowed from Hindustani and is derived from the Sanskrit word for "land" or "country".[7]
As the number of Desi pubs grew, several pubs, which had previously been meeting places for racist groups such as the National Front or which had barred non-white customers, eventually became Indian-owned, including the Blue Gates.[2] [8] Desi pubs also appeared further afield, including the Glassy Junction in Southall, west London, which accepted payments in Indian rupees as well as pounds sterling.[2] Most modern Desi pubs are gastropubs, serving Punjabi dishes such as saag and chicken tikka and traditional British pub drinks such as beer and ale.[5] [9] The pubs are popular among people from different communities, including Caribbean, Somali and Eastern European.[8] [9] As of 2016, there were more than fifty Desi pubs in the Black Country.[5] In 2024, the food critic Jay Rayner wrote that Desi pubs "have now become symbols not of exclusion, but of inclusion".
In 2010, Desi pubs were the subject of a BBC Radio 4 documentary presented by the Punjabi DJ Bobby Friction. It explored how the pubs had helped to bring diverse communities in the West Midlands closer together, and commented on alcohol-related illness among South Asian men.[10] Creative Black Country, an arts collaborative based in West Bromwich, collated an extensive body of media related to Desi pubs, including portrait photographs, pub signs and stained glass windows.[6] Part of the collection was displayed at the Royal Festival Hall in 2016 as part of the Alchemy festival of South Asian culture,[8] following which some of the signs and windows were installed in Desi pubs around the Black Country.[5]
In his 2012 book on modern British history, Hope and Glory, the author and radio presenter Stuart Maconie called the Desi pub "one of the most welcome additions to the Midlands high streets", and described the combination of Indian food and British beer as "a delicious tableau of integration".[11] In 2024, the Campaign for Real Ale commissioned a documentary, Desi: A Pub Story.[12]
