Swadish by Ajay Kumar

Ajay Kumar won the Scotland heat of Great British Menu 2024 with a canapé of langoustine roasted on idli and cooked for the finals as Scotland's representative, five years after opening Swadish in a former Victorian fire station on Ingram Street.

Why go

Kumar swapped a computing degree for the Chopra School of Cooking, worked kitchens in India, Malaysia and Singapore, and moved to Scotland in 2009 (Great British Chefs). Swadish, opened 2019, is his argument that "Indian cuisine is far more than curry. It is smoke, fire, texture, aroma, fermentation, preservation, spice layering, and storytelling" (venue), applied to Scottish game and seafood. The room holds two AA Rosettes, Best in Scotland at the 2022 British Curry Awards and Outstanding Indian Restaurant of the Year at the 2023 Scottish Curry Awards.

Order this / avoid

Order: whatever carries his GBM DNA: the langoustine-on-idli pairing that won the judges unanimously, the chaat work that made his name on the show, and the spiced Scottish lamb; his competition lamb ran eighteen spices and drew a flat "Fantastic" from Tom Kerridge ref.
Avoid: hunting for Grilled, his casual second site; it closed permanently in 2026 and gift vouchers transferred to Swadish (The Caterer).

What locals & experts say

Great British Menu (BBC, 2024): Scotland heat winner and national finalist; Kerridge on the dessert course: "Flavour-wise for me, this has been the highlight." ref
AA: two Rosettes for culinary excellence, held into 2026. ref
British Curry Awards (2022): Best in Scotland; Scottish Curry Awards 2023: Outstanding Indian Restaurant of the Year. ref
Kumar, on the GBM final: "the biggest achievement of my career to date." ref

Good to know

Timing: Wednesday and Thursday 1pm to 10pm, Friday and Saturday noon to 11pm, Sunday 1pm to 10pm; closed Monday and Tuesday.
Booking: recommended, via swadish.co.uk or 0141 553 0581.
Where: 33 Ingram Street, Merchant City, the old Central Fire Engine Station; trust this address over the Maps pin, whose geocode for this row is broken.

Jeff's take (his words)

Note: "Indian fine dining, famous UK chef recently in the finals of the Great British Menu TV series."

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

must-visit — Plan around it. Ajay Kumar cooks the most technically ambitious Indian food in the city, and Glasgow is a serious curry city with a deep field, with eight Indian rooms on this list alone, and the birthplace claim on chicken tikka masala. Being the best of that is a harder, more distinctive achievement than topping a thin field (docs/RANKING.md peer-field depth). Jeff (2026-07-30) flags the previous ruling as the error: this belongs on the destination list and Lychee Oriental did not outrank it.