One of the proprietors of a High Wycombe Indian restaurant has thanked their ‘loyal customers’ as they prepare to celebrate its seventh anniversary.

Kappad, which sits at the top of the town’s High Street, first opened its doors on October 12 and has seen thousands of people walk through their doors since 2017.

The establishment is unique as it specialises in dishes, treats and desserts from areas in Kerala, which is in the south of the country, rather than the north.

This has led to a cult following in the area, which has made them not only one of the ‘go-to’ places to eat in Wycombe but also in the South East.

In 2022, Kappad was shortlisted in the South region of the Food Awards England, being the only establishment from the county to be nominated.

Saravanan Karuvayan, who is one of the four managers of the restaurant told the Free Press: “We opened in October 2017 and things have been very good – we have been successful.

“Of course, like many others, we were impacted by Covid so that period was a bit slow as there were a lot of changes, and there was a difference, but we have picked up since then.

“So I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us, especially those in the local community.

“They have been very helpful and we have had several loyal customers come back.

“We always make sure that we keep the standard up because we want everyone to leave here happy.”

Saravanan runs the business with his three friends in Johnson, Lijo and Silsoa, who are all from Kerala in South India.

The buddies, who have a passion for food, have worked in hospitality for all of their adult lives with the quartet leaving their homeland for the Middle East to work in some of the nicest hotels in the Gulf State.

Despite working at different establishments, they all regularly kept in touch and after they moved to the UK, they decided they wanted to bring South Asia to Buckinghamshire with Kappad.

The friends noticed that there was a ‘gap in the market’ when it came to Kerala-based dishes, with many restaurants in the county primarily focusing on dishes with are from the north of the country, as well as Bangladesh.

Hence the birth of Kappad in the autumn of 2017.

Saravanan  added: “The four of us have all worked in hotels for all of our lives and we had ideas to try and bring something to High Wycombe.

“The South Indian concept wasn’t here in Buckinghamshire, as it’s mainly North Indian or Bangladeshi.

“There was nothing for South India, so we thought it would be good to bring something different to the town.

“If someone tries our food, they will certainly taste the difference between us and a north Indian restaurant as our food is very different.”

The business currently has an average score of 4.7/5 from 806 Google Reviews.