It's a Wednesday evening and One Eighty Two near Preston Road, north London, is so packed that it's having to turn some away. "When I started it was considered a crazy project," says Ramesh Parmar. "Now everyone wants to turn their newsagent's shop into a club." The hottest business in town, pubs for Asians are a mix of beer, biryani, Bollywood flicks and bonhomie, and are sprouting fast. Veterans in the trade reckon there are around 35 clubs in north and east London-in Asian-heavy areas such as Wembley, Pinner, Harrow, Queensbury and Edgware-and at least 15 of these have sprung up last year.

With names like Regency, Moonbay, Sahib's, Celebration, Oasis and Malibu Club, there's a bond uniting the clubs. The clientele is mostly from London's large Gujarati community, many of whom live in joint families and don't drink at home. Says one owner: "If you run a club you'd better learn to speak Gujarati fast." It's fast enough.

--Paran Balakrishnan

A HOUSE FOR MR MANSINGH

What do movie star Tom Cruise and his dazzling wife Nicole Kidman have in common with Indian High Commissioner to UK Lalit Mansingh and his wife Indira? One of the best addresses in London. The Mansinghs have moved into the Cumberland Terrace house recently vacated by the star couple who made London their home for over a year. The Georgian townhouse near Regent's Park has a dining room that seats 24 and a reception room large enough for 150 comfortably. Cruise and Kidman also installed a basement gym. Mansingh went house hunting because the HC's official residence at 9 Kensington Palace Gardens is being renovated; it could take two years.
-Paran Balakrishnan