Our Story
Growing up in Bhavnagar, a coastal city in Gujarat, food was never just fuel. It was the centre of everything - family gatherings around a thali piled high with sabzi, dal, rotli, and pickles made by hand. The street vendors selling chaat on every corner, each one different from the last. The way a cup of masala chai, brewed slowly with cardamom and ginger, could fix almost anything.
Gujarat is one of the most vegetarian states in India. For brother and sister, Ankit and Neha, plant-based food wasn’t a lifestyle choice or a trend - it was simply how they grew up. It was home.
When Neha first moved to the UK, she quickly realised something was missing. The Indian restaurants she found bore little resemblance to the food she knew. Where was the lightness, the freshness, the bright hit of green chilli and coriander? Where were the dosas, the uttapam, the pani puri? When her younger brother Ankit joined her, they shared the same frustration - and the same idea.
Padharo opened its doors in Southampton in August 2023, and the name says it all. “Padharo” is a Gujarati word meaning “welcome” - as in the famous phrase “Padharo Mhare Desh” (welcome to our land). It’s an invitation, not just to eat, but to experience India the way we know it: generous, warm, and full of flavour.
Our kitchen is led by a chef with deep roots in traditional Indian cooking - someone who understands that the best vegetarian food doesn’t try to replace meat, it makes you forget it entirely. The menu is anchored in Gujarati home cooking but draws from across the whole of India: South Indian dosas and idli, North Indian paneer and dal makhani, Bombay street food, and our own Padharo twists.
Everything is vegetarian. Almost everything can be made vegan. And every dish is made from scratch, with fresh ingredients and the kind of care that only comes from cooking food you genuinely love.