MAHAL NO MORE?

The Mahal’s future is in serious jeopardy, according to information obtained by The Tab this morning.

A notice posted outside the boarded-up curry house by the property’s owners, Pace Trustees, details that The Mahal’s “lease has been forfeited and the premises secured.”

It continues to warn: “AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that no person may lawfully enter on these premises unless they have been authorised by us to do so.”

The notice is dated 30th November, but the deserted swap venue seems to have gone largely unnoticed by students, perhaps because its closing coincided with the end of Michaelmas term.

Local restaurant owners contacted by The Tab seem to think that the Mahal has always been destined for such a demise. One source, who asked to remain anonymous, told us:

“They haven’t paid their lease. But that must have been for a long time. You get reminders, so it must be a quarter, even six months to a year that they haven’t paid for… After they [the owners] changed the locks, they tried to break in there, so they boarded it all up.”

Students have reacted badly to the news. Tom Roberts, a second year Caius student and regular customer of the restaurant, told The Tab: “This is a tragedy. They were good people, they were my friends. They need our support. If the Mahal closes, the students will be the real vindaloosers.”

Has curry been splattered at The Mahal for the last time?

But not all reaction has been so negative. Harry Swinton, a member of the Queens’ Cherubs, told us: “I think it’s about time the Mahal closed. A restaurant that is only seen as a venue for debauchery can never last. Hopefully now the Mahal has closed, people might start doing more original swaps, rather than going to some shitty restaurant to eat horrible food.”