REVEALED! Tooting's Spice Village will soon have a new name.....Royal Mahal! We reported last month that the long-standing restaurant was rebranding and running a competition to ask the local community for suggestions for the new name.

Restaurant Director, Arfan Javid, tells us more.

“We were overwhelmed with the responses we received – over 1,000 suggestions and so many that we loved and that also made us laugh (including Spicy McSpiceface of course)! However, we have decided to go with Royal Mahal (suggested via a WhatsApp entry by Mr Nawaz from Balham, who wins the £500 cash prize). The reason we've gone with that name is that we feel it goes perfectly with the look, feel and ambience of the restaurant. Mahal means palace and we felt this was fitting!

“We also had 10 entries who used the word Mahal in their name suggestion and as a token of goodwill will be giving each of these runners-up a £50 voucher. We're so grateful for the generous spirit of our local community and can’t wait to share the new chapter with you. We expect the full rebrand to be completed by early October and will remain open as usual throughout the period.

“Once we've rebranded, we'll still have the same world class chefs, same taste, same team and same management, but will also be introducing some great new signature dishes that customers have been suggesting."

We'll keep you posted!