Reading restaurant conversion into Asian food market starts

The old Warwick Arms at 77-79 King’s Road, which had been occupied by The Aila Restaurant & Bar appears to be being converted into a food store.

Last month, an eviction notice was served to Four Brothers Reading Ltd, the operators of The Aila,  that the lease to the building had been forfeited and the locks of the property changed.

The eviction notice, seen on October 14, declared that the company must communicate with the Queensgate Residential real estate agents.

Now, it appears the building is being turned into an Asian food market.

A photo taken recently appears to show Asian dry food being stocked in the old restaurant.

The usual tables and chairs expected in a restaurant also appear to have been replaced with shelves.

An image taken from outside of 77-79 Kings Road, Reading, appearing to show Asian food ready for sale. Credit: UGC

There are no indications as to when the store will open.

It would not be the first Asian food market in town, as the CMart Oriental Food Stall has been in place for many years in Friar Street.

Additionally, The Soju Korean restaurant has a food stall for items such as noodles which can be cooked at home.

And there was the short-lived Eggla store in Broad Street Mall, which was run out of the unit now occupied by Taco Bell.

READ MORE: Sneak peek as Indian buffet restaurant gears up to open in Reading

The old Warwick Arms building itself has undergone a variety of changes over the years, according to Google Map imagery.

The pub was called The Warwick back in September 2012, and then the Aroy Thai in July 2014.

After that, it became the Bali Thai, which can be seen in Google imagery from September 2016 to June 2017.

The site then seems to have changed again into the Biscuit & Barrel pub, between Oct 2018 and May 2019 before becoming The Aila later that year.

The Aila is now listed as permanently closed on Google.

Mystery surrounds the change of  77-79 King’s Road into an Asian Market as no planning application has appeared on the council’s planning portal.

However, it is unclear whether a planning application is required, as restaurants and food stores both come under Class E under planning law, which covers a variety of uses including shops, restaurants and offices.

A spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said: “In the relevant regulations, a restaurant (Class E) can change to a retail shop without needing permission as it is covered by being ‘permitted development.’  

"The Council’s advice to the new owner, if they believe they can prove that the new use is permitted development, would be to have this confirmed by applying for a lawful development certificate.

"In circumstances where permitted development doesn’t apply (for example, if the premises had been a public house) the owners would need to apply retrospectively for the new use.

"Retail use in this area would normally be acceptable in principle.”

The last application submitted for 77-79 King’s Road, reference 201845, involved it being demolished and replaced with a 29 room hotel and restaurant on the ground floor.

A CGI of what the 77-79 Kings Road, Reading replacement building would have looked like if it was approved. It was refused in January 2022. Credit: The Keen Partnership

This plan was lodged in December 2020 but refused by the council’s planning department in January this year.

Queensgate Residential has been contacted for comment.