Mystery surrounds Reading buffet restaurant closure

The Spice Oven Indian and Chinese buffet restaurant has been a mainstay for Asian cuisine in the village for decades.

But now the restaurant appears to have closed down.

A message on the door states that The Spice Oven is closed due to an electrical fault.

However, the building looks abandoned, suggesting that the closure is more permanent.

Indeed, the website for Spice Oven has been deactivated and it is listed as ‘Permanently Closed’ on Google.

The last Instagram post for the restaurant was from Tuesday, April 11, inviting followers to a ‘Dinner & Dance’ event.

According to a neighbour, The Spice Oven has been closed for four months.

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The Spice Oven has been a restaurant for decades. Prior to its use as a restaurant, 2-4 Church Street was the Nue Valbonne nightclub, which had a reputation for attracting celebrities such as Peter Andre, Martine McCutcheon from EastEnders and actress Anna Friel.

Members of the public on the Caversham Gossip Facebook page have shared their memories of The Spice Oven, the nightclub and the Bayliss supermarket which used to occupy the building.

It has been speculated that the building could either be converted into or replaced with flats.

However, no planning application or licensing application has been submitted to the council so far this year.

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The building has had a varied planning history.

In 2018, extensive works to The Spice Oven were approved which involved the demolition of rear extensions, changes to the shopfront and internal alterations.

The following year, a plan was submitted to demolish the rear of the restaurant and construct a two-storey building containing two two-bedroom and two one-bedroom flats.

However, it appears that the plan was withdrawn in November 2019, following the rejection of a previous plan for three two-bed and two one-bed flats being built to the rear of the building in 2017.

The plan to add five flats to the rear of The Spice Oven at 2-4 Church Street, Caversham which was rejected in 2018. Credit: The Keen Partnership

Recommending refusal of that application, planning officer Matt Burns said: “The proposed development, owing to its bulk, massing and detailed design, would result in a cramped overdevelopment of the land to the rear of no. 2-4 Church Street and a contrived appearance, harmful to and out of keeping with the character and pattern of development to the surrounding area.”

He also judged that the proposal would have a detrimental impact on neighbours and those living in the new flats.

A plan dating back to 2016 would have converted The Spice Oven into two shop units on the ground floor, with necessary alterations to convert the building from a restaurant into shop or office space.

The plan to convert The Spice Oven at 2-4 Church Street in Caversham into shops, which was approved but never enacted. Credit: The Keen Partnership

Although that plan was approved in 2018 it was never enacted.

The building was Grade II listed 1978 as it was first built in the 18th Century.