The Bombay Palace restaurant has closed after being bought by its former cashier and will be reborn in May as The Caribbean Queen.

Linna Kumar decided to take the plunge into business ownership when her bosses put the Pembroke restaurant up for sale and her offer was successful.

The restaurant closed last Friday and the next day Trinidad-born Ms Kumar took over the business. Now she will set about transforming the premises from an Indian eatery into one that will aim to meet what she sees as the growing demand for Caribbean food.

"All my life I have worked for someone else," Ms Kumar said. "I've done all sorts of jobs and I've been in and out of this business since I was 15. I've never owned a business before.

"I was the cashier and when the business went up for sale, I approached the previous owners and asked them if they'd consider an offer from me.

"I took over over on Saturday, but there have been months of planning before that and a lot of sleepless nights."

Ms Kumar is a naturalised Bermudian, having lived on the Island for 34 years, although she originates from Trinidad and lived in India for six years.

Offering Indian cuisine entails a complex operation, she said, and profitability was also effected by competition coming from rival curry specialists the House of India right next door.

"I have seen what has happened at the restaurant over the past three years," Ms Kumar said. "Making Indian food is very costly and involves bringing in a lot of spices and ingredients from overseas. Frankly speaking, there were a lot of headaches. And another thing was the serious competition from next door."

On her decision to change cuisine, she said: "The new restaurant will be called The Caribbean Queen and will offer Jamaican and Trinidadian food. People have often come into The Bombay Palace asking for Trinidadian food, because there are many Indian people in Trinidad. But we were never able to give it to them."

The premises will also look very different after renovations, which Ms Kumar hopes would be finished in time for a May opening.

"The decor will be simple and it's not going to have a dining room," she said. "There will be a covered sitting area outside. The dining room will be turned into a buffet-style take-out area."