Our beloved Dhaka is more than 400 years old with parts of history woven into our present and future. These histories have deep influence at some places and such part of this city is Old Dhaka that’s teeming with history, heritage, pride and honour.
People in our country are not very familiar with Old Dhaka; in fact, its sphere is limited to a few famous historical establishments and the restaurants which got fame for both quality and social media promotions. But there are many such historical buildings whose history is forgotten that it’s beyond any description.
Old Dhaka is famous for both its historical heritage as well as food. Besides Biriyani and branded restaurants, the mesmerizing food scene is visible at every nook and cranny of this part of the city and no writing can do justice to it.
More interesting than the food itself are the people behind these food joints i.e. the owners and cooks (mostly, both roles are played by the same person)- are not interested in promotion. It’s not that they are averse to promotion, they just don’t care. They’re ‘okay’ with the current situation as it is and this is an effort to introduce this off-the-beaten Old Dhaka to our readers.
After crossing New Market, a bit ahead of Azimpur Bus Stand- one will come across Lalbagh Road. This article aims to re-introduce this road here. At local friends’ suggestions, I visited a few spots over there more than once and after a certain time came to decide that one has to take on the responsibility, of finding the best products and services themselves. Yet, it is a matter of perspective, though there always are other factors at work in making one place more special.
A little distance into the locality from one of the major milestones of this area ‘Chhapra Mosque’, one will come to see three to four restaurants selling similar fried items. One of those is ‘Sagor Khabar Ghor’ which I have frequented enough to be called a ‘regular’.
The shop doesn’t sell Biriyani or Pilau and almost no sweet items. Their menu for breakfast is hotchpotch and Semolina Halwa. Regular rice with dal and curries is also available there but the rest of the fried items are common. If someone is interested in fried items with gravy- they can give the place a try. The price of the products is reasonable and most of the customers are regular here who the waiters know personally. Needless to say, the service is of great quality.
Good news for tea-lovers is that walking a little straight from Bot Tola, one will find the Sheikh Saheb Bazaar two-storied mosque on the left and on the right, a few small stalls selling daily necessities along with tea.
The first one of those is unique for its operating time. It’s open right after the Fajr prayer and shuts down at about 12:30 pm i.e. even before the Duhr prayer. The shut-down time, specially, is a very unique from all other shops of Old Dhaka. But this stall gives one the opportunity to have tea with varieties types of biscuits and buns at dawn. The old owner wishing to remain anonymous said that this same operating timetable has been maintained for more than 3 years now, with almost no exception. Before this, he used to own a Rickshaw garage with 79 vehicles. After 40 of those got stolen, he sold the remaining 39 and started this stall. The taste is average.
Right on its opposite, is a stall that easily gets a 9/10 from me for its black tea with spices. But the number one place for any kind of tea on this road, to me, is the stall owned by a Monir Hossain. I haven’t yet found an alternative to this one in the last 1.5 months of having tea made with date jaggery in winter.
The place is also a popular hub for locals to have political and social conversations. I don’t recall seeing the always amiable Monir Bhai ‘not making tea’- in the three red kettles. For more than a decade now he works all day. However, the shop does remain closed on special days!
All kinds of tea in these stalls will set you back only Tk 5 per cup which is quite a bargain.
Among the many similar stalls, while walking there, one will come across the ‘Chhoto (smaller) Bhat Mosque’ first and the ‘Boro (bigger) Bhat Mosque’ next. Right beside the bigger one is Bismillah Fast Food which itself is full of surprises. The fast food sold here is the most reasonable with fine taste and quality. One of Old Dhaka’s favourite food Puffed rice mix which is available there at only Tk 10 per plate. On can also get burgers for Tk 20, chicken shashlik for Tk 20, noodles for Tk 15 per plate and soup for Tk 30 per bowl there. The price will vary based on quantity.
Even this tiny spot is constantly crowded and the ambience gets an 8 out of 10. Starting from about 4:30 pm, it runs till midnight but many food items run out due to the popularity. Haji Md Aman Ullah, the founder of this place. comes to visit the operation in the evening with his grandson.
He also established the ‘Crescent Club’ situated on this very road since 1945 and has been working with social, cultural and other services. People of all ages hang out at this place and the place has separate medical facilities and sewing training arrangement for women.
More surprises are in store for you from this very road, so stay tuned.
Photographs: Sohelee Tahmina
