Nightlife of Old Dhaka
Durdana Ghias
In the dead of night when most people are sleeping after the hustle and bustle of a hectic day, a certain part of the city wakes up with loud music blaring out from food outlets tearing the stillness of night. The eateries in the lanes of old Dhaka are seen busy catering to a section of people who like to take a bite of nun, parata and tandoori with kebab or taste some morsel of scrumptious biriyani in the middle of the night."Workers, mainly from shoe factories in the locality come to our restaurant at late night. People come with their friends and families," said Kamal, a cook of Habiba Restaurant on Kazi Alauddin Road, which remains open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "There is an influx of customers from 1 to 5 in the morning. There are several restaurants in this area which remain open whole night," he said. "We have two shifts -- from 6:00am to 6:00pm and from 6:00pm to 6:00am. I like working at night because of the boisterous mood night wears." The oldest biriyani outlet is Hajir Biriyani in the area, which was founded about 50 years ago. Its food is available only at early morning and in the evening. "The best time for the customers is night. Factory workers start coming after midnight and continue till 4:00am," said Delwar Hossain, a cook working at Hanif Biriyani for the last 20 years. Ten years ago a full plate biriyani cost Tk 15, which now costs Tk 90, said the eatery owners, adding that the price hike of ingredients has forced them to raise the price of biriyani, a very popular item for Old Dhaka connoisseurs. "Price of beef is Tk 180 per kg now, which was Tk 60 a few years back; one kg pulses now costs Tk 75 which was Tk 20 before. We are struggling to make profit in spite of raising prices," said Bacchu Mia who runs a restaurant on Aga Sadeq Road. "During the British rule Kazi Alauddin Road and Nawabpur Road were the busiest roads of Dhaka. Because of the Fulbaria Rail Station nearby, these roads had been busy round the clock. Rail passengers and people from all walks of life used to keep the place in a boisterous mood," said Ahsan Ali, an elderly resident of Kazi Alauddin Road. "There were horse-drawn carts and bull carts on the road. Municipality also used boil carts to transport garbage. There were always a flurry of activity," Ali said. "There were many old houses on this road but most of those were demolished to make shops," he added. "Previously the place was less crowded. Now when I stand on this road I see it teeming with people, vehicle, rows of shops and lots of pandemonium," said Ali.
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These sorts of tandoori restaurants attract visitors throughout the night (Left) and Kazi Alauddin Road of Old Dhaka, gets even busier during night hours. PHOTO: STAR |
