Knights of the Raj: History of Bangladeshi Restaurants in Britain

The story began in 1810. The first curry house, or Bangladeshi restaurant, in Britain. Dean Mohamed founded the shop in George Street near Portman Square in central London. He named it “Hindoostane Coffee House”. He lived in Kolkata at a young age. He introduced Bangladeshi cuisine in the restaurant, hoping that it would cater to the craving for spices by the British nobles returning from India. To add an authentic Indian flavour, hookkah was introduced too. But the business was not successful and at one point Dean Mohamed became bankrupt.