Latest>May 6 - One Week With John Gulliver - Mr Gupta’s food for thought
Published: 6 May, 2010
I FALTERED for a moment when the man behind the counter met me with a beaming smile. Did he know me? Had I met him somewhere else?
I must have registered surprise because as I gazed at the mouth-watering Indian savouries with their twirly shapes, he said:
“I recognise all my customers.”
“What, all of them?” I asked. “But you must get about 250 a week?”
“No, more than 1,000” he corrected me.
He spoke so convincingly, I believed him. I go to his shop in Drummond Street, Euston, about six times a year.
I don’t normally go in for advertising on this page but Mr Gupta’s savouries are not only among the best I have ever tasted but they are also reasonably priced. He told me on Tuesday when I popped in that he had been in this country for 30 years.
I didn’t ask where from, but, probably, he comes from the Indian sub-continent.
I am writing this little story because this is the big election week and lots of people are talking about the pros and cons of immigration.
Here, I thought as I stepped out of the shop, is a good argument for the benefits of immigration.
Where would we be nowadays without Indian cuisine? Just a thought.