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From left: Abdul Chowehury, Juet Ahmed, Abdul Miah and Shamin Miah |
Heavenly aroma of ‘home’ cooking
Peter Gruner savours a lunch at the Gulshaan and discovers why John Bird, Vanessa Feltz and Kate Garraway feature on the restaurant’s list of loyal diners
A FORMER William Ellis schoolboy’s passion for cooking has paid off now that he’s the proud owner of one of north London’s most popular Indian restaurants.
In 10 years Gulshaan, in Kentish Town Road, has established a happy band of loyal diners, including Big Issue owner John Bird, radio presenter Vanessa Feltz and TV presenter Kate Garraway.
Abdul Miah’s customers enjoy a variety of delicious dishes from Bengal, India, Pakistan and occasionally Afghanistan.
Bengali-born Mr Miah, 31, whose father was a West End chef, came to London in 1983 as a youngster and always dreamed of running his own restaurant.
“I wanted to provide the kind of wonderful dishes you can get in Bangladesh,” he says.
“The food there is always fresh. In the old days they didn’t even have fridges so fish was caught from the river and cooked on the day and vegetables picked out of the ground and eaten at the table straight away.”
He added that he still remembers, as a youth, the heavenly aroma of spicy lamb chops or meatballs being cooked by his mum.
At school he did GCSEs, then a GNVQ and later went on to do a business degree.
“One of the most important lessons I learned about catering is to always use the best quality food and ingredients,” he said.
Among the restaurant’s highly regarded dishes is Machhi Biran, a traditional Bengali dish with marinated fish in spices cooked with fried onions.
“Fresh water fish is very popular in Bangladesh,” says Abdul.
“I would like to serve here a Bengali fish called gaul which tastes a bit like trout. Fish is also becoming popular in this country because it is a healthy option.”
Another popular dish is kabuli gosht, an aromatic Afghani meal of tender strips of lamb cooked with chick peas.
Mr Miah is glad that Kentish Town is very much improved from the bad old days. “I once found someone sleeping on the restaurant doorstep,” he recalls. “The area’s a lot better now.”
Does he have ambitions to expand?
“I’m always thinking about opening a new restaurant elsewhere, but I don’t think this is the right time.”
My colleague enjoyed a mango and yoghurt lassie drink (£2.25) while I had a refreshing cup of peppermint tea. We shared a lamb shaslik (£7.95) marinated in yoghurt and aromatic herbs, spices and then gilled in a tandoori clay oven. It was served with red and green peppers and onions, a salad and a mint sauce – really excellent.
We also enjoyed a tasty gobi bhaji (£3.95), fresh cauliflower florets cooked with medium spices; and tarka daal, a splendid blend of lentils garlic and caramelised onions (£3.95). This was served with basmati rice (£2.25) and a delicious baked nan bread (£1.95).
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