Rate Your Top 5 Restaurant in Dhaka

[Fazal]

I am planning to visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh after a long long time. This time I will visit Dhaka by myself for semi job related assignment, therefore no distraction from all the relatives and pati-relatives for request to have a lunch/dinner with them in their home. I can understand their sincerity, but this time I would like to taste the best of Dhaka (food). Moreover all my lunch and dinner cost can be billable to Uncle Sam. So cost may not be an issue for most of the cases. I will stay in Dhaka close to 2 weeks there.

I heard there are lots good restaurants now a days in Dhaka. So my request to my fellow members here (who live in Dhaka or recently visited Dhaka): suggest me your top 5 best Restaurant in Dhaka that I shouldn't miss. Also don't forget to mention the type of restaurant and the dish that you liked most.

What you have to gain? Nothing. I will gain all the weight. However I promise to bring some pictures (of food) from some the restaurants that I would visit based on your suggestions. And finally I will suggest my own top five for members who plan to visit after me.

If you know any link that reviewed Bangladeshi Restaurant, please post here.



Edited on, March 10, 2006, 11:57 PM GMT, by Fazal.

[Sorry]

kolabagan er mamur haleem khete bhulben na are diarrhoea er tablets shobshomoi shathe rakhben.
parle cox'sbazar theke ekbar gure ashben. gele u2u kore bolben, shob babostha korbo.

[cricman]

Here's some advce

If you start missing western food there are a few places where you can get fried chicken and fries. There are also a few restraunts where it's says they specilize in Thai and Chinese food. 100% bull(Just noodles that some one can by from Alladin or Top Ramen) but you can still eat good rice w/ chicken, beef,curry veggies etc. In those restraunts

[thebest]

For deshi food Dhansiri at Gulshan. Dont be fool there is another Dhansiri in Uttara.

[ialbd]

Heritage (just heard abt it), Atleast you can find out whats the big fuss abt Tommy Miah.

Restaurants in Gulshan offer Lunch Buffet which are pretty good (heard good comments about Topkapi, Emanuell's, Efes etc)

The 'themed restaurant' culture is developing fast in dhaka. There's an aeroplane restaurant made with the fuselage of a crashed Biman (somewhere in Gulshan). In dhanmondi there is a restaurant called 'Bhoot' and as the name suggests......

for deshi food as suggested above Dhanshiri(Gulshan), Kolapata (dont know where) and Korai Gosto (dhanmondi) is good.

Tons of new kabab & biriani houses around. For hygiene go towards banani/dhanmondi, for taste head for old dhaka...

Fried chickens and pizzerias are everywhere but ignore those.

Avoid Sheraton & Sonargaon

Lastly, all these are like a year(maybe more) old info so dont know if these are still talked about in dhaka. Thankyou
________
Rolls-royce rr4

[imtiaz82]

I have been out of the country for a while now, really miss the dinners at Chinese/Thai or Indian restaurant over the weekend with our large "join-family", chacha-chachi, all the cousins....

Some restaurants in Banani/Gulshan area I still recall:

Bukhara- Indian food, Banani at Iqbal center

Samarkand- Indian food, Gulshan

Saffron- Kemal Ataturk Avenue,Gulshan

White Caste- Chinese/Thai, Banani

Asparagus- Thai (had a live musical performance on Tuesdays)

Haveli- Indian food, Gulshan

Ninfas- Chinese/ Thai. Gulshan-2

Lemon Grass- Chinese. Gulshan-1

Top Kapi- Turkish cuisine, Gulshan

There are so many other nice ones, but I just don't want to keep listing.

If you ask for preferneces, I would go for Samarkand for Indian food, Top Kapi for Mediterranean/Turkish Cuisine and Lemon Grass for Chinese...

Edited on, March 11, 2006, 9:52 AM GMT, by imtiaz82.

[Hatebreed]

i've been out of BD for over 6 yrs so i can hardly remember.. i'm sure there are lots of better restaurants now..

ahhh I wana go to BD!... i'm hungry

[imtiaz82]

Fazal bhai, I posted some pics of "Restaurants and fast food places" in Dhaka. Maybe you can get a feel, before actually trying them out

[zakirc]

Breakfast:

Breakfast in Dhaka is something really special. I know most of us do not have a habit of eating out for breakfast .. but personally I take the time to have breakfast in resturants at least once every other month. For breakfast . .dont forget to order Parata/Nan with Chicken Soup, Kaligi & Veg .... awesome man !!

1. Cafe Yusuf, Cafe Ejaz, Cafe Razzaq (Old Town .. and THE BEST)
2. Hotel Super Star (Kawran Bazar)


Hygenic Bangla Food:

1. Boishakhi (Koshba Tower, Adjacent to Science Lab Petrol Pump)
2. Mondira (Gulshan .. used to be in Banani but now shifted probably to Road 120 /123 .. ) - They offer Buffet during Lunch.

Hygenic Mixed Buffet:

1. Dish and Desert (Banani Rd 11)
2. Smarkhand (Gulshan 1, Behind Silver Tower)
3. Hetitage Resturant (Gulshan .. beside wonderland)

Good Chinese/ Thai:

1. Asparagas (Gulshan Avenue)
2. Golden Rice (My Fav ... Gulshan Avenue)

Kebab:

1. Cafe Yusuf, Cafe Ejaz, Cafe Razzaq (Old Town .. and THE BEST)
2. Star Kebab & La Bamba (Dhanmondi)
3. Amber (Pantha Path)
4. Dhaba (Banani Rd 11)

Fast Food:

1. Coopers (My # 1 fav for fresh and 100% hygenic food)
2. Helvetia
3. Lots of other FF resturants you may check out if you stay fro long.

Pizza:

1. Shwarma Palace (Dhanmandi Rd. 27, Hatirpool) .. if you want to taste Pizza with Deshi touch .. Shwarma is unparallel. Check out thier Pizza Four Seasons
2. For more western type pizza, Dominos & Pizza Hut

Others:

1. Casa Greek (Authentic Greek Food, Gulshan Avenue)
2. Arishya (Authentic Lebanese Food, Gulshan 1, Opposite to HSBC)
3. El Toro (Authentic Mexican Food .. watch out for HOT PEPPER!!)

Lots of other resturants deserve to be in this list .. I will try to update it later on.

[Fazal]

Thank you all for your time... Looks like I have already got a bunch of names to choose from....

Most likely the places I am going to ignore are the Americanized fast food kind of restaurant (Pizza, Fired chicken) or Chinese Restaurant with menu westernized. I like Original Bangladesh Chineese, but heard its hard to find now a days.

As far I know I have gone to Bukhara and Lemon Grass. (The other places I don’t remember). Even though both were great, priority will be less is my list. Because of family commitment, I may have to go to Bukhara again anyway. For the same reason, I may have to go to Casa Greek which is good as it will be my 1st try in that restaurant .


I may visit to that 'Airplane' restaurant, just for fun.

I may avoid food from all restaurants with suspected hygiene because I don't want spoil my whole trip and stay in my hotel all day. Let see, I may try some of them, if I feel confident. If I have time, I may try (if I can manage to find it ) ‘Hajir Biriany’ if they still sell now a days.


Again I thank you all who you participated and plan to participate in this thread.

Sorry: Thanks Sorry for your kind offer, but sorry, Sorry, I may not be able to visit Cox Bazaar, or anywhere outside Dhaka. As a matter of fact, in reality, I may be stuck into Uttara, DOHS, Banani & Gulshan only. I don’t know if will be able to make it: but it will be nice if I can mke it to visit: Shaheen School, BUET, Dhaka University, Notre Dame, Dhaka College, New Market, the three stadiums, Shaheed Minar, High Court, and Dhanmondi also. I miss dhanmondi specially the area near Abahani Club.

imtiaz82: I plan to go through the other thread to find out the “Restaurants and fast food places" to get a better idea. Thanks for the info.

Ialbd: You suggested to avoid Sheraton & Sonargaon. Just wondering, any particular reason?



Edited on, March 11, 2006, 3:39 PM GMT, by Fazal.

[imtiaz82]

Fazal bhai, if you could take some pics of Dhaka and post it in BC it will be great. Haven't been back home for a while, so its always nice to see the new developments..

[Sorry]

Originally posted by Fazal
I may have to go to Casa Greek which is good as it will be my 1st try in that restaurant .

Edited on, March 11, 2006, 3:39 PM GMT, by Fazal.

if it is greek restaurant, try 'souvlaki' and 'sheftalia'- you will love it.
are parle jeshob food khaben, tader picture tule amader jonno ekhane post korben.

[ialbd]

Originally posted by Fazal

Ialbd: You suggested to avoid Sheraton & Sonargaon. Just wondering, any particular reason?

Edited on, March 11, 2006, 3:39 PM GMT, by Fazal.

well in simple words, the foods there arent that good (taste wise) and moreover with all these new places zakirc and everyone suggested just dont waste ur money there....

But if you are considering throwing a party (for friends or relatives)... Sheraton/Sonargaon te kore ekta bhaab nilen arki.....
________
Ford Verona

[nayef]

I thought Samarkhand was Kazakh food and not Indian. Yes, they all make it the same way, but doesn't the name itself suggest its place of inspiration?

Speaking of which, I absolutely love Samarkhand! the buffet is amazing. damn i'm homesick now

[ammark]

If and ONLY if uncle sam is footing the bill, and you want ashol western/continental cuisine then in Gulshan 2 opposite Gulshan club: Flambe, and Spitfire.

[pagol-chagol]

Fazal, how about a blog here.

Fazal's Dhaka dorshon.

[zakirc]

I will put up a website on Dhaka's eateries .... I love eating out and this will be a great pleasure for me. Gimme a month or so to prepare for this. Will let you know in time.

Sheraton/Shonargaon: Waste of Money .... you can have better food in the resturants mentioned in this thread for less than half the cost .... even when uncle sam is paying the bill .. i dont like wasting money.

Dhanshiri: Is this a Bangla Food Resturant at all?? Thier Bangla Food Quality and Items offered is worse than the average "Morer Hotels" in BD. Once upon a time thier Indian Cuisine was pretty good but those days are over ... I was a regular in Dhanshiri, Dhanmandi and Gulshan ... but it has been about a year or so I have stopped going there.

Samarkhand: Yes the name suggests it is Kazakh, but the food they offer is actualy Indian :P

Wentern Food: Spitfire & Flambe are good places as suggested by ammark. So is Speghati Jazz ... man they make the best steak in Dhaka. Although I felt that visiting Dhaka after so many years, you would prefer to stick to Dhaka food rather than those ... anyway .. its ur all.

Bangla Food: Once again, you should not miss out on "Mondira" they offer Lunch Buffet with 5/6 types of Bhorta, Deshi style fish, Bhaji and the best tea you will find in Dhaka ...... and the food quality of "Boishakhi" is worth a trip to Science Lab even if it may cause you 30-45 mins delay in JAM .... I always take my foriegn guests to Boishakhi for Authentic Bangla Food ... Bhorta, Bhaji, Chingrir Malai, Do-peyaja, Muri Ghonto etc .....

[Rubu]

I don't know much about dhaka restaturants. the main thing I'd say is, get used to the situation first then start eating outside and always get bottled water.

once that part is done (give it at least 3 days), take some diarrhoea medicine with you and go to mama halim at kolabagan. it worth the risk of diarrhoea.

2nd, star kabab of dhan mondi (opposite of abahoni). they have quite a few good items specially murgir jhal and bati kabab.

3rd is hotel kustori (or did I forgot the name?) in charmenbari (between mokhakhali and kakoli). its a famous restaurant for desi khabar.

4th is some chinise food. even though you can get the real chinise here in usa, the bangla version of chinise is much better.

btw, lucky you, going to bd with work.

[zakirc]

Originally posted by Rubu
I don't know much about dhaka restaturants. the main thing I'd say is, get used to the situation first then start eating outside and always get bottled water.

Bottled water is standard in most resturants in Dhaka. Make sure to buy good brand bottled water and DO NOT TRUST the filter water they might offer you.

3rd is hotel kustori (or did I forgot the name?) in charmenbari (between mokhakhali and kakoli). its a famous restaurant for desi khabar.

Kosturi were the pioneers in Quality Deshi food but have lost thier touch lately.

Good Luck!!

[Tigers_eye]

Helvetia had good icecream. You are visiting in the summer so ice-cream is a must. I need your full report. Planning for next winter visit.

If you have time, visit one of the ghats preferably at padma, Fresh Poddar Illish ar ghater chidho dim.

Edited on, March 13, 2006, 7:51 PM GMT, by Cats_eye.

[imtiaz82]

Samarkhand: Yes the name suggests it is Kazakh, but the food they offer is actualy Indian

I thought Samarkand is in Uzebekistan not Kazakhstan

Moreover, we have other places like this where the name is misleading like "Bukhara", another Indian restaurant with a central Asian name

[zakirc]

IceCream: How did I forget about this??

1. Andersons (There is one with every Chicken King outlet)
2. American Soft (Dhanmandi 15)
3. Baskin 31 Robbins
4. Helvetia

Froget about Dolce Vita .. .they have managed to make themselves the worst

As noted by Imtiaz82, Bukhara rules

[Rubu]

I don't think icecream in bd is close to icecream in here. I like it better here. Same goes for softdrink. last time I tried a desi pepsi, i felt like 49% pepsi and 51% water.

[Rubu]

Kosturi were the pioneers in Quality Deshi food but have lost thier touch lately.

could be. it was pretty good last time I went there. but that was l-o-n-g time ago.

[oracle]

Corporate Per diem kintu alada hishab kore. Anyway about food outlets-I am disappointed with these trendy places. Just go to Gulistan/Baitul Mukaram and Baily road vicinity/radius. All accessible by rickshaw and value for money. Unfortunately, there is no games in stadium nowadays, otherwise it would have been fabulous.