Review: Matir Ghor, Purbachal

Great traditional food just outside Dhaka  

Our table at Matir Ghor  

I feel lucky to have visited Dhaka at the end of 2019, just before the global pandemic kicked in. I've counted my blessing more than once over the last couple of years, especially as so many people haven't been able to see loved ones and family for much longer than me. My last visit home was unusually short, in between two busy periods at work, so it meant I actually stayed in Dhaka for once rather than travelling out to other places in the country. 

Of course, this wasn't something my parents could bear, so they had to take me out of the city for one road trip at least. Except, we didn't really head that far out of the city - only going partway to a planned new town project to the north-east of Dhaka called Purbachal. Apparently there was a really good fresh produce bazaar by the road on the outskirts of the town they wanted to shop from, as well as a nice traditional restaurant called Matir Ghor they thought I would like. And they were right, because Matir Ghor served up some really delicious traditionally Bangladeshi food. The restaurant is over an hour away from Dhaka, depending on where you're travelling from and what traffic is like on the day. As I was on holiday and my parents are retired (aka permanently on holiday - not as great as it sounds, they're usually bored), we went outside of rush hour on a weekday, making for quite a swift trip to a fairly empty restaurant. 

The restaurant building, just to the left

The venue is on a side street just as you turn off from the main road. There wasn't a gate or sign when I visited, just a bright-red clay path winding away from the street into the trees. Follow the path down, and you'll realise you're in the right place when you get to a bit of a clearing with parked cars. The site is a collection of single storey buildings set amidst a nicely overgrown garden. Talking to the staff, we learned that this was the owners' grandparents' home. Apparently the family aren't in residence anymore, but they wanted to preserve the site by turning it into a traditional restaurant. The main restaurant building is indeed made from earth as the name suggests, complete with a tin roof and bamboo supports. The structure has some supporting brickwork, along bright red metal doors and windows.

Clay walls, wooden benches and art on sale 

The look continues on the inside, with lanterns hanging form the ceiling, wooden furniture and earthen tableware - everything from the serving dishes to plates and glasses. But the little fans give away that the place does have electricity, despite the lanterns on the ceilings. And despite the old-fashioned look, this is a slick operation - with attentive staff, written menus and art for sale on the walls. A lot of the food is out on display in quirky serving dishes at the end of the room, and I would recommend wandering up to a have a look before ordering. 

Clockwise from the bottom left: tomato, lau, shutki, haash and murgi

The whole family loves eating, and so we ordered generously. From the vegetables we had tomato bhorta, lau pata or gourd leaf bhorta and paachmishali or 5-grain mixed daal. From the meat and fish options we had chicken cooked in bamboo, duck bhuna, king prawns with aubergine and shutki or dried fish bhuna. All of the food was delicious and clearly expertly cooked - and refreshingly a far-cry from the overly oily and spicy food served at a lot of Dhaka eateries serve. The ingredients tasted fresh too, and it really did feel like I was having a meal made from ingredients just brought in from the farm a few hours ago. I particularly liked the veggie dishes, as there's nowhere to hide when you're working with delicate flavours. The shutki was also very welcome, as I hadn't had it in quite a while. The bamboo-cooked chicken made it clear the place was potentially serving Chakma food and that the chef was possibly Chakma. And indeed, the spicing in some of food was slightly different to what I'm used to, but I don't know enough about Chakma cuisine to be able to describe exactly what was different. We rounded off the meal with some doi and payesh for dessert, but the former was bought-in and the latter was made with plain sugar - so I wasn't a big fan. However - dessert is not why anyone's coming here! 

This is a meal best shared with others, as all the portions are one and a half person's worth of food in my opinion. It's worth noting that this place is an actual restaurant catering to clientele on a day out from Dhaka - rather an a casual roadside eatery - and the prices reflect this. You pay similar to what you could expect from similar places in Dhaka back in 2019, with vegetable dishes around the TK 50 mark, whereas meat and fish dishes cost TK 200 upwards.  

Matir Ghor can be a bit tricky to find as it doesn't have a very specific address. I've noted down the restaurant's contact information as usual at the bottom of the review, but for convenience the Google maps location is here. I've decided to stop scoring reviews, and given I visited Matir Ghor a good while ago I'm not sure I could justify scoring it anyway. However, I can certainly say I'm looking forward to visiting next time I'm in Dhaka! 

A: Ketun, Dhaka Bypass Road, Kalihonj, Gazipur

T: +8801716883120

W: None

Review: Cilantro

A Rather International Menu

Inside Cilantro Dhanmondi

Cilantro has been on my Wishlist for the longest time. When they first opened, friends started posting photos of a uniquely decorated restaurant serving beautifully plated "Western" food. I was intrigued - mostly by how nice the dishes looked to be perfectly honest, while remaining hopeful that they also tasted good. Foreign food is still quite hit-and-miss in Dhaka, whether we're talking about a casual eatery or a high-end hotel restaurant. My friend's nudged my expectations downwards though, as apparently the venue was more about the look rather than the food. And while they were right, what I ate at Cilantro was nothing to scoff at, and I am glad I visited.

The Spaniard: marinated fish, battered prawn, cucumber salad
and seafood paella

The interior is an eclectic affair of exposed brick, glass bottles and a central skylight in an otherwise dimly lit space. Seating is varied between normal tables and a few lower tables, where you can take off your shoes and sit cross-legged. The restaurant's Facebook page claims it is a Latin American and Mediterranean affair, but the menu when we visited was far more international. It was also long and confusingly divided up, but I assumed that tapas were snacks or starters, and anything else was a main. They also had a specials board, and we skimmed over that before ordering two mains and two drinks. As with any restaurant attempting to cover too many bases, their dishes turned out to be inspired by their regions of origin rather than authentic offerings. This was fine with me, as everything we were served still tasted good. 

Open beef enchilada

My friend ordered the Spaniard from their specials, which was a plate of battered prawns, marinated fish, cucumber salad and paella. I'v never had anything of the sort in Spain, and there was definitely no paella on the plate. However, there was a rather nice seafood and rice concoction, and both the prawns and fish were deliciously spiced. The portion was a bit small, and their slice of fish especially should have been bigger. My order of beef enchilada, served open in layers on my plate, was more reasonably portioned. It came with generous amounts of meat and cheese. The inclusion of so much cheese was the biggest surprise - restaurants in Bangladesh are usually very stingy with this ingredient! 

Raw tamarind on the left, pink lemonade on the right

We washed our food down with a couple of mocktails - a raw tamarind drink for me and a pink lemonade for my friend. Both were nice, though I'd say my tamarind drink won out, probably due to the fresh, local ingredients. Both were very expensive though, and with drinks priced up to TK 200, this where Cilantro overcharges the most. Elsewhere prices are a bit better, with tapas from TK 200 to TK 600, and mains from TK 400 to over TK 1000 for steaks. We paid around TK 1500 for two mains and two drinks, and this felt like quite a lot for the amount of food we had. Had I not had plans to meet others for coffee later, I would have ordered more. I can easily see myself paying TK 1000 per head here for a full meal, even without opting for the expensive items on the menu. Service was a bit too chilled-out (read: slow) at the start, though staff were friendly and food did arrive quite quickly once ordered. This is definitely a place I'd go back to if in Dhaka, but it won't stop from looking for greener pastures elsewhere. 

Food: 7/10

Service: 6.5/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Final Score: 7/10

Contact Information

A: 49 Satmasjid Road, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh
T: +880 1766 449912
W: www.facebook.com/cilantrobd

NB. The final score, while influenced by the sub-scores, is a qualitative reflection of my overall impression of the establishment.

Review: Izumi

Sashimi in Dhaka

Chef's sashimi platter

Most of my trips back home involve gorging on food that only Bangladesh can offer. I can claim this trip was slightly different, if only because on top of the usual gorging I made an effort to explore the evolving restaurant scene in Dhaka. Izumi had been on my Wishlist for a while, not just because it was one of the newer restaurants in town, but also because it specialised in Japanese cuisine, a rather uncommon offering in Bangladesh. 

The restaurant sits at the end of a quiet side road in Gulshan, away from the noise and pollution of the main avenue. The site is gated, and a short driveway leads up to the guarded main doors, typical of many establishments in Bangladesh. Walking through these doors we found ourselves in a large Japanese themed lobby, with a small reception booth to our left. I headed straight there to ask for a table, as the staff present seemed hesitant about approaching us. After a check of their reservations we were led through to the ground floor dining area, a softly lit room with generously spaced tables. Restaurants around the world should take note – especially higher end establishments who have no excuse for squeezing guests together like sardines. 

A spacious interior

Despite being a weekend, the floor was largely empty, and the other guests seemed to be businessmen entertaining clients or Asian expats out on expenses. We were seen to quite quickly by a polite and helpful waiter. He pointed out items on the menu the kitchen was current unable, unsurprisingly to prepare due to a lack of imported ingredients. While I sympathise with the hurdles Bangladeshi businesses must face importing unusual ingredients, it is something to be aware of before visiting establishments like Izumi. Our waiter helped us with our orders, talking us through the contents of each dish. He was vague about portion sizes though (good news: they’re big!,) and we had to do a bit of guesswork with amounts. 

On the left, complimentary tofu with veg and sesame.

On the right, prawns and spinach in spicy mayo - stacked, so bigger portion than is obvious

Food arrived soon after we placed our orders, starting off with a complimentary canape of tofu muffled in shredded vegetables and sesame. While not particularly special, the tactic of serving a small canape was very much appreciated while we waited for our orders. The dish also made me feel we were going to get actual Japanese food - another plus. However, the rest of courses turned out to be a mixed experience. We'd ordered a starter of prawns and spinach in spicy mayo. The portion was rather generous here: more than enough for two and shareable between our three at a stretch. But while it tasted "Japanese" insofar as it wasn't somehow "Bangladeshified", it wasn't very good, and more in line with what I'd expect from a cheap restaurant elsewhere in the world. I felt similarly about our mains - the grilled miso chicken was a delight to find in Bangladesh, but it should have had more miso. Our garlicky king prawns were nice, but similar preparation can be had elsewhere in town for less. It was really the sashimi that saved the day, which was extremely fresh considering it must have been refrigerated for import, and was served beautifully as you can see from the photo in this post. Some of the cuts were a bit awkward, and a bit too large for a single mouthful, but it definitely satisfied our family's raw fish cravings. 

Grilled miso chicken, on the bone

The only sticking point I can imagine is the price, which was TK 3500 for the set before tax. This easily puts Izumi up there with an above average price for sashimi in say, London. In fact, the pricing at Izumi is my main criticism. The restaurant is easily more expensive than others of the same bracket in Dhaka, apart from maybe the newest 5 star hotels. A starter will you set back by around TK 1000, and mains cost from TK 3000 onward. Granted, portions are big enough to be shared, but our bill for one starter, two mains, a sashimi set, drinks and steamed rice came to a total of TK 12000 with VAT, or TK 4000 per head. This is a lot for Bangladesh. Imported ingredients or not, the food - the mains in particular - needs to be better than what we had for our visits to become regular. However, I expect the restaurant will survive on business meals and expats who have few options for eating out. To someone local, I would only say go if you need a sushi or sashimi fix. It will be good, but be aware that it's going to cost you a lot. 

Food: 6.5/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value: 6.5/10

Final Score: 6.5/10

Contact Information

A: 24/C Rd 113, Gulshan 2, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
T: +8801933446677
W: www.facebook.com/izumiBD

NB. The final score, while influenced by the sub-scores, is a qualitative reflection of my overall impression of the establishment.

Review: Hotel Star (aka Star Kebab)

Hunting Down the Original

The original Star Hotel in Thatari Bazar, from
where all the other Star Kebab and Star Bakery
branches have their roots

I'm not sure who introduced me to Star Kebab, but I'm willing to bet it was someone on my mom's side of the family - that's where all the original foodies in my life come from. Star in Dhaka takes on various incarnations - there's Star Kebab in Panthopoth, two Star Kebabs and a Star Restaurant in Dhanmondi, as well a few Star Bakeries dotted around town. This list is by no means exhaustive, and then of course there's Hotel Star in the Thatari Bazar area of Old Dhaka, the place where it all started. It's a fifteen minute rickshaw ride from my grandma's but I'd never visited as Panthopoth used be on the way home from college, and that's where I'd stop to get kebab for the family. 

Review: Hirajheel Hotel, A House of Purity Foods

Home, Chaos and Other

The entrance

Despite its rather unfortunate full name, Hirajheel is a stalwart on the Dhaka food scene. Located in the Motijheel business district, its proximity to the Dhaka Stock Exchange, big banks and various other offices guarantees the restaurant a steady flow of customers. Known for its breakfast “soup” (more on that later) and Ramadan staples (it does a good kebab, almost as good as Star), Hirajheel has been around for over a decade. Dhaka has quite a few even older historic eateries, and each venue has established itself a reputation for doing particular dishes very well. For example, next door to Hirajheel is Ghoroa, which beckons from mom's youth and is the local go-to for good khichuri. 

The interior

I'm willing to bet that Hirajheel at its inception represented a slightly upmarket version of the traditional Bangladeshi “restaurant” - often locally misnamed as "hotels". These are quick and dirty operations: menu-less with a set number of largely unchanging dishes served in a canteen style space. Business is geared towards feeding a regular, local clientele of blue collar office workers, day labourers, rickshaw pullers etc. Decor and ambience do not exist as concepts, prices are rock bottom and the food is simple yet often very good. With Hirajheel things are a little more elaborate - the waiters (sometimes) wear uniforms, and the interior is clean, painted and tiled. Prices are beyond what a rickshaw puller could pay, though they are within reach of most and nothing compared to certain newer restaurants in town. There is still no menu that we could see, however, and finding out what's being served today beyond the usual required a friendly yelling match with the staff.

Review: King's Confectionery

Finally cake, but only in little slices

Soon after my disappointing experience at Cooper's, I started to seek out a new cake place near my grandma's. King's came to mind immediately, but the problem with them used to be their Banani location. Now they seem to have expanded all over the capital, and I was happy to discover that they had a branch in nearby Wari. Wari, by the way, seems to have everything now and it’s about bloody time! I'd been to King's a few times before and generally their cakes were better than Cooper's. 

Displays like this always make me happy

Review: Cooper's Bakery Bangladesh

The quest for good cake in Bangladesh

I first discovered Cooper's when I came back to Bangladesh for college in the mid 2000s. Good cakes of the round, celebratory kind are hard to come by in Dhaka, so I went in feeling skeptical. I walked out with a small chocolate cake that I remember being impressed with. I went back a few times after that for their pasties, snacks, etc. and I remember the place fondly.  Fast forward to 2012, and I was back in Dhaka and Coopers was still around. Recalling my previous positive experiences, I went in to get a cake for my little brother. Unfortunately, it seems like everything has gone downhill since I was last here. 

I wonder where they got it?