A recent news article in the Birmingham Mail featured Bangladeshi Shahab Uddin who owns Streetly Balti. He makes the valid point that 30% of curry restaurants will probably have to close partly because their owners lack the ability to secure government support that they are eligible to claim. I agree that cutting through the bureaucracy is difficult sometimes but I would ask what the heck the Bangladeshi Restauranteurs Association and the Asian Chamber of Commerce are doing to support their members to access funds … not a lot it seems according to Mr Uddin.

Shahab Uddin owner of Streetly Balti

Like a lot of Bangladeshi curry house owners, he couldn’t resist having an unnecessary pop at the ‘cheap and cheerful’ Balti Triangle regarding the need to raise prices but, in fairness, makes the point that many people may have become used to supermarket curries and takeaways and not bother to return to their favourite restaurant. Well, despite the name of his restaurant, he’s obviously never eaten or served up a proper balti. If he had, he would know that the Balti can’t be replicated except in a restaurant or being cooked in the balti pan at home.

I’m missing my Balti fix and, to be honest, the takeaways I’ve had just don’t compare with the real thing. So, with the possibility of restaurants reopening in July or August, I thought that I’d get a view from one of the leading Balti restaurants, Shababs.

Zaf, their owner, told me that they had ticked over with their own takeaways with a smaller team of staff but obviously this was no substitute for normal restaurant trade. Yet, he remained pleasingly optimistic and still hopes to go ahead after a short delay with some expansion plans.
In the meantime, he had applied for a couple of government support regimes which he was hopeful of securing which would be critical in providing financial stability.

Like a lot of restaurant owners, he would prefer the ‘French’ one metre distancing rule but if the UK Government stick to two metres, this will at least halve his capacity although he has got an upstairs area. In terms of safeguards, he is resigned to the likelihood of employing somebody on duty solely as a cleaner for door handles, table tops, toilets etc but other measures may depend on whether the distancing measures are still in force in the critical (for restaurants), run up to Xmas. This could then well include Perspex screens an expenditure probably demanding a more than decent investment but probably worth doing if it means the restaurant can run at full capacity pre Xmas.

Let’s hope that Shababs and others ride out the storm and balti bounces back!