July 5, 2001

Ever since I came to Dhaka in the first week of June 2001 we have been talking about going out to dinner in one of those classy and high-priced restaurants in Banani-Gulshan area.  We remained terribly busy while we visited Chittagong, Rangamati, Lama, Teknaf, and Cox’s Bazar.  Naturally, when we returned to Dhaka in the last week of June we talked about dining into one of the posh areas' restaurants.  Our amiable host mentioned to us that a new eatery that specializes on Turkish food opened their door for business.  We were told politely that perhaps we can’t get reservation so easily because this is one hot new restaurant in town and everyone who could afford to pay a stiff price for any dishes served over there is lining up to eat in this fancy restaurant.  Tough luck for us!

Our host’s eldest son who is a grown up man now is a very successful businessman.  He was out of the country pretty much in the entire June.  He just got back from Europe two-three days ago.  He is now restful.  He came to visit us one evening and said, “Uncle, have been to the new restaurant Topkapi, yet?”

I replied, “No, we have not been to any restaurant.  Period.”  Our nephew quipped, “It is almost a crime not to visit any good restaurant in Gulshan.  You see, we have many fine eateries here which may rival that of any western cities.”

Yes, I was told by many of our wealthy relatives in town that Banani-Gulshan is now home to two dozens solid restaurants.  I also heard that they do brisk business and most restaurants are running in full capacities.

I said to our nephew, “Can we walk in to Topkapi or any other good restaurant?”

“Are you kidding, uncle?  Those days are gone now.  Yes, you’ve to call in advance for reservation.”

I realized that in the eyes of young people I am an old-fashioned person.  Our nephew said, “Don’t you worry.  I will call Topkapi and make necessary arrangements.  I will be your host tonight.”

Later in the afternoon we heard that our nephew Tareq was having hard time with the reservation for five people at the Topkapi.  This new restaurant Topkapi was named in honor of the famous Topkapi Palace (Seraglio) located in Istanbul, which was built by one of those Sultans of Turkey.

It was Thursday evening.  I couldn’t believe why people will be heading to a posh restaurant en masse in weekday unless someone wants to celebrate birthday, marriage anniversary on this precise date.  Of course, weekend is another matter and the restaurant should be booked to full capacity.  But in Thursday, why should any restaurant be so packed?  My host told me that Dhaka is an international city now.  Many business deals are being made in any given day.  These rich businessmen then go to an expensive restaurant to celebrate the day’s success.  Besides, Dhaka is now home to many fast growing nouveaux riches.  These new rich folks like to dilly-dally in an expensive restaurant.  One index of being successful in life is to show up in as many restaurants one could afford.  In Dhaka’s fast growing society, it is considered to be a chic thing to be seen in expensive eateries.  Therefore, the supplies, which are limited, are outweighed by demands.  Dhaka is now home to 7-8 million people.  If merely 0.5% of the total population is considered wealthy, then we will have about 40,000 people who could afford to eat in those restaurants.  The two dozens fine eateries can hardly serve 2,400 per night.  I think we have more clienteles than 2,400 in a city of Dhaka’s size.  Naturally, these restaurants are running over-booked seven-days a week and 52-weeks a year.
 

Our nephew Tareq came to his parent’s house where we were staying in Gulshan at about 9:30 p.m.  He has his own flat in Gulshan.  By 10:30 p.m., we were ready to go to Dhaka’s newest fine eatery Topkapi, which is located near Gulshan Chokkor (Circle) number One.  It was a sultry July weather.  The air-conditioned sedan Tareq owns could provide us the comfort one needs in Dhaka in this hot and humid weather.  His car stereo was blasting some hot Bombay tunes probably composed by Bollywood’s darling A. Rahman.  The syncopated rhythm and western tune with Hindi lyric created a surreal environment inside the car.  I though it was an in thing in Dhaka to listen to car stereo that loud.  Our host realized that we would not appreciate this mega volume.  Thus, he lowered the decibel quite a bit.  It took us only minutes from where we were staying to reach Topkapi Restaurant.  However, when we reached there, the driver of the car let us get off at the gate.  A few khaki-clad security guards came right away opening the doors so that we could alight from the car.  A host ushered us in to a fully centralized air-conditioned restaurant.  We saw at least 10-12 people ahead of us standing in the lobby.  Our nephew was talking to the desk clerk nervously for about half a minute.  When he returned, his face looked pale.  He said, “I suppose we have to kill at least another half an hour.  Our table will be ready by 11:15 p.m.  Let us go for a joyride.  Huh?”
 

We came through the double glass door and sauntered through a pavement and came outside the gate of Topkapi Restaurant.  Our nephew went to summon the driver.  In a matter of minutes, we were whisked away to other parts of Gulshan and our tour of Gulshan began in earnest.  We are supposed to kill about 30 minutes.  The suggestion was made by our host that we should be able to see the new eateries in Gulshan in about this time and then we will get back to Topkapi Restaurant for a delightful midnight dinner.
 

We saw from inside the car quite a few restaurants’ facades.  Most has sign made of neon lights.  These gated restaurants are well maintained with gate men and an entire entourage of people milling on the front gate.  Every time a car comes in one of those restaurants, one could see a rash of activities.  Two or three persons will open the doors of the car and a gate man will fling the decorative door so that the guests can enter the restaurant without having to wait outside in this hot and humid weather.  Beggars, street urchins could be found outside the gate.  However, the gate man keeps those unwanted folks away from the incoming cars.

Our host recommended that we should go inside Samarkand Restaurant to see the decoration, which he thought was elegant.  He whispered to my ear that this was the best restaurant in Gulshan until Topkapi opened its door only a week ago.  We saw empty seats realizing that it was nearly 11:00 p.m.  This one is essentially a Middle-Eastern restaurant.  The food is served in a buffet style.  The internal decorations were done tastefully in Central Asian style.  After a very brief tour, we came out of Samarkand Restaurant.  We then decided not to get off the car but instead we will see the other restaurants seating inside the car.  At about 11:00 p.m. or so we returned to the front desk of Topkapi Restaurant hoping this time to be seated so that we can enjoy a fine Turkish dinner.
 

Things were working in our favor now.  The manager smiled at us.  We were shown our table, which was neatly prepared with cutlery, cloth napkin, flower in the vase, etc.  The head waiter came with the menus rather quickly and it took us close to 5-6 minutes to read the entire menu, we briefly discussed among ourselves the pros and cons of each dish, we decided then what we wanted for our late night dinner.

When my nephew told me that Topkapi is the only authentic Turkish cuisine in town, I thought that we should be able to find such authentic Turkish or any Balkan dishes such as Döner Kebap or kebob (skewered meat), Moussaka, a dish made with minced meat, potatoes, onion, and yogurt.  I also thought that this Turkish restaurant should have in its menu dish such as Adana (skewered spicy ground meat), Izgara (mixed grill meat), kofte, which we call kofta or kopta in Bangla.  Also, I was certain that Turkey’s famous Sis Kebap would be included in the menu.  I looked and looked very carefully in the menu.  I found some Kofte, Sis Kebob, Pilaf, and other obscure vegetable dishes.
 

When the waiter came to take our order, there was a surprise for us.  The restaurant was not ready to cook all the dishes in the menu.  Therefore, most of the items we chose such as Moussaka cannot be served.  That made us a bit unhappy.  However, we were in the mood to celebrate; therefore, we ordered certain mundane items, which were way down in our list.  To pass time we were sipping ice tea.  Through the ceiling speakers, we can hear some western songs including some jazz numbers.  There was not a single Turkish music that we heard.  It could have blended rather well with the Turkish and Central Asian bric-a-brac they have showcased here and there inside the restaurant.  We glanced at the late evening crowd who were finishing the dinner.  We saw some westerners.  Someone was celebrating his or her birthday because the waiter brought in a decorated cake.  The other folks were deshi kind from upper strata of Dhaka as you can tell from their outfit, hairdo, and ornaments that they were wearing.  Most ladies were wearing heavy makeup too.
 

We were becoming very hungry by now.  Within 10 minutes, the dishes we ordered started to come in.  They first brought the salad dish, which was quite good.  There were ample of red onions and shallots.  A vinegar based Middle-Eastern salad dressing and another yogurt-based salad dressing has augmented the taste of the succulent cukes and tomatoes.  We are well into July but one still can find tomatoes in Gulshan market.  Hurrah to technology!  Through the courtesy of cold storage, one can have tomato year round in Bangladesh.  After finishing the salad, we had other dishes.  Some were vegetables and some were made out of veal and chicken.  We had a sumptuous meal.  However, I am not sure I could call it an authentic Turkish dish.  At the end, we ordered some Baklava, which is a thin, leafy pastry with syrup and nut filling, as a dessert.  We are very fond of baklava and we know how they look like.  However, when the baklava came we could hardly recognize it.  The fine leafy pastry, which is a hallmark of baklava, was noticeably absent.  I asked the waiter where the baklavas were made.  He told me that the dough came from overseas but was baked locally.  This dish did not taste anything like baklava.  In America, one can find baklava soaked in honey.  These were not at all soaked in honey; may be it was dipped in syrup.  The Turkish baklava that normally melts in our mouth is a delightful thing to savor.  The baklava served in Topkapi Restaurant in Gulshan did not taste anything like the authentic baklava we had in America.  I can only hope that the other dishes we had that night at Topkapi have any semblance of Turkish food.  At long last, I was courageous enough to ask the headwaiter who the cook was.  He replied that the cook who is a Bangalee had worked for a long time in a restaurant in Istanbul.  He also apologized for not having all the ingredients required for some authentic Turkish dishes.  Our stomach was full unquestionably after having so many dishes but I have my doubts whether we had a 100% authentic Turkish dish at Topkapi Restaurant.

Now comes the time to pay the bill.  The prices are exorbitantly high in this restaurant as is the case in any high-priced air-conditioned eateries in Banani-Gulshan area.  Our bill came close to a cool 4,000+ Taka including tips, which is roughly about $ 75 to $ 80.  This could be the entire month’s salary of an office worker for an entry-level position.  However, this stiff price does not bother the wealthy folks of Dhaka to drive up their cars to the doorsteps of these fine eateries.  They are used to such extravagant lifestyle.
 

After we were done at the Topkapi Restaurant, we headed for an ice cream parlor by the name ‘Move-n-Pick.’  The location of this ice cream parlor is opposite to the Wonderland Amusement Park in Gulshan.  I was told that this is the only Swiss Ice Cream parlor in Dhaka.  My daughter and son wanted to have ice cream for dessert.  They did not care for the crummy baklava they served at Topkapi Restaurant.  Our nephew bragged about the quality of ice cream served at this joint.  The price per scoop is about Taka 50-55, which about double the price for similar ice cream sold in Dhanmandi.  It was round about 12:00 mid night when were done at Topkapi restaurant.  It was getting late.  Even then, we found some younger generation Gulshanites hanging in the ice cream parlor.  The stereo system at the parlor was blasting some hot top-forty pop music of the western world.  Our kids recognized the songs.  We ordered our kids’ favorite flavor and we asked them to finish their dessert in the parlor lest they melt in the car.  It turns out that the ice cream parlor folks were getting ready to shut down their place.  However, they did not mind serving ice cream to our kids.  My nephew told us that these ice creams come straight from Switzerland by plane.  I have the feeling that most ingredients are flown to Dhaka from any Swiss town but the ice cream is made right here in Dhaka.  I asked one of the employees who was serving us.  He also said that the ingredients are flown in from Europe but they are made locally from imported items.
 

We finally decided to take a spin through Gulshan’s empty road.  Our driver was able to drive at a super speed of 40-45 miles per hour in the main thoroughfare because the roads were practically empty by then.  In the daytime, it is rather hard to drive even at the speed of 20-25 miles per hour before coming to screeching halt because too many cars and buses ply through the congested road; never mind a deluge of people who are also competing for a space on this already congested road.  Therefore, we were enjoying our newly gotten freedom at midnight.  After driving aimlessly for 10-15 minutes, we decided to head back home.  It was an exciting night for us all.  We sampled not only some “authentic” Turkish dish, but also our kids have to taste some super expensive ice cream.  Our night out was an extravagant one but it was a worthwhile trip to Topkapi to see firsthand how Dhaka’s rich and beautiful people spend their time in merriment.
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A.H. Jaffor Ullah writes from New Orleans, USA.  His e-mail address is -  [email protected]

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