The restaurant was established in the year 1930 by Sardar Gurbachan Singh.
A pre-independence era eatery in south Kolkata – ‘The Dhaba’ has shut its doors after the restaurant’s elderly partners decided to retire.
One of the partners Avtar Singh said that it had become difficult for them to run the place because of their age. "The restaurant is being run by three brothers of the family. While I have turned 70, the youngest brother’s age is 64. It is difficult to run the restaurant at this age. Our next generation has moved to Canada and there is no one else who can replace us and take the restaurant business further,” he said.
Established in the year 1930 by Sardar Gurbachan Singh, the father of the present owners - Avtar and Manjinder Singh, 'The Dhaba' got a trade licence in 1938 from the British. It first started off as a ground floor restaurant with wooden benches and tables. A floor was added in the 1970s and later, air conditioning was introduced in the restaurant.
While, the Ballygunge Phari eatery remained the oldest, the family expanded its restaurant business with two more restaurants in Hindustan Park and Bagha Jatin.
Foodies who once thronged this restaurant claim that ‘The Dhaba’ served one of the best North Indian and Punjabi dishes in the entire city. To keep up with competition in other restaurants, the restaurant later introduced Chinese dishes and Kathi rolls.
Majinder says that while Tollywood celebrities were regulars at this restaurant, several Bollywood stars also used to drop by whenever they were in the city.
"We used to receive orders from Tollywood superstar Prosenjit's office and residence. Victor Banerjee would also visit us when our restaurant wasn’t this luxurious and lavish. Bollywood star Om Puri still visits us, whenever he is in town,” adds Majinder.
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 "The Dhaba")
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