lane. i m not going to lie, a lot of those haircuts still exist amongst bengali uncles. the immigrant dream, i think, for a lot of people is to have your own business. so, my dad, he was a chef. he was an incredible chef, still is. my dad saved, saved, saved, saved. there was a restaurant in devon that someone was selling, and my dad was like, this could be my opportunity to have my own business. you know, that was the only indian restaurant in my little town. and, of course, white people love curry. so, you know, my dad made a really good decision. we d make one annual trip to london from devon, and you felt a real sense of culture in brick lane. as a family, we d come here and fill our boots up with meat and chicken and halal groceries. and obviously we d go into one of these indian restaurants,
i don t just want to survive. i want to live. back in devon, when i was younger, i used to help my dad at his indian take out, and i made one of my early youtube videos about it. this is our storeroom. that s the tandoori oven, got some pilau rice cooking up in there. less and less young bengalis are getting into the restaurant trade now, and the number of curry houses on brick lane has decreased by over 60% in the past 15 years. rising rents, gentrification and lack of staffing are just some of the reasons. but niaz is bucking that trend, and he wants to modernise the curry industry. at the age of 14, i knew that he has more ideas than i do. things that he knows, i would never have dreamed of. is there this perception that, oh, you know what, you re british born, you re young. why are you getting into the restaurant trade? i get asked that all the time, because. how does that make you feel?
i think, for a lot of people is to have your own business. so, my dad, he was a chef. he was an incredible chef, still is. my dad saved, saved, saved, saved. there was a restaurant in devon that someone was selling, and my dad was like, this could be my opportunity to have my own business. you know, that was the only indian restaurant in my little town. and, of course, white people love curry. so, you know, my dad made a really good decision. we d make one annual trip to london from devon, and you felt a real sense of culture in brick lane. as a family, we d come here and fill our boots up with meat and chicken and halal groceries. and obviously we d go into one of these indian restaurants, have a meal then go back home. and that was like a great day out. over 80% of indian restaurants in the uk are run by bangladeshis. many of them here on brick lane.
50 years ago this year, back in 1971, bangladesh became a new country. tv: many of these people have spent most of the past - nine months running away from somebody who wanted to kill them. it was a painful road to independence. tv: the new flag of bangladesh, a state of bengal. i ve never seen this footage. bangladesh! my dad migrated from bangladesh to england in the 19705. ..to a land in which he did not know the language of, he didn t know anyone there. he came in the hope and in the pursuit of a better life. tv: there s an estimated 50,000 bangladeshis in london, - many of them living in brick lane. i m not going to lie, a lot of those haircuts still exist amongst bengali uncles. the immigrant dream,
abdul arrived in brick lane in the 19705 and grew up around here. he s owned this restaurant since 2012. so, this is city spice. we re known as the king of brick lane. ..and his son niaz, who s 20, helps him run it. 2012, what was brick lane like back then? it was amazing. it was like a market day every day of the week. hundreds and hundreds of people walking around, drinking, eating. every single shop on this road was a restaurant. more than 60 odd restaurants, and every single one was packed. back in the 70s, when i started off, it was all have a couple of pints, go out the pub and have a vindaloo. the 70s and 80s, you grew up in east london. report: brick lane, in - the heart of london s east end. the bengalis, the latest. in a long line of immigrant communities to settle here, found themselves the - victims of intimidation, |