Economic Reporter :
Restaurants in Gulshan have been deserted since the terror attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, aimed at foreigners.
It has been more than a month since Islamist gunmen seized the upscale cafe inside Dhaka’s diplomatic zone and killed 20 hostages.
Saltz is a seafood restaurant on Gulshan’s North Avenue, and near the Australian High Commission.
On Thursday, all its tables were empty. It delivered food to a Turkish customer around 1pm. “He would come here before to have lunch. But he does not come here physically now after the attack, though he orders sometimes,” said manager Rafiqul Islam.The restaurant’s 130 tables would earlier be filled with foreign and local diners during lunchtime, he said.
The numbers started dropping after Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was shot dead in the area. But sales have dropped almost wholly after the bloodbath on Jul 1. Meraki, an Eurasian eatery, is located nearby. It was also empty. On Monday afternoon only one customer walked in, floor manager Md Kamal Sharif told The New Nationnews24.com. “We had customers even after the Gulshab attack. But with security being so strict … there are several checkposts on the way here. So people don’t take that extra trouble to come here.”
Gulshan, one of Dhaka’s richest areas, used to be alive at night with restaurants bustling with diners, the sound of young men and women having a good time. Some would stay open until 2am.
The slaughter of hostages at Holey Artisan Cafe, 17 of them foreigners, in an attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State changed all that. Some avoid the area altogether due to large number of security checkposts.
A waste of time and highly irritating- these repeated security checks, said a woman eating at The Glasshouse Brasserie, also in Gulshan. But she wished this would pass. “But it would take time.”
“We have stopped the buffet dinner because diners are scarce. The foreigners who would flock to our restaurant in droves are all gone,” says Glasshouse’s floor manager Rakibul Hassan.
Restaurants in Gulshan have been deserted since the terror attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, aimed at foreigners.
It has been more than a month since Islamist gunmen seized the upscale cafe inside Dhaka’s diplomatic zone and killed 20 hostages.
Saltz is a seafood restaurant on Gulshan’s North Avenue, and near the Australian High Commission.
On Thursday, all its tables were empty. It delivered food to a Turkish customer around 1pm. “He would come here before to have lunch. But he does not come here physically now after the attack, though he orders sometimes,” said manager Rafiqul Islam.The restaurant’s 130 tables would earlier be filled with foreign and local diners during lunchtime, he said.
The numbers started dropping after Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was shot dead in the area. But sales have dropped almost wholly after the bloodbath on Jul 1. Meraki, an Eurasian eatery, is located nearby. It was also empty. On Monday afternoon only one customer walked in, floor manager Md Kamal Sharif told The New Nationnews24.com. “We had customers even after the Gulshab attack. But with security being so strict … there are several checkposts on the way here. So people don’t take that extra trouble to come here.”
Gulshan, one of Dhaka’s richest areas, used to be alive at night with restaurants bustling with diners, the sound of young men and women having a good time. Some would stay open until 2am.
The slaughter of hostages at Holey Artisan Cafe, 17 of them foreigners, in an attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State changed all that. Some avoid the area altogether due to large number of security checkposts.
A waste of time and highly irritating- these repeated security checks, said a woman eating at The Glasshouse Brasserie, also in Gulshan. But she wished this would pass. “But it would take time.”
“We have stopped the buffet dinner because diners are scarce. The foreigners who would flock to our restaurant in droves are all gone,” says Glasshouse’s floor manager Rakibul Hassan.
