Food & Drink
Bangladeshi food is best enjoyed at the homes of friends and
colleagues, and the best part is that foreign visitors will rarely be
stuck for invitations to enjoy meals in this way. In Dhaka, there are
plenty of international cuisine choices ranging from Japanese (Samdado
is best) to Korean (Koreana is recommended) to Indian (Khazana kicks
ass!). For the best phuchka (savoury & spicy tamarind-based
juice in wheatflour parcels) anywhere in South Asia, the Dhaba wins,
hands down. Outside of the main cities, good restaurants are hard to
find, with the great majority becoming oily slop shops where the
hygiene is sometimes suspect (although there are a few pleasant
surprises, the exception rather than the rule). In the home, however,
it is a different story. Plentiful plates of meat dishes (fish or
chicken is best and beef is rather popular), tasty dhals
(lentils) and curried vegetables are heaped on hungry guests, and the
closer to home these meals are taken, the better they become.
Drink-wise, tea is the preferred drink of Bangladeshi people and tea
stalls—sometimes 20 in a row! - are literally around every corner of
the country. It’s often consumed with a heap of condensed milk and
several teaspoons of sugar, which probably explains the abundance of
diabetes in the country. Despite the excruciating sweetness, it’s the
ritual of roadside tea drinking and the associated conversation that
helps you tap into the culinary soul of the country.
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