Aid Worker Restaurant Reviews #2: Hotel Bismillah

Let me tell you - there’s not much to do in Barisal. As the capital of one of the divisions of Bangladesh that was most affected by Cyclone Sidr, it’s suddenly become the the base of operations for a number of aid agencies. It’s a massive improvement on Dhaka - which frankly is unbearable - but it’s about as provincial as they come.

For some reason, Bangladeshis appear to feel that Chinese restaurants are the height of sophistication, even when there aren’t any Chinese people involved. The first two nights I spent in Barisal, we ended up at “Best Food Garden”, a Chinese restaurant that didn’t have a garden, and didn’t live up to the best food promise either. On the third day I discovered Hotel Bismillah, though, and suddenly dinner was a treat rather than a trial.

Nothing special - the usual Bangladeshi fare - but the place was clean, the service was quick and the food was well-cooked. I had the daal bhuna, mixed vegetable and roti, all of which were excellent, but the show-stopper was the sliced beetroot dish. I haven’t seen it anywhere else, but it was tasty, tasty, tasty; but also mysterious mysterious mysterious, because none of the waiters could tell me what it was called.

Apparently not many aid workers are eating there, because the staff were moderately entertained to see us. If you’re staying in the Hotel Athena in Barisal - which you’ll have to, because it’s the only hotel in town, but you can’t, because Save the Children have booked the entire place, Bismillah provides the food there as well. So now you know where to eat if you visit Barisal - just stay away from the Chinese restaurants.