Delight from eating out in Dhaka!

HAVING culinary delight with family members or friends during the weekend is a popular way to spend one's leisure time. Now we are more cosmopolitan than ever before. There are plenty of choices and we see all types of cuisines out there if we are ready to spend some money. Eating out has become a favourite leisure time activity of Dhaka dwellers. In the weekend, people like to go out to Chinese, Thai, Korean, Italian or Japanese restaurants, or to fast food joints to have a meal with their near and dear ones.

Coffee shops, pizza and fast food joints have become very popular among the youngsters. So we have been witnessing a surge in the number of food joints in all parts of this city. We also find that many international franchises are doing brisk business in Dhaka. On the other hand, there are some who are adding innovation to these businesses by setting up make-shift food shops on road-sides with varieties of food items. These types of small ventures are also doing good business. Due to heavy work pressure and rush, many people prefer a quick lunch with burger or sandwich to a full meal comprising rice and curry as eating rice and curry takes more time than having a burger or sandwich. Fast food is called junk food in the western country. Soft drink, potato chips, burger, hot dogs, pizza, fried chicken, sandwich etc are treated as junk foods because those have too much fat, salt or sugar.

We should not forget to make our regular diet a balanced one and keep fresh vegetable and fruit in it. There is a Spanish proverb which says "the belly rules the mind". So we should not forget that we are what we eat.

Mohammed Sohel Hara

Bonosree, Dhaka

[email protected]