Restaurants are fast capitalizing on a growing trend among Bengalis to explore foreign cuisine. For almost 20 years now, Dhakaites have been moving away from traditional sithome dinners, choosing instead the savoury frontiers of PadThai and Penne Arrabiata.

Many restaurants bring in their head chefs from foreign countries to give the customers a feel of originality in their cuisine.

"People come for that special quality in authentic food. If it tastes like home-cooked dishes, why would they come?" said Aditya Dutta, corporate manageroftwoofGulshan's most popular restaurants Lemon Grass and Samarkand.

Each restaurant is its own cultural domain, reflecting a particular style, taste and culture. From the Mexican paintings at El Toro, the fish nets hanging from the ceiling at Saltz, and the Thai sashes worn by the wait staff at @ Corner, the ddcor sets the tone of cuisine, complementingitsauthenticappeal.

"It is not that you go to a restaurant only because you feel hungry. It is also the ambience, the food and the conduct of the people who serve you that attract people," said R.R Singh, corporate manager of Indian restaurant Khazana.

Locals generally prefer to flock restaurants on weekends and holidays, which may explain a significant presence on Thursday afternoons and after Juma prayers on Fridays. "Among foreigners there is no particular trend," notes the head of the wait staff at ©Corner.

Although eating regularly at reputed restaurants is not a practical option for the vast majority of Dhaka residents, some who can afford it has made it a habit. Mumtahana Rahman, a student of a private university says she eats out five days a week. "1 rarely eat meals at home because of my hectic daily routine," said Mumtahana.

Her mother Gulrukh Rahman feels that there has been an overall change in outlook.

"When I was young, people did not eat out so much. Now they are looking for variety and ways to experience the world at home."

Asked why she visited restaurants often, Mrs. Rahman said it gave her relief.

"This may sound silly but I prefer to go out once in a while so that I do not have to touch the cooking utensils. I get relief and the rest of family is also entertained."

Others emphasise on lackof options.

"There are not many other things to do here so foodspots are the main form ofenter-tainment in Bangladesh,” said Rora Chowdhury.

Places like Spaghetti Jazz and Royal Orchid are trying to give their customers some semblance of nightlife by arranging live performances by popular bands like Pentagon arid:

Renaissance in the evening.

Khaled Gaieb Protik, a resident of Lalmatia said he visits Banani and Gulshan at least once a month with friends for dinner.

"We are all bachelors with jobs. We can afford it as we do not have too many other expenses."

The concept of authentic foreign restaurants emerged in the early 80s. Cathay, Dhaka's first international standard restaurant, Arirang and Royal Orchid, opened in 1977, 1982 and 1986 respectively, initially entertained mainly foreign diplomats residingin the Gulshan, which was an isolated area on theoutskirtsofat the time.

"Since independence, Bangladeshis have been doing more and more business in other countries. When they return home, they long for that same foreign dishes every now and then," says Michael Yang, proprietor of Cathay, who has observed the changing face of Dhaka's restaurant culture for nearly half a century. "Cathay was the first Chinese res-

taurant to move away from the simpler tastes of Cantonese to the spicier Szechuan and Hunan cuisine," he added

With well over forty quality restaurants in Gulshan and Banani serving primarily the wealthy, many fast of them fast food joints serving cheaper versions of foreign cuisine, upscale restaurants have started finding innovative ways to reach out to the humbler. Some restaurant owners offer cheaper buffets, while others have opened up new restaurants offer-ingcheaper versions of their cuisine.

Buffets costing between Tk. 250 5 XJ per person is available at places like of Sajna, Lemon Grass and Topkapi. In fact introduction of buffet meals has boosted the business ofmanyrestaurants.

If the. numbers of people pouring in at places like ©Corner, Lemon Grass, Samarkand and Khazanaare to be taken as an Indicator, the fasting growing foreign cuisine among Bangladeshis in Dhaka areThai and Indian cuisine, a close second in popularity to the ever-popukir Chinese cuisine.