The Grill & Spice
Over the last decade, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of Bangladeshi and Pakistani-owned restaurants (and cafés) operating on Osborn Street, on the south side of Brick Lane.
One Brick Lane restaurant owner said:
‘There used to be something like eight [Pakistani and Bangladeshi] restaurants on Osborn Street, but most of them have gone.’
Some of these curry houses have found new lives, for example as a Brazilian street-food outlet and a South African barbecue specialist. Further, a Bangladeshi café that closed in 2019 has morphed into an unusual combination of Turkish barbershop and foreign exchange bureau.
Grill & Spice is one of only two remaining Bangladeshi-owned establishments on Osborn Street. It is a fast-food café, which sells chicken wings, burgers, kebabs and chips, alongside biryanis, curries and chicken tikka. The café is open every day until the very early hours, when there is high demand from local taxi drivers.