Restaurants

By Guy Dimond

The Tayyab family came from the Punjab in Pakistani in 1972, and set up their first daytime café, simply called ‘Tayyab Kebab House’, at 89 Fieldgate Street, on the former site of a cockney caff. Owner Mohammed Tayyab was the uncle of the proprieter of the longer-established Lahore Kebab House on nearby Umberston Street, established the year before. At the time, Fieldgate Street rang out with the combined cacophony of music from the pub, drunken shouts from the massive homeless hostel next door, industrial noise from the many rag-trade factories in neighbouring streets and calls to prayer from the East London Mosque (originally on the Commercial Road, but moved to its present site on Whitechapel Road in 1975).

Wasim Tayyab, the current manager, says: ‘Back then, there were a lot of men in the area living in shared accommodation, whose wives were back in Pakistan or Bangladesh. They couldn’t cook very well themselves, so my father set up his café to cater for them.’ The kitchens at the back of Tayyab’s comprised part of what was the Ashkenazi Vine Court Synagogue, which closed in 1965 – just one example of the strata of settlement which characterises East End history. The caff proved a success, and the also opened Tayyab Sweet Centre at 85 Fieldgate Street opened in 1982.

My first visit to Tayyab was in 1992. Myself and my fellow reviewer were the only non-Asians in the place, and I remember the manager very politely informing us: ‘It’s okay to bring in your own alcohol, no charge. But please keep it out of the sight of other customers, out of respect for them.’ We spent the meal furtively topping up our glasses from a carrier bag under the table.

The meal was sensational: smoky Punjabi grilled meats, earthy dahl, and the best tandoor-cooked breads I’d eaten since I had lived in India. This assured Tayyab a place in our next annual Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide – and the low prices also ensured its place in our next annual Cheap Eats guide in the weekly magazine.

Although Tayyab had been open for nearly two decades, I was, as far as I’m aware, the first food writer or restaurant critic to write about Tayyab. Its coverage by Time Out ensured not just its popularity with a wider community and its growth, but also changed the complexion of diners. I returned at least once a year for the Eating Guide, and watched as more and more white faces – like mine – appeared, and the BYO bottles of booze started to be more boldly displayed on the tables.

By 1996, Tayyab had expanded into two premises – the original at no 89, and new, larger premises at no 83, in a former Victorian pub called The Queen’s Head. Tayyabs changes name slightly, and became a destination for City folk soon after. But our reviewers noticed a dip in culinary standards on a series of visits. We reluctantly decided to drop it as a recommendation. But in recent years we noticed that standards had picked up again – and it’s been back on form ever since.

These days, it’s rare to find Tayyabs without a queue on any evening of the week. It throngs with post-prayer Muslims, boisterous groups of suits, and young and trendy members of the East End’s latest wave of immigrants. The food (and its low prices) remains the main draw – in recent weeks we’ve enjoyed mild dhals with baby aubergines, sweet and puffy peshwari naan, succulent, herby seekh kebabs and, of course, the dish that crowds flock from miles around to try – the famous barbecued tandoori lamb chops.

Time Out October 2009