From Akbar Dynasty and Spice Garden to Reema and Curry to Go, Mohammed Miah has been involved with, or owned, some of the biggest Indians in the town and region over the last 40 years.
And he’s now set to add one more to the list in the form of Fazz’s Indian Kitchen and Bar, which officially opens on Thursday (January 16).
But all the sought-after bhajis, baltis, and bhunas began in one place, Darlington’s Bondgate when The Garden of India opened up in 1986.
This was the 60-year-old’s first venture in Darlington, a town he had been recommended having learned the restaurant trade from older brother Mr Rafik.
Mohammed Miah (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
And (as they say) the rest is history, with Mr Miah going on to launch more than eight restaurants across the town over the coming years.
They included Reema, on Coniscliffe Road, Curry To Go on Gladstone Street, Spice Garden, on Parkgate, and Akbar Dynasty, off the A66, Vujon, on Houndgate, to name just a few.
But it all started at The Garden of India.
“All of the celebrities used to come,” Mohammed recalled.
The Garden of India, Darlington, in 2009 (Image: GOOGLE)
“There were so many people – we even had the West Indies cricket team! We had Little and Large, The Grumbleweeds…
“I am friends with Javid Majid, who owned the Tall Trees in Yarm, and when celebrities used to go there, he used to tell them to come here.
“Those were good days in the 1980s and 1990s.”
And it wasn’t just the star-studded clientele that packed out The Garden of India, with curry lovers flocking to taste the delicacies through the decades.
“It was so busy that we couldn’t manage, so we had an overflow and used to take people to my other restaurant”, Mo added.
“We were so busy that people had to book two or three months in advance before coming!”
‘I just love Darlington’
Some could say Mo was destined to be in the business, as his dad also had his foot in the door of the restaurant world, with sites across Burnley, Keighley and Guiseley in the 1970s.
After the successes of The Garden of India, Mo, who is originally from Bangladesh and moved to the UK when he was six, decided to move on to new ventures, selling up in 1998.
However, 30 years later he bought it back, revamped it, and reopened it as Akbar The Great.
Since then the firm has moved on to Duke Street, where it rebranded as Abu’s – and while Mo still owned its former Bondgate building, he put it up for sale last January.
“It has been closed for years and I was thinking of selling the property,” Mo, who has been off work for around six years due to health issues, explained.
“But I didn’t, and my cousin came in and said he would open it.”
Enter Fazz’s Indian Kitchen and Bar, which Mo described as a real “family reunion” for him and his cousin Fazlur Rahman, who is taking the helm.
Mohammed Miah and Fazlur Rahman (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
Mo continued: “I’m going to be at the back – but I’ll still be here. After a while, you feel like you want to do something.
“When I go back and look at it, there was no comparison. It’s all about how you serve – a lot of workers don’t even pull the chairs out for customers now!
“Darlington has supported me for all of these years. I just love Darlington and Harrogate… everywhere has been good to me.
“But especially this place and the memories.”
Fazz’s Indian Kitchen (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)
He joked: “[Northern Echo columnist] Mike Amos said he would never eat anywhere else!”
It’s a true full circle moment for Mo, as he prepares to open the new street food style restaurant on Bondgate in the same home as his first in town.
He told The Northern Echo last week that he was “really happy” to be able to support Darlington again – describing the kitchen and bar as “a new challenge” for the family.
He also hopes to introduce all his long-time friends to Fazz at the grand opening on Thursday (January 16): “Hopefully the mayor is coming and we’re going to have all the friends from the 1980s and 1990s coming.
“It’s like a gathering to say thank you to them all.
“I also want to introduce Fazz to them so he knows the customers and everything. Business is very difficult [these days] so it’s all about keeping standards.”
While it’s still located within the same walls as The Garden of India, Mo says everything is new, from the chairs to the decor.
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So what was it like returning to the Bondgate site for Mo? Fazz explained: “When Mo came back in he said: ‘Is this really happening?’”
He added: “This place is special. When you have that background you can feel it.”
You can read more about Fazz’s Indian Kitchen here