Lahore is a city of mix ethnicity and classes, but there is one thing that unites us all i.e. ‘Food’. Lahorites may be different from each other on many grounds, but there is one place which is common – they love to eat. Be it a Chai ka Dhaba or Posh Restaurant, Lahorites love to visit the eateries. We are a nation that loves to eat and feed others. Guests are treated with the utmost respect and ever-present chai trolley and meal, whenever and wherever possible.
Since cuisine or food is a major part of the culture and Lahore have layers of cultures coming from different communities bringing their cuisine. The history of the Lahore cuisine has an influence of Central Asian, South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. The love of food seems to be embedded in people of Lahore before the western influences came. Lahorites are always known for their exotic taste in food. It is said that: “Lahore has its feet in history and its heart and soul in food.”
This love of food leads us to have entire streets dedicated to food only. Like Anarkali Food Street, Gawalmandi Food Street, and Lahore Fort Food Street. Between having the food streets and now food courts, Lahore’s urban fabric developed in synchronisation with the local eateries. The food factor is deeply embedded in the public spaces of Lahore. Nowadays, to have a lively public space, food carts or restaurant is a must tool in that space.
Any form of social interaction in a public space feels incomplete without food. There is the growing trend of cafe culture among the masses, particularly among the youth. A large number of cafes, restaurants, fast-food outlets, dhabas and informal eateries have mushroomed all over the city targeting Lahorites from various socioeconomic backgrounds. This trend has impacted the eating habits and preferences, social interactions, gender relations, public exposure, and lifestyle. That lifestyle further dictates the public spaces of Lahore.
Let’s dive into history to understand how the public spaces with food developed over the years according to the dining out patterns of Lahorites. In the early independence days, it was more common for single males to eat out and the traditional dhabas would cater mostly to male bachelors. Females would rarely eat out independently. The famous Gawalmandi Food Street came into being after independence with lots of dhabas.
“After partition, Gawalmandi was the first properly developed area outside of the walled city in Lahore. It had already become a residential community after 1911. Later on, it was the Gulberg of its time,” said the chairman of Gawalmandi Street.
The people who migrated from different areas and belong to different cultures get settled in Gawalmandi. Most of them were craftsmen or businessmen. For their livelihood, the migrated folks started their shops in the front portion of their houses because of the lack of employment opportunities. Some of the skilled people put up food stalls along the street.
The food stalls gradually en-rooted until each corner of the street was offering something unique. For instance, the Sikhs from Amritsar who settled in Gawalmandi introduced gram flour-coated fried fish. This was the famous 'Sardar Fish'. The recipe has almost become an identity of Lahore now. Similarly, barbeque techniques and various types of falooda were introduced by the families whose ancestors were pehelwans. The Kashmiris brought with them Hareesa. The rich doodh-jalebi concoction also found fame in Gawalmandi. This is how the diverse population each brought something unique forms the major food street in the urban fabric of Lahore, which is now the major public space to dine out or to meet and greet.
Moreover, being surrounded by centuries-old buildings makes the exotic experience of dining out in the cultural settlement. To manage the public area of Gawalmandi, the food street is open to traffic in the morning but as the sun sets, the street is closed to motorised vehicles and accessed only by pedestrians.
In the late 70’s many new restaurants offering Desi food, Chinese cuisine and fast food opened up. Families started dining out in these restaurants. In the late ’90s eating out culture underwent a rapid transformation as fast-food chains came to Pakistan. Pizza Hut opened its first branch in 1993, KFC started in 1997 and McDonalds in 1998. These outlets provided an appealing space to dine out with a comfortable and refreshing ambience. Later in the 20th century, Pakistan had caught up with cafe culture when Masooms Cafe and Coffee Tea and Company (CTC) opened their branches in Lahore. After that, many cafes brought the wave of coffee house culture in Lahore. They quickly established a good reputation and became the place of socializing, hanging out with friends and family and eating together. They were visited by families, students and working professionals.
In the following years, the trend spread like wildfire and cafes started mushrooming in the city. Due to the process of globalisation and increased exposure and awareness among people, Lahorites welcomed this cultural change. Over the last ten year, numbers of cafes and restaurants are inaugurated in Gulberg and Defence Area. The dining out culture has also spread to the areas like Johar Town and Wapda Town. Now along with the traditional food streets, the urban fabric of Lahore incorporated the streets like MM Alam Road or public spaces like the Mall 1 Gulberg with lots of eateries in it.
Lahore is also a home of thinkers and writers. Literary and artistic activity in Lahore has traditionally revolved around cafes and restaurants. These places became the haunts of intellectuals, writers and artists who spent hours drinking endless cups of tea on subjects which were close to their hearts.
In pre-partition times, a tea house named as ‘India Tea House’ is home to many famous writers like Saadat Hassan Manto, Faiz Ahmed Faiz Intizar Hussain and Munir Niazi. After partition, the name of the tea house was changed into ‘Pak Tea House’. Over time, Pak tea house lost its essence and converted its essence into the modern cafes like Books and Bean Cafe or The Last Word. Down the lane, sometimes we think that Lahore might have lost its intellectual aspect. But I think it’s just converted into ways which resonated more with the modern-day public. Like now we have a literary festival, book reading, creative talks and many more activities in these cafe surroundings with the presence of chai, coffee and food.
So, all of you who belongs to Lahore or had been to Lahore must have seen the love of Lahorites for food widely visible in the urban context of Lahore. Lahore here we have whole streets dedicated to food, food piazzas, various malls with food courts and food carts almost along every street. The food carts on the streets of Lahore are one of the vibrant factors of lively Lahore Street. As you go around the streets of Lahore, the passing-by food carts or roadside cafes remind you of some lingering memory, a bittersweet argument or a heartfelt meet up with friends. The writer and novelist Bapsi Sidhwa said jokingly in Lahore Literary festival, “If you run an eating place in Lahore, you are bound to succeed.” That’s how much we love food and successful food business is here.
P.s Food Photography done by our friends Abeera Zaheer and Salman Amjad.
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