With the holy month of Ramadan already crossing a third of its annual tenure, it is quickly becoming time for having Iftar outside with friends and families, now that shopping will keep them busy for most of the day.

The traditional way of having iftar by breaking your fast eating home-cooked delicacies are still prevalent. However, the commercial restaurants and hotels have joined in and made special arrangements with a variety of offers for both Iftar and Sehri. Almost every street in Dhaka has at least one temporary iftar shop and even small tea stalls put a table in front and sell common iftar delicacies.

During the afternoon, the whole jam-packed city becomes busy with the preparation of both buying and selling iftar. Known for the extravagancy of its iftar, Dhaka city has many iftar places worth a visit and items worth a try. Here's a roundup of some ways to have iftar around town.

Traditional picks

Throughout history, before all these big fancy restaurants swarmed Dhaka, the city's people still had their iftars in a grand manner. The city has been known for its traditional iftar and the fame of old Dhaka's iftar is related to our heritage.

Old Dhaka proudly boasts the heritage of magnanimously celebrating the iftar tradition of the country. When it comes to old Dhaka, Chawk Bazaar happens to be the best place for iftar, as it had been for years. When talking about Chawk, the first thing we talk about is the legendary 'Boro Baaper Polae Khaye' which happens to be a massive get together of many ingredients like liver, heart, lentils etc. and is itself a full meal. Other delicacies include roasted quail, pigeons, chicken, mutton leg, shuti kebab, doi bora and so on.

A tremendous amount of kebabs and chaaps are available in Old Dhaka. Bismillah Kabab Ghor has a variety of kebab and chap including tikia, jali kebab, gorur chap, gorur boti, khashir gurda, murgir chap, khashir khiri, murgir gila kolija and so on and the price of these ranges between Tk 10 to Tk 100.

Royal Restaurant, located in Lalbagh, is one of the most popular particular restaurants to have a traditional iftar, with a royal menu of chicken tandoori, boti kebab, doi bora, shish kebab. After having a 'Dhakaiya' iftar the deal doesn't seem worthy without an amazing drink. You can gulp the sherbets, borhani, labang, faluda at 'Beauty', 'Shahi juice' or 'Royal restaurant'. Royal's nut shake, that they call 'badam shorbot' is said to have a heavenly taste and a litre may cost Tk 250.

Other than the eateries in Old Dhaka and the numerous street-side restaurants all over the city, restaurants like Star Kebab, Al-Razzaq, Riziq, Handi, Korai Gosht etc also produces traditional iftar delicacies to enjoy with friends and family within a reasonable price.

Iftar offers

Going out and having new and exotic food for iftar and Sehri is not a new trend anymore in this city. Throughout the holy month, everyone rushes to return back home before iftar, causing vast traffic jam all around town. Which is why it is very reasonable to have your iftar at a restaurant with some friends or co-workers. Starting from the five star hotels to fine dining restaurants of the city, there are loads of iftar offers. All you have to do is to decide according to your budget, taste and preferred ambience.

Exotic hotels such as Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Hotel Radisson Blu, Amari Dhaka etc. regularly offers buffet iftars, indulging the customers to the traditional delicacies as well as international ones. These offers serve premium quality food at a premium price.

The pizza places have become the hottest places of Dhaka for buffet iftar in recent years. All the pizza and Italian places, such as Sbarro, Pizza Hut, Veni Vidi Vici, Pizza Guy, Pizza Inn, Pizza Roma etc. offers buffet pizza and drinks for less than tk 1000 per person. These are great places to go with a group and bring your competitive spirit and swallow slices after slices of pizzas. Most of the places reward the person who swallowed most slices with gifts, and titles on social media as well!

Apart from these, a number of restaurants such as Nando's , Gloria Jeans, Baton Rouge, Khazana, Watercress, etc. offer 'Iftar-cum-dinner' buffets. The price range is roughly between Tk 800 to Tk 1,500. Nando's has 'hungry', 'very hungry' and 'full platter' iftar offers starting from Tk 899 to Tk 2,499.

After a long tiring day of fasting, to avoid long queues for takeaways or traffic jam you may order food online through home delivery services like pathao food, foodpanda or hungrynaki.

These are the places and options to taste the traditional meals of the country. However, the best option always is to eat home cooked meals. Wherever and whatever you decide to eat, a balanced food plan containing healthy ingredients will help you enjoy your iftar while maintaining your health and energy. n