Much-loved Barnard Castle restaurant Babul’s is undergoing a refurb ahead of a make or break year.
Owner Zak Ahmed told the Mercury that investment in January is essential to keep the award-winning Indian restaurant prosperous in testing times.
“We’re here for the long haul,” he insisted. “In the current financial climate, when our costs have gone up already and will go up again in April, some people might question why we are putting money in. But if we don’t put money in now, I don’t think we’ll see out the year.
“Sometimes, financially, it might make sense to close. But this is dad’s restaurant, we still think of it as dad’s even though he’s not here anymore.
“This is his legacy and we have to preserve that.”
Like many hospitality businesses, an extended cost of living crisis has been compounded by increases in the minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions. Those will take effect in April, prompting pre-emptive action from Babul’s.
An all-new kitchen means the Barnard Castle restaurant can offer the same menu as its highly successful sister in Darlington. The closure of the cocktail lounge and the creation of a bigger and better ground floor bar should bring additional revenue.
And a leaner, more efficient kitchen and service set-up is designed to maintain current standards while keeping staffing costs under control.
The Market Place venue will be closed for a couple of weeks before takeaway services resume. Full reopening is planned for February.
Although most of the changes are behind the scenes, diners will notice a new menu. Signature dishes from Darlington, including the popular Railway Lamb, will now be available in Barney.
There’s also a greater emphasis on street food and sharing plates – highlighting how eating out has changed.
“It’s not about the long, old-fashioned dining experience where you have a long meal, course-by-course,” Mr Ahmed added. “People don’t want that anymore, they want good, fresh quality food quickly then go on to whatever they are doing next.
“We’re a day-to-day restaurant, our brand is in that fast, casual market.”
The other change is the new downstairs cocktail bar.
“We have to increase revenue without putting our prices sky high, and the only way to do that is to have more people coming in for drinks,” Mr Ahmed said.
“Our Darlington restaurant is flying, and that’s partly because people can drop in for a drink without always staying for a meal.”
