Given Dhaka’s well-known love for the peri-peri flavour, Green and Pepper, a local Bangladeshi restaurant, has aimed to recreate the same flavour for Dhakaites with a local touch.
Rather than replicating existing recipes, they have invested in extensive research and development to create their own signature peri-peri sauces and flavors.
“We recognized Dhaka's enthusiasm for peri-peri flavor after an international brand introduced it to the city. As a local business, we committed ourselves to recreating that signature taste with our own unique recipe," said the Head of Business, Mohammad Hasibul Hosssen.
They serve a variety of dishes, including chicken liver, salads, grilled chicken, peri-peri chicken, and various grilled fish, all served with their in-house sauces.
During our recent visit, we enjoyed the freshness of the salads and the overall quality of the dishes. However, as we started tasting them, we could not help but think that the restaurant could improve its attention to detail, particularly with the sauces and seasonings.
Food
We began our meal with a starter of chicken livers, served with bread and lime. From the first bite, the chicken livers were flavourful and tangy with a fresh squeeze of lemon.
The livers were definitely an exciting starter to begin with. However, the chicken liver could have been slightly less salty, as the salt lingered on the palate far too long.
We had half a grilled chicken that came with a side salad and a choice of two sauces; lemon and herb or hot and tangy. The vegetables were a delightful side dish, they were fresh and just slightly crisp.
While the grilled chicken was well-cooked inside, it lacked flavor or seasoning on its own and relied entirely on the sauces for flavor, rendering the chicken pieces bland without them.
We had to drench the pieces in sauce for flavour, making the sauces feel more like a necessity than a condiment.
The lemon and herb sauce had a sharp taste of lemon with only a slight hint of herbs. The sauce had a light, runny consistency, making it feel a little underwhelming.
The hot and tangy sauce too, while we picked a medium spice level, was not hot at all and was only borderline tangy, leaving minimal impact. Overall, the sauces lacked the punch and depth needed to carry the chicken dish.
Then, we had the barramundi, served with yellow rice and some veggies. Yet again, the veggies worked wonders as the fresh side.
The barramundi had some seasoning on the outer skin, adding some much-needed flavour and a step up from the chicken. The fish fillet itself was soft and nicely cooked.
However, the steamed fish, similar to the chicken, was left bare without any seasoning inside, and though the seasoned skin helped, it was not enough flavour, and ideally, the seasoning should have seeped into the fillet.
Despite the yellow rice and lemon and herb sauce lacking any distinctive flavour, the overall experience of the barramundi was more enjoyable. We do believe that the softness of the fish fillet, the seasoned skin, and the freshness of the veggies all contribute to a better-tasting barramundi dish.
That said, the consistent lack of flavour in both the proteins and the sauces and an over-reliance on those sauces to compensate for the proteins did not bode well for either of the two dishes.
The price range for a meal at Green and Pepper is Tk450 to Tk3,490.
Ambience
The Green and Pepper restaurant is located in Gulshan 2. It offers both indoor and outdoor seating, making it a cozy spot. The interior is warm and straightforward with an open kitchen that lets you catch a glimpse of your food being made, and minimalist furniture as well to go with the easy-going and friendly atmosphere.
Challenges
Green and Pepper opened in 2021 amid uncertainty, as the restaurant sector had taken a hit post-pandemic.
“When we opened, we were in the dark as the restaurant sector at the time was heavily affected by the pandemic,” said Hossen.
With positive feedback from the customers, it took them nine months to reach break-even. “We received such a great response that we reached break-even in our ninth month,” Hossen added.
They had opened their first branch in Bashundhara, but this limited their exposure to only Bashundhara residents. So, they opened a second branch in Gulshan 2.
“We wanted to know what people outside of Bashundhara thought of the fact that a Bangladeshi brand was selling peri peri chicken, so we opened a branch in Gulshan 2,” Hossen also said.
The year 2024 was challenging overall, according to Hossen, due to the political climate, the fire incident on Bailey Road, and economic instability as well.
“2024 was the toughest year that we had to face business-wise; it was rough overall,” Hossen added.
Verdict
You could give their Barramundi dish a shot, and their salads are delightful. But overall, we really feel that they need to focus on attention to detail for their sauces and seasonings.
