An evening at the Bengal Brasserie in York was attended by both the Lord Mayor and Sheriff of the city, when a total of £1,059 was raised for their chosen charities; The British Heart Foundation and mental health charity Our Celebration.
General Manager Iqbal Chowdhury, along with his business partner Malik Dobir and Executive Chef Mohon Miah, have raised a total of £21,000 for charities over the past 15 years at their popular chain of restaurants located in Yorkshire.
The Bengal Brasserie is also close to the Lord Mayor Cllr Sue Galloway’s heart – she orders a takeaway from the restaurant every week.
Other VIPs, local dignitaries and guests at the event included the Sheriff of York, Cllr Richard Watson, former Lord Mayor Cllr Steve Galloway, Cllr Andrew Waller; leader of City of York Council and Cllr Ian Gillies leader of the Conservative Group.
Diners were served a mixture of traditional and modern dishes created by the award-winning British Fusion Chef, Mohon Miah. The range of starters including fresh white fish marinated and deep fried in batter, Chicken Tikka and Sheek Kebabs, main courses comprised subtly flavoured Chicken Korma, lamb and vegetarian dishes and the traditional Bangladeshi dessert of Roshogolla made from balls of chhena (Indian cottage cheese) and semolina dough went down a treat.
Entertainment was handled by pianist Kieran White, who played a range of favourites and classical music throughout the night, having provided his services free of charge.
Later, Iqbal and Malik, along with Iqbal’s daughter Farihah and son Abid, were happy to present a monster cheque to the Lord Mayor. “We’re highly delighted with the result,” said Mr Chowdhury, “We’ve only succeeded in raising this amount of money over the years because of the tremendous support we’ve been given by our loyal customers and staff.”