Lord Mayor of Portsmouth breaks from tradition to serve curry from Southsea restaurant
HISTORY has been made at the Lord Mayor’s banqueting hall in Portsmouth as an external caterer served dinner to University delegates for the first time.
Chefs from The Akash, in Albert Road in Southsea, dished up a selection of Bangladeshi courses to the leadership team of the University of Portsmouth after being invited by Lord Mayor Lee Mason.
Faz Ahmed, from The Akash, said: ‘Cooking for the Lord Mayor and his guests was a huge privilege. It was quite nerve racking the fact the Lord Mayor broke protocol and tradition, but it was an exciting experience too.
‘My brother Jafor and I are humbled by the recognition we’ve received. As we are both University of Portsmouth alumni it means a lot to support their event.’
The city of Portsmouth is twinned with Sylhet, a city at eastern Bangladesh, as well as all the chefs at The Akash being Bangladeshi.
Cllr Lee Mason said: ‘The meal went brilliantly, and the team fed us well.’
Chris Chang, from the university, said: ‘We value the work that is being done by Portsmouth and its Bangladeshi community to establish closer links.’