'I want to revive it': Iconic Monty's in Southsea to reopen as restaurant with new owner keen to preserve history
After announcing its shocking closure back in 2023, a prominent restaurant, and bar is getting ready to reopen next month with the new owner excited to ‘revive it’.
Monty’s Restaurant and Bar, in Castle Road, closed down in 2023 after being a key part of the food and drink scene since 2016, with the unit remaining - until now.
Naz Islam, who previously owned the Belmont Kitchen in Bedhampton, said he ‘fell in love’ with the ‘beautiful’ restaurant, which will now be known as Zafraan.
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The 39-year-old said the new venue will showcase the culinery delights of Turkish and Indian cuisine with a split menu combining the two.
Naz said: “Castle Road is one of the most beautiful roads in Portsmouth because it is a boutique road. There are lots of unique and wonderful shops - I saw the place and fell in love with it because of the road and decided to take it.
“Turkish and Indian are the best cuisines in my opinion so I’m going to be offering that - I am going to combine it into one menu so it will be split giving people plenty of choice.”
The restaurant, which is due to open on August 21, is currently undergoing a full refresh while maintaining the integrity of the site, which Naz said, has timeless features.
As well as an extensive dinner menu, Zafraan will also offer breakfast and brunch menus between 10am and 2pm, which will consist of traditional English dishes, as well as authentic Indian and Turkish meals.
Naz added: “Ever since I was a kid, I would always walk past that place and I thought it looked like the place everyone went. I want to revive Monty’s but with a different cuisine with a bar and cocktails.
“I don’t want to strip its history back or change it, I want to give it a new lease of life and revive it. I want to keep the history of Monty’s alive. It is really exciting to take on somewhere that has a brilliant history in the city.
“I am really excited to bring it back to life but with my own spin on it. I have always said if I was to take on a business in Portsmouth, I would want something really unique and this is absolutely perfect.
“On a lot of my social media posts, I’ve been calling the restaurant Zafraan at Monty’s because it’s such an iconic place.”