Baz has been running Taj on Lark Lane since 2020
Baz Miah opened up on life in one of the city’s favourite destinations(Image: Liverpool Echo)
If you’re one of the many to have spent their weekends perusing the shops, pubs and restaurants of Lark Lane, then the chances are you’ve come across one of the oldest standing and most well-loved Indian restaurants in the city.
Sandwiched between Number 13 gift shop and Bar 25 on Lark Lane, Taj, has long since become known as the best place in south Liverpool to enjoy a curry, with one regular even going as far as to say they serve the “best shawarma in the city”.
Poras’ journey to running one of the city’s oldest Indian restaurants can be traced back to when his dad, Rofik Miah, 72, made the leap and moved from Sylhet, Bangladesh, to Liverpool in the 1960s. He said: “My dad came in the 1960s and as a young man he started working in various restaurants as a kitchen porter and then he worked in a restaurant on Bold Street called Asha and then he left there and moved to a restaurant called Indian Delight.”
Taj has been a favourite of locals ever since it first opened in 2020(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Having spent his career working his way up across various city centre venues, in 2004 the opportunity came along for Rofik to open his own restaurant. After seizing the opportunity to buy the vacant 15-21 Lark Lane, Rofik called on the assistance of his son.
Looking back to the early days working alongside has dad, Poras, or Baz as he’s known by friends and family, recalled how his dad helped instil some of the qualities that would hold him in good stead for a career in the hospitality industry. He said: “He taught me how the food should be cooked, what people liked, what people don’t like, he taught us customer service skills and how to run the businesses.”
While Rofik later made the decision to part ways with the business in 2016, Brasserie Rouge acquired the site. But when, in 2020, the opportunity came along for Baz, 45, to start running the business himself, he took it with both hands.
Baz recalled how his dad helped him learn the skills required to succeed in the industry(Image: Liverpool Echo)
And, it was calls from locals that had been a driving force in Baz making the decision to start running the restaurant. He said: “The customers kept on telling us ‘you need to come back’ because Lark Lane is missing an Indian.”
Despite suffering some of the same difficulties that many other independent businesses faced amid the outbreak of Coronavirus, Baz has seen his business go from strength to strength in recent years.
As he looks back over his time running the restaurant, he reflects fondly on how he and his family have felt a keen sense of belonging over the years. He said: “This is home for us really. Liverpool is very friendly, when it comes to diversity, it’s very friendly. It’s a place where all cultures can come together.”
Taj is one of many popular eateries on Lark Lane(Image: Liverpool Echo)
While he has no plans to retire any time soon, Baz says that he one day hopes to hand the business down to his own children, who have loved spending time in the restaurant over the years as they celebrate birthdays and family get togethers. His wife, Jahanara, has also been a source of constant inspiration over the years, with Baz telling me that it was her idea to introduce the hugely popular sweet chilli halloumi to the menu.
As he looks closer to home, and the community spirit on Lark Lane more particularly, he said: “We’re the only Indian on Lark Lane, which works very well for us and since the Red Fort days people have really loved us and now back as the Taj, where we’ve been about six years now.”
He continued: “It’s a very tight knit community, everybody knows everybody, everyone is there to help each other, loads of different businesses, there’s very nice bars on Lark Lane.”