Mezzan, a restaurant chain, thrives on Ctg cuisine

Mezban, a social festival of the southeast division of Chattogram, is appealing not only to residents of the region, but also to people from other parts of the country.

Traditionally, the social feast takes place marking occasions such as death or birth anniversaries and marriage. And many people other than residents of Chattogram want to participate in the event to feel the warmth of the festival.

Today it is possible.

Barcode Restaurant Group, based in Chattogram, has set up restaurants in the port city and the capital Dhaka to enable food lovers to taste the Mezbani meal, mainly consisting of steamed white rice and beef curry, without having to wait for the festival.

The journey began in 2015 from the largest port city of the country and it attracted guests within a couple of months after the launch.

"Many of my friends often wanted to participate in Mezban and the idea behind opening a restaurant only for Mezbani food originated from that," said Monjurul Hoque, founder of Barcode Restaurant Group.

Hoque initially started with Barcode café in the port city. Later, he decided to open a specialised restaurant named Mezzan Haile Aaiun so that people can celebrate Mezban every day of the week.

He initially began the venture with Tk 30 lakh and seven employees even though the idea was not encouraged by his peers and family members.

Hoque said people were hesitant to visit the restaurant at first as they were not sure whether they would get the authentic taste of Mezban.

Locally termed Mejjan, the festival is most popular and widely practised in the Chattogram region but it is well-known throughout the country, according to Banglapedia.

And over the last seven years, Barcode increased the number of outlets to nine, of which five are in Chattogram and four are in Dhaka. In addition, Barcode opened a branch of Mezzan in the United Arab Emirates.

Hoque wants to increase the number of outlets to 15 by 2024 with Cox's Bazar and Sylhet being the next two destinations for Mezzan.

"We want to expand Mezzan throughout the country," he said.

Apart from offering the popular Mezbani food, Barcode has opened another restaurant named Bir Chattala, where it serves traditional Bangla foods such as rice, pulses, and curries in an ambiance of local culture and tradition.

Barcode has two outlets for traditional Bangla foods to serve guests in the port city.

In addition, it has opened another restaurant called Omerta to serve foodies who want to taste Korean, Italian, Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

And a branch of all these outlets are available at a single point, namely Food Junction, where food lovers can taste different dishes including sub-continental foods.

Barcode currently has a workforce of more than 500 employees serving more than 2,000 guests daily, up from nearly 300 guests during the initial days of the restaurant.