A tour through Whitechapel’s Little Bengal

From cafes to bakeries to curry-based pizzas, Italian-Bangladeshis are making their mark on Whitechapel and beyond.

Just over a decade ago, a unique group began to settle in East London. They had travelled in search of employment and stability in Europe. Twenty years later, they and their families moved again to the heart of the worldwide Bengali diaspora: the East End of London.

This group had settled first in Italy and then in Tower Hamlets, bringing two cultures with them. From an epicentre on the corner of Cannon Street, Italian Bengali Twice Migrants have, over the past decade, radiated east.

Government data backs this up. The Italian-born population of Tower Hamlets has risen by 246% since 2011. The borough has had Italian residents for centuries, as reflected in spots like E Pellici or Quarantecinque. However, Tower Hamlets Council argues that the recent increase is probably “reflective of the large Italian community of Bangladeshi ethnic origin.”

Alongside this new group, a subsection of cafés, bakeries, restaurants, and shops has sprung up further and further east of Whitechapel. I went on a tour of these spots, dotted from Cannon Street to Roman Road, to get a taste of this unique Bengali, Italian and (increasingly) English fusion.

Roots: Caffè Italia

In the 1990s, Bangladesh faced high unemployment, limited industrial jobs, and widespread poverty. At the same time, Italy’s growing clothing, agriculture, construction, and catering industries were hungry for labour.

This match led to 20,000–30,000 Bangladeshis – mainly young men – entering the Italian workforce during the decade. After years of work, these men qualified for citizenship and brought their families to Italy. Citizenship also meant they could move anywhere in the EU under the Schengen agreement.

The established Bengali community, colonial links, usefulness of the English language, and quality of education pulled thousands of these Italian Bangladeshis and their families to London.

The original hub for the group was Caffè Italia, a small coffee shop on a corner between Whitechapel and Shadwell.

Its director, Abdul Hannan, insists that his was the first Italian-Bangladeshi coffee shop in London. It has sat on the corner for 13 years. Before that, Abdul worked in a Milan café for 26 years.

The fusion becomes clearer the longer you’re inside. At first glance, it is a classic Italian deli: glass-fronted cabinets displaying pastries and sandwiches, functional seating, and bags of local biscuits, drinks, and teas arranged on benches along the walls.

But deliberate Bengali touches colour the picture. Alongside biscotti, campagnoli, and Kinder snacks on the wall sit Bengali teas. Samosas display as prominently as the croissants and cannoli. Customers can have their Italian filone bread sandwich cold or toasted, filled with cheese, salad, or chicken curry (dotted with enough sliced chilli to challenge a Western palate).

The food isn’t the main focus, though. The heart of the café is the hulking stainless steel coffee machine, which Abdul, pointing to its tricolour logo, assured me is Italian (British coffee is “no good”).

One of the most strikingly un-British elements is the way patrons use the space. There is always at least one, and usually several, Bengali patrons leaning on the small counter, chatting amongst themselves, with the barista, or scrolling on their phones. The chairs seem almost superfluous, and notably, they don’t point at the tables but rather out into the room.

While I sat there, a revolving door of middle-aged Bengali men–in suits, jeans, or high-vis jackets – came to chat for a minute or an hour in a mix of languages. Occasionally, the barista would head out to the workmen outside with a snack in hand.

Italian coffee culture has also taken hold. While other pours are offered, patrons seem to exclusively drink macchiatos, which they knock back. Abdul gave me one for free. It was rich, a little creamy, and I spent the rest of the day vibrating.

Spread: Reverie Bakery

Reverie Bakery is one of the more recently established Italian-Bengali cafés in Whitechapel. It is a five-minute walk from Caffè Italia, along a street marked with Milan-branded clothing shops.

Generally, the Italian Bangladeshis hail from a different region than the established Tower Hamlets Bengali diaspora.

Migrants have travelled from the Indian subcontinent to the colonial capital in London since the 17th century. Thanks to its proximity to Kolkata (Calcutta), its riverside credentials, and its reputation for hardship and hard work, the region of Sylhet became the recruiting ground for the East India Company in the 18th and 19th centuries. After their stints sailing for the commercial titan had ended, many decided to settle in their colonisers’ booming capital.

The far more recent Bangladeshi emigration to Italy came from outside the north-east Sylhet region. Sylheti food is known for its spice, sourness (from ingredients such as tamarind and dried mango), and reliance on fresh herbs rather than dried spices. In wider Bangladesh, dried spices and more rounded flavours dominate.

This is prominent in places like Reverie Bakery, where the curried pastries and sandwiches are warming and rich rather than tangy and fiery. Perhaps because it was established, as the Italian-Bangladeshi community had merged more firmly into London, the English elements are also clearer. Rahman, one of the baristas, moved from Genoa to London in 2017.

The same key features are present: an Italian-branded coffee machine, cannoli next to samosas and singaras, and tikka sandwiches. But out of the billowing ovens in the back arrive snacks with a more British flair. Greggs seems to have influenced this café, judging by the chicken sausage rolls and tikka pastries warming on display.

Roman Road and onwards

As the data and shop owners indicate, the Italian portion of East London’s Bengali population is expanding. North of Cannon Street, Bella Villa serves Italian food out of a wood-fired oven. Its elderly owner worked in restaurants in Rome for years, where he picked up his delicacy: roasted fish.

Even where the community has not clearly spread, their culinary tastes have. The owner of Stepney Green’s Café Fresh told The Independent that his Bangladeshi and Milanese sister-in-law taught him how to make proper coffee. And on Globe Town’s stretch of the Roman Road, Rays Curry Base Pizza offers dozens of different curry toppings, with Bangladeshi bases such as hidol shutki featuring prominently.

Most Italian-Bangladeshi shops, restaurants, and cafés don’t advertise themselves as such. Many other places in Tower Hamlets have likely been, subtly or overtly, influenced by this specific cultural blend. Little Bengal adds another dimension to a borough already famous for serving distinctive flavours made by people whose cultures developed them.

If you liked this, read: How the curry house generation has paved the way for second-generation British-Bangladeshis to create a ‘new-wave’ Bengali cuisine