Dhanmondi: A neighbourhood for restaurants and food

Dhanmondi, the crown jewel of Dhaka, where the streets are paved with gold… or rather, lined with restaurants, offers you the best city life. If you ever find yourself in this excessively vibrant and chaotic neighbourhood, you will soon discover that your life revolves around one thing: food!

Welcome to the land of restaurants where breakfast, lunch, and dinner are nothing but milestones between one restaurant visit and another.

Firstly, Dhanmondi's strategic location is the hub of Dhaka's hustle and bustle. Surely, you will enjoy all the conveniences that a resident might expect from paying one kidney per month in house rent.

But what other costs will you need to pay for the luxury? Stay tuned; we will show you the light.

While the rest of Dhaka may mock Dhanmondi's single-minded devotion to dining, the real residents know there is more to life than food. Well, sort of. Yes, the streets might be paved with restaurant QR codes, but they are also dotted with departmental stores, pharmacies, and other essentials that no desire goes unsatisfied or unmet.

Need groceries? Just a hop away. Craving a late-night snack? Countless eateries await your order. Need a relaxing walk? A 3-km-long lake sidewalk is ready for you with smugglers after sunset, just to give you a thrill of Mohammadpur.

That being said, Dhanmondi is not just about stuffing your mouth with unbelievably expensive and utterly unhealthy dishes; it is also a heaven for hopeless romantics.

Enter the Venice of Dhaka, the mighty Dhanmondi Lake, where you will see street children blowing polythene instead of balloons, hijras giving you the attention that you never got from your teenage crush, and last but not least, lovebirds blossoming their love (or something like it) behind the bushes or on the boats of Venice, AKA Dingi.

The nightlife of Dhanmondi is another adventure itself. The party never stops, mainly because the sound of honking cars is the neighbourhood's chosen soundtrack. Who needs to sleep when you have your free-of-cost orchestra of the streets entertaining you through the night?

From single life to family life- Dhanmondi never disappoints. Are you wondering about sending your child to a well-known fancy school? Habibi, come to Dhanmondi. It is filled with fancy English medium schools on every other street, where the tuition fees beat the GDP of some small nations. These schools are like exclusive clubs with premium subscriptions for rich kids.

The quote "They laughed at my dreams, now I laugh at their lifestyle" perfectly fits the super expensive lifestyle of Dhanmondi people. From the bright chandeliers of the fashion boutiques to the luxurious high-rise apartments, every corner of Dhanmondi whispers (or rather, shouts) "Expensive"!

Having an apartment here is not just about having a roof over your head; it is about having a designer roof with a matching designer lifestyle. Here, even the air you breathe comes with an additional 15% VAT. So, if you are planning to move to Dhanmondi, be prepared to pay the price for the privilege of calling this posh place 'home.'

Now, why will you empty your lifelong savings to have a permanent residence in Dhanmondi? The answer is- a front-row seat to the greatest show of nothingness. It is a place where the glitter of the 'good life' blinds you so much that you cannot see the emptiness inside.

Your neighbours here will be too occupied to drop by, even at festivals. Living here is like attending a party, where everyone is too busy trying to outshine each other rather than having fun. The question remains- is it worth the price you will pay to say, "I live in Dhanmondi"…

So, if you have decided to move to Dhanmondi, make sure to bring a lot of appetite because that is the only thing you will need while living amidst this urban jungle of restaurants.

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