KARACHI: A former Pakistani expat who worked in Saudi Arabia for 32 years, mostly in the food and construction industries, has launched an Arab food stall in the port city of Karachi, with the venture getting such positive reviews from customers that the owner plans to expand it into a full-fledged restaurant beyond the holy month.

This is not the first time Ali, 52, has dabbled in the food business. In 2021, after returning to his hometown of Karachi, he set up a halwa puri stall which did not do well, forcing him to shut down the venture and take up a job at a garment factory.

This Ramadan, he decided to try his hand at food again, launching a stall called “The Arabic Cuisine,” which offers falafel, basbousa, a type of semolina cake, and Khaliat Al Nahl, honeycomb style bread stuffed with cheese. The venture has been a hit.

“Saudi food is delicious. I don't say this, this is what my returning customers say,” Ali told Arab News at his stall in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of Karachi.

For Pakistani taste buds, Ali adds more spices to the Middle Eastern recipes.

“I tell [the customers] to try it once and you will come back for sure,” he said.

And they always do.

Ali’s small stall, which comprises a table and a standee featuring daily price charts, attracts people from far and wide, with most of his customers never having lived in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere in the Middle East but still wanting to try something new.

“I had read about falafel on a food blog and when I came to know about the stall, I came to pick a couple of them for myself,” Muneer Pathan, a customer who works at a private firm, told Arab News. “This is the first time I am buying it. I will finally taste it at iftar.”

Ali and his wife begin preparing the food items after the pre-fast suhoor meal. They also do home deliveries. 

“It has to be fresh and to be cooked during the same day and thus require hard work,” he said. 

The family picked up the cooking skills when they lived in the kingdom.

“Iftar used to be a great occasion during our stay in Saudi Arabia," Ali said. "In the beginning, we would purchase cooked meals from the market as it was so much cheaper, but we then started making it at home as well. That is now helping us.”

The entrepreneur now plans to take his success beyond Ramadan.

“I will take this stall to the next level hopefully,” he said as he handed over a box of falafel to a customer, “and will make it a restaurant that offers a good menu of Arab food for foodies in Karachi.”