London’s infamous kiosks and a driven overseas student make history…

The abandoned and unused iconic telephone booths across the UK caught 25-year-old Tayyab Shafiq’s attention and motivated him to turn the neglected kiosks into a food take away. 

The sustainability model of utilizing unused places to produce commercially viable products prompted the engineering graduate to rent booths from the Red Kiosk Company, which works with BT to provide telephone boxes to local businesses. Tayyab says “I wanted to give them a new lease of life. It was my cultural surroundings that inspired me to combine my two worlds into a business. While living in London I wanted to preserve British history yet incorporate my Pakistani origin to bring this concept to life”.

The idea to turn one of London’s iconic telephone booths into a takeaway business had been on his mind since graduating in 2017.Although the venture was not entirely launched until August 2020.Tayyab says: “the fallout in  restaurant dining industry, due to the pandemic, customers are redirected towards takeaways. People are very keen to choose takeaways during this time making our businesses flourish”.

What may have thought to be “small side-hustle” for Tayyab, quickly took headlines by storm and featured in The Sun and Mail Online calling it “the world’s smallest curry house”. 

Tayyab believes this idea will continue to attract clients until dining services reopen and even in the future it would attract tourists because of its link to British heritage. He says “what makes my venture unique is that all the packaging products used in takeaway is with lined with bacteria and germ eliminating protection lining, making it safer than other competitors”

Initially, there was a lot of relevant planning around planning permission, lease and basic investments to make his dream possible. Knowing the short history of the telephone booth is highly necessary before putting them into use. To ensure that it passes all the health and safety requirements.

Establishing a new venture in the time of a global economic downturn was not easy. There were not many people willing to invest in the idea. He says: “At the beginning although people were fascinated by the idea, they did not want to contribute to its conception because of how niche the idea seemed to them”.

Besides his initiatives to transform kiosks, Tayyab is the co-founder of a non-profit organization, “One Million Meals”, which provides with hot meals to feed the NHS staff & vulnerable families during Covid-19.

As for the future, he plans to scale up his idea and open a restaurant in London following the

basis of creating a sustainable environment. His message to everyone in the same position has been to follow your passion, he says: “Go for projects that create impact rather than money – money is the by-product of my efforts, if there is something new out there – it will definitely draw the right attention”.

1. Choccywoccydoodah:

What does it take to become the best of the best? The right amount of sweetness, texture or the ambiance, we decided to find out!

From exotic cakes to exquisite creations of chocolate, you name it, they have it.

Choccywoccydoodah is a colourful cake boutique known for serving it’s customers unique desserts since 1994. The shop features incredible decor of large life-sized cakes and sculptures all made out of chocolate.     

Their Hot Chocolate is a must try, which can be customised with any of your favourite toppings. Choccywoccydoodah puts an out of the world twist to regular cakes and also makes customised Wedding cakes on order.

2.  Wafflemeister:

Wafflemeister is a great choice for quick and ready to go waffles and crepes.

Wafflemeister makes warm buttery waffles daily in store.Their waffles are the perfect density, fluffiness and have a smooth texture. You can top your waffles with a variety of different chocolate sauces and toppings or have them on its own. Waffles are a forever favorite filling sweet treat to satisfy those cravings. Wafflemeister also specializes in making “thick shakes” which are thicker in consistency than a regular milkshake containing just melted ice-cream and toppings.

3.  Bake 麵包屋:

Located in the heart of London, in Chinatown. Bake 麵包屋 (Bake – Bread and Butter) is Popularly known for its Taiyaki ( a Japanese fish-shaped cake). They bake fresh Taiyaki everyday in store, the Taiyaki is filled with soft-serve ice cream and red bean paste.Bake 麵包屋 has some of the most unique soft-serve flavour combinations like green tea and red bean, that you can choose to put in the Taiyaki . The shop also bakes other Japanese treats which give Londoners  a chance to explore traditional flavours of Japan.

4. Treatz Dessert Parlour:

Treatz dessert Parlour is a place that offers one of the best waffles in London at an affordable price. They offer a  vast range of ice cream flavours, milkshakes, and crepes to choose from. All made fresh on order in store. Their specialty is the Irresistible chocolate fondue served warm over a candle is to die for which is served with an assortment of things to dip in.

A calm dessert parlour ambiance with all kinds of sweet treats has to be on top of our list.

5.   Paul Bakery, patisserie, cafe and restaurant:

Paul is a French chain of patisserie and cafe, which also have several locations in London.

The Cafe has a very calm ambiance which is perfect to have Afternoon tea or dig into their special range of French desserts.  French Macaroons are a star of the patisserie, they are larger than the regular macaroon size, packed with a punch of flavours available in classic flavours like raspberry, chocolate, and Vanilla.

There are many other French goodies available like profiteroles, Fruit tarts, and warm croissants. Their profiteroles are our top recommendation because of their light, fluffy and Scrumptious texture.

6. SAID London :

Located in one of the most Vibrant places in  Soho, Central London.

SAID, is a tiny cafe paradise for chocolate lovers. Their authentic Italian hot chocolate is one of a kind containing 80% melted chocolate. Their unique way of serving hot chocolate in a messy cup is what makes it enjoyable. They also have a divine range of chocolate pieces to choose from which have fillings like curry, ginger, waffle, and fruits.No doubt SAID is one of the finest places to have a dessert in London as there is always a small queue outside the cafe.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton