Bengal Brasserie (Lisburn Road) in administration

Monday’s Andersonstown News, which featured the very first of my new food and drink columns, featured an interview with Nigel Rahman, the owner of the Bengal Brasserie. Regular readers of the blog will know that the Bengal expanded onto the Lisburn Road at the end of 2009 with a new £2m restaurant.

I interviewed Nigel at the new premises on 15th January. Today’s Belfast Telegraph ran with a story saying that the Lisburn Road Brasserie has went into administration, with Lismore & Co being appointed to take over the running of the restaurant by the High Court on January 26, just 11 days after my interview.

The Lisburn Road premises was developed by Nigel and his then business partner Paul Blythe, the latter left the business in early November (Paul told me this himself by text on November 19th). The Telegraph claim that it is aware of at least three contractors who haven’t been paid for work carried out on the Lisburn Road restaurant (which is still doing brisk trade).

I’ve been told that the administration is just a temporary measure “due to one investor leaving just after opening”. The Telegraph says it contacted the Brasserie to ask for a comment from Nigel but was told he wasn’t available.

However, after I asked the company’s PR representatives for a statement this morning, I was given this response from the Bengal Brasserie Group just five minutes later (published in full): “The Bengal Brasserie is Belfast?s leading Indian restaurant business with five restaurants and a solid 20-year track record.

“The business recently expanded to include a new state-of-the-art restaurant on Belfast?s Lisburn Road. The company is currently restructuring its finances and business will continue as usual.

“The chain of restaurants remains open for business and committed to delivering the very highest quality cuisine possible matched by a world-class service for which the business is renowned.

“Nigel Rahman at the Bengal Brasserie Group would like to thank their many thousands of customers and hundreds of suppliers who continue to support their ventures.”