Last week we visited Leeds and the Bundobust team to discuss an exciting future project! The restaurants are run by  Yorkshire lads Marko and Mayur who are big fans of UW!
If you haven't heard of Bundobust by now, the duo combined their love for Indian Street Food with craft beer under one roof.  And it seems they were on to a good thing as they have just recently opened their fourth restaurant!
We spoke to the team about how the idea came about, how they have found reopening after COVID, and of course beer they also put together a "Good Vibes" playlist for us.



 

Tell us about Bundobust? How did the idea come about to open an Indian Street Food and Craft Beer restaurant?

Bundobust is the lovechild of Marko Husak and Mayur Patel, two friends from Bradford who had the vision of a modern Indian restaurant whilst enjoying the best craft beer from around the world. The idea was to create something that was fully inclusive…come for just the beer or likewise just to eat, it’s the perfect way to enjoy vegetarian Indian food. The vibe aims to recreate the hustle and bustle of the busy streets of Mumbai, canteen-style dining also adds to the casual dining aspect of what makes Bundobust so popular.

Recent times have been tough especially for the hospitality industry, and it's great to see businesses such as yourselves serving again! How have you found reopening?

What’s been fantastic to see is how much we were missed. We set up Patel’s Bottle Shop during lockdown so that we could keep our loyal customers topped up with delicious beer and the response was phenomenal! We’re going to use it to launch future collaboration beers and fresh beers from our new Bundobust Brewery. We’ve just launched Patel’s Pale Ale and it’s been snapped up by the caseload!

Obviously the restaurants are quieter than before lockdown but for the staff, it's great just to be able to welcome people back. The important thing is that customers feel safe dining out again but we also were determined to make the restaurants feel like they did before, without the need for scary face coverings and perspex booths. What makes Bundobust unique is the atmosphere and vibe that we create for the customers, without that we might as well just stick to takeaways, but I think we’ve got the balance just right and it’s great to be back doing what we do.


Chris from Bunobust


We heard your job title is 'Vibe Manager" .... (One of the duties being to checks-in and ensures the restaurants have 'good vibes') Which we think sounds ace! What are your top 3 tunes or albums that guarantee good vibes?

Tough one! We select from a varied mix of Bhangra, Bollywood classics and Afrobeat but I’d probably say that the following songs get played the most as they have been classics from day one of opening the Leeds site back in 2014, they’ve been on the playlist ever since!
1. M.I.A. - Paper Planes (also many of our staffs favourite cocktail!)
2. Kaur B - Paranda
3. Punjabi MC - Mundian to Bach Ke Mayur shuffling his feet to this was a staple any street food festivals we worked in the early years of Bundobust, he’s the true vibe master!


As you guys know a thing or two about craft beer, have you got any recommendations we should try?

You need to head to our online order shop and grab a can (or 6!) of our brand new Patel’s Pale Ale! It's a great beer for any occasion at a very sessionable 4.4%. Using fresh American hops which give bursts of citrus notes, perfect with spicy food or just to have in the fridge!