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When Mohammed Saleem cut the ribbon on his latest restaurant on Dublin’s George’s Street, it was more than a business opening. For Saleem, who arrived in Ireland from Pakistan at 18, the moment closed a long circle that began with his first job on the same street in 1990.
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Saleem came to Ireland carrying a visa and the recipes his mother taught him. His first role was at Shalimar, then located on George’s Street, and he found support from local traders and neighbours as he settled in.
His daughter, Aliha, recalls how community kindness helped the young newcomer: produce vendors would often give him small bags of fruit because they knew he was new and short of money. Those early years left a lasting impression on the family.
A family built around food
The road to owning a small chain was hard work. Aliha remembers her childhood split between school and long hours in the family takeaway in Bray, where both parents laboured to grow the business.
Today the group operates several sites: restaurants in Wicklow and four in Dublin, including the George’s Street location. Mohammed and his wife Shamim have largely stepped back from day-to-day operations, handing control to the next generation.
The siblings running the business now
Aliha manages front of house while her brother Fahad handles the kitchen. Both were raised in a household where recipes and techniques were passed down and practised repeatedly. That upbringing sharpened their palates and informed how they run the restaurants today.
Sibling rivalries exist, Aliha admits, but so does compromise. They discuss strategy together, yet each keeps to certain areas of responsibility as they refine the family legacy.
Food that keeps customers returning
The menu leans on traditional Pakistani home cooking adapted for Irish diners. The top seller is the family’s Afghani Chicken — a cream-based curry flavoured with fenugreek and lemon, based on Aliha’s mother’s recipe and prepared in a way the restaurant says is unique to their outlets.
Aliha believes the appeal of Pakistani food lies in its variety: there is something on the menu for almost every taste, she says.
Service and accessibility
To reach more customers, Daata has introduced a delivery service from its Sandymount, Blackrock and Glasthule branches. Customers can also collect orders from the George’s Street restaurant.
For the Saleem family, the expansion is both a commercial step and a personal milestone — a return, literally and figuratively, to where their story in Ireland began.
