Iowa City’s only Pakistani restaurant serves big flavors

Hot & Roll may be the best-kept secret in Iowa City. Nestled unobtrusively in a non-descript strip mall within a former Chinese restaurant is the city’s only Pakistani restaurant, a small establishment that serves big flavors. “Everybody loves it – they give me five stars. They say this is the best restaurant they have ever […]

Hot & Roll may be the best-kept secret in Iowa City. Nestled unobtrusively in a non-descript strip mall within a former Chinese restaurant is the city’s only Pakistani restaurant, a small establishment that serves big flavors. “Everybody loves it – they give me five stars. They say this is the best restaurant they have ever had,” said Fawad Nawaz, owner of Hot & Roll.

The restaurant – at 1800 Boyrum St. –  is named for the chicken roll paratha that is served rolled up and hot, one of the many specialties that Mr. Nawaz serves. The secret – according to Mr. Nawaz – is in the sauce. Each dish is marinated and flavored with sauces that Mr. Nawaz has concocted himself,  from the sweet and tangy mango sauce to the spicy sweet hot, to the creamy garlic sauce. Spices explode like fireworks in your mouth – red pepper, salt, garlic, lemon and mint, among many others.  A customer favorite is the chicken shawarma, a dish made of grilled, marinated chicken chopped up and situated in the middle of a warm tortilla shell and drizzled with mango and sweet hot sauce, then topped with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, green peppers and garlic sauce. Mr. Nawaz's personal favorite is the gyro mix kebab, created with naan bread, marinated chicken, seasoned steak and garlic sauce.  “(I) used to make kebabs in England, so (I) know how to make it and people like it and (other restaurants) don’t know how to make it like Pakistan,” said Mr. Nawaz.

Beginnings

Mr. Nawaz moved from Pakistan to Yorkshire, Britain at the age of 18. He began working at his aunt’s son-in-law’s restaurant, Lepton Spice, and an idea was planted from there. “I learned cooking in England, so that’s why I was trying to introduce people (to) like, Pakistani and British style mix,” he said. 

He comes by the food gene naturally. As a teen, he would often watch his mother and grandmother cook. For a time, his grandmother lived in India, and the local Hindu women would watch her cook; sometimes 8-10 of them would gather at once, said Mr. Nawaz. They eventually asked her to teach them, so she showed them how to make vegetarian dishes like kitchari and dal. She taught Mr. Nawaz more than recipes, though – he said his grandmother taught him to be kind and thankful to God always, even in difficult times. Mr. Nawaz was working at a local gas station with his cousin when he got the inspiration to go into the food business, an idea that started with a food truck but evolved into a brick-and-mortar building when an inspector noted that he would need a place to store leftover food. He opened in May 2023, and customers have been trickling in ever since.

A warm reception

He says Pakistani and Indian students frequent his establishment, requesting he expand his menu to cultural favorites like karahi and biryani.

“They (students)  say before, we go to Chicago (and) eat over there, but since we come here and try your food, we’ve stopped going to Chicago,” said Mr. Nawaz, beaming. He added that one of his favorite aspects of owning a restaurant is seeing customers enjoy their meal. He still hopes to run the food truck someday; for now, he is a one-man band in the kitchen, and his dishes are a symphony.