Asylum-theme venue suffers because of lack of late-night dining

Restaurant manager Khalid Ishmael: ‘We are suffering by having restricted opening hours’

YOUR food and drinks are brought to your table by waitresses dressed in nurses’ uniforms and when the bill arrives it comes as a prescription form.
The walls are adorned with images of famous psychiatric hospitals - which can be viewed through 3-D glasses the nurses provide.
But Bedlam, a restaurant in Heath Street, Hampstead, says business is suffering because it cannot stay open as late as rivals.
The psychiatric-themed eaterie is named after Bedlam, the asylum established in 1247.
Hung on its walls are pictures of celebrity addiction clinic The Priory and France’s Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole, where artist Vincent Van Gogh was treated. But it cannot serve food and drinks after 11pm and can only open between noon and 3pm on Sundays.
Other restaurants in the same stretch have licences until 1am and can stay open all day at weekends.
Manager Khalid Ishmael wants to open until 1am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and midnight on Sundays. He said: “Other places along the same street have late licences, so why not us?
“We are trying to do something a little different, but we are suffering by having these restricted opening times.”
Mr Ishmael caused controversy when the restaurant displayed a series of portraits of convict Charles Bronson, dubbed Britain’s most dangerous man by prison authorities for a rash of hostage-taking while serving time for armed robbery.
An attempt to open up the front was opposed by neighbours, who said it would cause noise. But Mr Ishmael says he wants to bring inner calm to Hampstead - an upstairs room is dubbed the Buddha Bha, because of a range of exotic Tibetan statues in contemplative poses. Hampstead Conservative councillor Mike Greene backs the restaurant’s bid to stay open later, as long it can prove diners will not disturb neighbours.
He said: “There are places that stay open late in Heath Street, but they do not have homes near them.
“Bedlam is conscientious, but will have to show it won’t disturb anyone if it stays open later.” The restaurant’s application is to be heard by Camden Council’s licensing committee on March 3.