A Sydney council has called for an iconic takeaway joint to pull back its opening hours.
Paddington's legendary Indian Home Diner will be forced to cease late-night trading on weekends, despite having a decade-long reputation for doing just that.
While most Aussies are of the consensus that you can't beat a massive, filthy kebab in your gob after a big night, Woollahra Council has rejected an application to see the Sydney icon keep serving until late.
Indian Home Diner operator Robert Chowdury has been serving up his carby kebab goodness to people for more than 10 years, but it seems the after-hours vendor has been doing so in violation of development application conditions.
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Woollahra Municipal Council told news.com.au the takeaway joint was given until March last year to continue trading until 3am on Friday and Saturday nights under a trial.
The council found he was continuing to trade until the wee hours of the morning on the weekend past this trial period.
Chowdury has attempted to correct this and, in doing so, Woollahra Council has wronged us all.
The council has denied his application, claiming the favourite for a late-night feed may have an 'adverse impact upon the acoustic and visual privacy' of its neighbours and claimed a post-sesh kebab was 'not in the public interest'.
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It is not known if the council has previously received complaints about the noise coming from the shop.
The public, however, appear very interested in the kebab shop's trading hours, with popular Instagram page Bondi Lines leaping to the defence of the Oxford Street icon.
The page - which providers revellers with updates on lines and vibes of party hotspots - has launched a petition on behalf of Indian Home Diner, as well as a crowdfunding campaign to cover any lost costs.
"Its hand-crafted Indian cuisine made with love you can taste makes it the premier late night food hub in the world," Bondi Lines said on social media.
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"Although most famous for its #5 garlic cheese naan kebab with aloo chop, it is more than just a restaurant, it is a community."
The kebab tragedy is now also caught up in the Australian Federal Election, with Liberal MP Dave Sharma and his independent challenger Allegra Spender speaking out against the booze-food ban.
"This is a tragedy. I will fight to restore IHD hours,” Sharma told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Spender added: "Business was hit hard enough by COVID and even though I haven’t been to The Unicorn in a while, even I know Indian Home Diner is a national treasure. Let’s save it.'
Topics: Australia
Rachel Lang