Hassan Mustafa was going to close Ken’s Fish Bar on Half Moon Lane after his father died in it, and the crowd that turned up for the funeral changed his mind.

Hassan Mustafa arrived at Ken’s Fish Bar on Half Moon Lane, between Herne Hill and Dulwich, on 13 July 2024 and knew something was wrong because the lights were on and the shutters were still down, and inside he found his father collapsed, MyLondon reported on Sunday.

He tried CPR, but Ken had had a heart attack and was pronounced dead in the shop that carries his name, forty years after he opened it, and his son, who had worked there since he was sixteen, could not at first face the idea of running it without him.

We were best friends, and he’d tell me everything. We got on like a house on fire, it was a big loss when he passed.Hassan Mustafa, to MyLondon

The day of the funeral

Hassan, who is 52 and lives in Bromley, arranged for the hearse to be driven along Half Moon Lane so that his father could pass the shop one last time, and when he got there somebody had hung a banner across the front of the takeaway that read thank you Ken for your service, we love you.

He went next door for a coffee while people were still arriving, and he was in there for about fifteen minutes.

By the time I left, the whole pavement was packed with people. The road and the pavement were full of people coming to pay their respects. Everyone was coming up to me, hugging me, shaking my hand, people were crying, and wearing Ken’s Fish Bar T-shirts. At this point, I thought ‘I’m not giving up now. I’m going to carry on’.Hassan Mustafa, to MyLondon

Among the customers who turned out for Ken was the restaurant critic Jay Rayner, and Hassan told MyLondon he had been left speechless and humbled by the number of people who came down the lane that day.

What he has done since

Ken’s Fish Bar turned 42 in early August and Hassan marked it by halving his prices for the day and making it a memorial at the same time, handing glasses of Prosecco and chocolate down the queue, which cost him about £500 of his own money.

A customer in that queue told him his father would probably be really proud of him, and this is what Hassan said back.

Either that or be looking down saying like, ‘What are you doing? Why are you giving all this away?’Hassan Mustafa, to MyLondon

He sold haddock and chips at £10 after New Year, four pounds under his usual price, and at Easter he bought in eggs to hand to children whose parents had come in for their dinner, and a hot summer has since pushed the cost of potatoes up by about £40 a week, which he has decided to absorb rather than pass on.

He has been behind that counter long enough to have watched customers grow up and grow old, and has sent flowers to some of their funerals, though he does not think any of that makes him important to the street.

I do my job the best I can, to be the best I can with food and try to keep everyone happy.Hassan Mustafa, to MyLondon

Cod and chips at Ken’s is £13.50, it is the thing most people order, and some of those who have eaten it have told him it is the best in London.