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As food costs spiral and the price of rice soars to lifetime highs, Azmal Hussain in East London is getting ready to close one of his restaurants. SOUNDBITE: Azmal Hussain, Preem & Priti Restaurant, saying (English): "I have to survive. I have to pay my bills. no body will pay my bills. if i continue like this i cannot pay my staff. I cannot pay my bills. So then what happens? I'll have to go from here and that I don't want." Hussain will soon decide whether to close Jeet - the least busy of his four restaurants in London's Brick Lane famous for its piping hot curries. The business is being squeezed as Asia's big suppliers of rice put priority on feeding their own populations. Three months ago a 20 kilo bag of wholesale basmati cost the equivalent of 29 dollars. That same bag is now 49 dollars -- A whopping 66 percent price rise! SOUNDBITE: Azmal Hussain, Preem & Priti Restaurant, saying (English): "Now the credit crunch and the food crunch makes my profit margins less so if people cannot offer." Rice is just one staple that's more expensive. Cooking oil costs 10 percent more than three months ago. Hussain says he has no choice but to raise menu prices - the first time since he opened back in 1999 to London's curry obsessed masses. Alex Waugh of Britain's rice millers' group said this year's harvest is key to where rice prices go. SOUNDBITE: Alex Waugh, Rice Association, saying (English): "In my opinion and in the view of most in the grain trade, we are not going to see prices collapse back to the level they were. What we are seeing is a real increase because of the rising demand in the world just because of population. We have 80 million new mouths to feed every year. Which is the equivalent of Germany. A new Germany every year." Back in Brick Lane - Hussain is still hopeful, and is looking to the thousands that will come to London for the 2012 Olympics to boost business in future. He even has plans for a McDonalds style Indian fast food joint. The happy meal though is likely to be close to 12 dollars. Siddhartha Dubey, Reuters, London COMPANIES MENTIONED: SYMBOLS: