New Delhi: While catering projects for the
upcoming Commonwealth Games still remain a puzzle, restaurants
in the national capital are gearing up to attract visitors
with a variety of culinary delicacies.
Abuzz with the commercial prospects that the Games are
expected to bring, various eateries here are preparing to put
forward their best menus that offer tourists and sportspersons
a glimpse of the country`s food.
In Paranthewaali Gali, the hub of capital`s
mouth-watering paranthas, is the face of the quintessential
traditional Indian food-parantha, subzi, chutney and pickle -
all churned in one splash of a parantha meal.The parantha
shop owners here are expecting to receive hordes of customers
during the Games.
"Usually, once a foreigner comes to our shop, he
returns again with a bunch of his friends. Though we are not
making any special preparations for the event, we will
concentrate on quality and hygiene," says Anil Kumar, who owns
a shop here.
Foreign visitors usually prefer simple parathas so
Sharma says he serves the traditional Indian food item without
any addition of spices.
"Foreigners do not like spicy food. Considering this
we serve them only simple paranthas with salt and the
vegetables that they eat are also boiled so that the fat
levels are low."
The Babu Ram Dev Dayal Paranthewaale shop in the
locality which has been in operation for the past 130-years is
also gungho about the Commonwealth Games` tourists. The heir
of the shop, Neeraj Sharma, however, stresses on serving them
with Indian delicacies only.
"When it`s happening in India, Indian food should be
showcased as a speciality. We are going on with our
preparations to serve the tourists. Our menu will remain the
same. We will serve our speciality- and that is our centuries
old paranthas," he says.
Not the ones to be left behind, the big-wigs of the
food industry are also upbeat about the the games.
Saurabh Swaroop, Head of Marketing and Product
Development, Barista Lavazza says, "We will be dealing with
foreign visitors. International travellers will thus be able
to relate to us."
An international food retail brand like Barista
Lavazza which does not deal specifically with Indian
delicacies also plans to serve dishes like Upma, Poha and
Biryani.
"We have customised our menus in such a way that an
Indian touch is added. At the same time, the Barista twist and
our cafe format is also maintained," he adds.
-PTI
First Published: Tuesday, August 10, 2010, 00:01
