Bongs are known for their love for food. And what better a time than Durga Puja to try out mouth-watering delicacies from across continents. They are ready to indulge in food – ranging from exotic to the traditional – this festive season.Hoping to beat the slowdown, hotels and restaurants are gearing up to see a 20 to 30 per cent surge in footfall on an average during the five-days of Durga Puja this year.

“Compared with last year, we hope to see a 30 per cent increase in footfall. Our prime draw will be our increased variety in offerings this year,” Sharad Dewan, Area Director of Food Production, The Park Kolkata & Flurys, told Business Line .

It is not just the Bengali cuisine that one will see at The Park. The hotel’s Bridge restaurant will offer exotic dishes such as “balsamic and honey-rubbed wood-fried boneless Hilsa” and Australian lamb shanks along.

Complementing this or rather spoiling people for choice would be typical continental and Bengali specialities at The Park Banquets – another of its restaurants. Bengali cuisine will be available at the restaurant during Astami (Monday) and Navami (Tuesday).

This apart, Park hotel is banking on corporate and family bookings at its restaurant during Durga Puja this year. With Mediterranean and traditional Bengali buffet offerings during this Durga Puja, Taj Bengal is also eying a substantial increase in footfalls.

ITC Sonar too is looking forward to similar corporate and family bookings for special cuisines at its restaurants.

Traditional cuisine

Down south, some of the city eateries are willing to experiment with the traditional Bengali cuisine.

Meat, perhaps the second favourite dish after fish, will undergo a new taste at “6 Ballygunge Place” –a Bengali cuisine specialist. With varied offerings such as “Morich Mangsho” (meat with pepper), “Kachalanka Dhonepata Murgi” (chicken with green chilli and coriander leaves), the eatery is targeting a near 15 per cent growth in total sales at its two outlets in West Bengal (Saltlake, Ballygunge) and one in Bangalore.

Last year, the restaurant earned a total of Rs 35 lakh from all the outlets during the Puja days.

The Puja special dishes are priced between Rs 1,400 and Rs 1,600 (for two persons) at the 6 Ballygunge Place outlets.

Hotels and restaurants are also tying up with tour operators to offer special meals for the Puja revellers who book “Puja Parikrama” packages.

While Hotel Hindustan International has a special arrangement with tour operator Cox and Kings, 6 Ballygunge Place would opt for complimentary meals for elderly Puja visitors on October 20 in association with a city-based organisation.

>ayan.pramanik@thehindu.co.in

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