Yesterday I landed up in Peshawari, a restaurant in the ITC Sonar Bangla, a 5 star restaurant in Calcutta, with wife and kids for dinner. This restaurant is built upon the theme of a dining place in old Peshawar (now in Pakistan) and has interiors matching that place. While the food and the ambience was good enough, what really irked me was the insistence of the staff that we eat with hands without using forks or spoons because that’s how food is eaten in good old Peshawar.

We agreed to his idea and started that way but soon started feeling uncomfortable because we have been eating rice and dal and other similar dishes with spoons, even at home. Finding that the kids are having a lot of problem, I again called the waitress to provide us with spoons but she insisted that spoons cannot be provided. I sincerely believe that while it is OK to suggest that we eat without the spoon to enjoy the Peshawari way of eating, they went overboard in insisting upon it. And to add insult to injury, folks at the next table were provided with a fork when they asked for it, signifying that the staff may not be unanimous in their implementation of the policy.

Suggestion: If the management of ITC insists on making us eat that peculiar way, they should make it amply clear at the entrance or in the menu that patrons have to eat this way. Insisting on a non-standard custom midway through a meal seems to make the patrons unhappy. It did spoil our evening at least.