There's somethng about Biriyani!

There's in fact something about biriyani that I fail to understand.

Today, I went to a prominent restaurant on ECR to get some food packed. The restaurant was full - with vacant tables, on Sunday afternoon, when it is supposed to get the maximum business. I saw the manager walking lethargically to a space alongside the restaurant which actually used to be another prominent restaurant. Apparently, both these restaurants have the same owner. It is another thing that the owner does not need the restaurant to run, to earn a living. Think about those people who invested their life's savings in opening a concept restaurant with a novel idea and end up on the wrong side of it.

What do they do? The answer is simple. Biriyani. Squeeze biriyani into the menu somehow. Better income is guaranteed. The other day, I went to an eating joint in the IT Park in which I am working. I was really impressed by their grilled items and combos, which were tasty and reasonably priced. I was shocked to see that the menu had changed (ON PUBLIC DEMAND..SO THE POOR GUYS SAY). From now on, their sandwiches will be replaced by the great biriyani. What a pity!

This is just one example. There are Italian restaurants in Chennai which had to include biriyani in their menus to survive. What is this obsession with biriyani? I once asked a colleague of mine about how he/she liked the buffet in a classy hotel. I started the conversation like this."Wow, that was great lunch! The food was amazing. What do you think?" Swift came the reply. "Yeah, the biriyani was superb."  I wish I had never asked.

Again two of my colleagues gave me those nasty glares when they came to know that I hate biriyani. They gave me the feeling that I just confessed that I had murdered someone. Well, COME ON!

If you have the right to like biriyani, I have the right to hate it as well.

This comes from my heart, as I have had plans of starting a restaurant of my own. Now, that idea seems to be stupid as the only way to earn money out of it will be to feed people with something which I personally abhor. Then again, people might argue that every wine shop owner is not a drunkard. Well, yours truly do not believe in this principle. So, to hell with it! I am not starting a restaurant. That's it!

I must say that Chennai is not a haven for real foodies who like to try out new cuisines. I know that people in Nungambakkam will beg to differ. But you can't expect people to travel to another district every week to have good food, can you? Or for that matter, another state. (Couple of weeks ago, we were in Bangalore and absolutely savored whatever we had. So much variety! Wah.)

So, that's it.

There is something about biriyani, which I don't understand and probably never will. AND NEVER WANT TO.