Fine-dine places pick up, brew pubs not so much

Restaurants at five-star hotels, especially those with open-air seating, are getting a steady flow of customers

Fine dine restaurants opened on June 21 and are operational from 12 noon to 4 pm.

The first two days saw good walk-ins and a steady flow of queries for advance booking through the day.

Taj Westend, Race Course Rd

All restaurants, Machan, Blue Ginger and Masala Club, have open-air settings, and saw customers pouring in.

The Oberoi, MG Rd

Restaurants such as Lapis, with a breakfast spread, offer a variety of alfresco seating venues.

Asian specialty restaurants such as Wabi Sabi (Chinese and Japanese cuisine) and Rim Naam (Thai cuisine) have new extended lunch timings.

The restaurants are encouraging diners to book in advance in order to minimise waiting time and better manage the 50 per cent capacity guidelines.

The Wanderers, Kalyan Nagar

This is a brewpub that is popular for its craft beer. But since the government has not permitted serving of alcohol, their business has not picked up. Every dish on the menu is paired with a beer, so people walk away when they are told no alcohol is being served. The takeaway model doesn’t work as the place describes itself as ‘an experiential dine-in place’.

Toit Brewpub, Indiranagar

Allowed only to serve food, business has been slow since it opened on Monday. The brewpub, open from 8.30 am to 5 pm for dine-in, saw customers walking in throughout the day, but in small numbers. This place has started takeaway for its beers.

And elsewhere…

Metrolife spoke to mobile sales and service centres and found many of them complaining of low footfalls. However, some stores in prime locations saw huge queues.

Appointments for general physician consultations were full for Tuesday and Wednesday at many hospitals, but quite a few said doctors would see walk-in patients. They estimated one hour was the average waiting time.