Mysuru restaurant Nalpak may have outlets abroad soon

Mysuru-based Nalpak chain of vegetarian restaurants, a family business, is all set to take wings, as it is getting offers from foreign companies to open restaurants abroad.

Managing Director of Nalpak M J Giridhar said, even after 32 years in business, Nalpak has maintained the same taste and quality of food and is all set to achieve new benchmarks in service and ambience. “The motto of Nalpak, first started on D Devaraja Urs Road in 1986 by R Venkatesh, son of N Ranga Rao of NR Group of companies (Cycle brand agarbattis), is ‘Everything in good taste’, he said.

“Nalpak is a household name, especially among food connoisseurs in the city. Besides, frequent visitors to the city, from other cities, make it a point to visit one of our restaurants, at least once. At present, we have four branches in Mysuru, even though our first branch on D Devaraja Urs Road was closed a few years back. Now, the main branch is in Vontikoppal, VV Mohalla. The other branches are at Kuvempu Nagar on Vishwamanava Double Road; on Dewan’s Road near D Devaraja Urs Road junction; and at Datagalli 2nd Stage,” he said.

K Krishna Kumar, a regular to Nalpak at VV Mohalla, also an agent of Deccan Herald and Prajavani newspapers, said, for him, coffee is only at Nalpak. “Even if I do not drink coffee for a couple of days, it is ok for me. But, I do not drink coffee anywhere else, not even at my home,” he said.

Giridhar said, beside him and Venkatesh, the promoter, Suresh C Girimaji and Nitin V Ranga Rao are the partners. “I joined Nalpak in 2006 as MD. Earlier, I had a shampoo (Jevos) manufacturing industry in Peenya, Bengaluru. At present, we have outdoor catering services, a party hall and also home delivery services. We have plans to give a uniform look throughout, in all our restaurants,” he said.

“We give utmost care to maintain the taste and quality. Nobody should ever say that they suffered from food poisoning after eating at Nalpak. We procure most of the pulses, grains and vegetables directly from the producers to ensure quality,” he said.

Satisfaction

“On Vijayadashami, the last day of Dasara festivities, most of the restaurants in the city area are closed. On that day, once, around 11.15 pm, some tourists came in search of milk for their baby. Our staff were telling them that the restaurant is closed. When I learnt that the baby was hungry, I asked my staff to see if we had any milk. Luckily, one litre of milk was lying in the refrigerator. We boiled the milk and gave it to the tourists. This is one moment when I felt the satisfaction of being in the hospitality business,” said Giridhar.

No reuse of oil

The edible oil used to prepare food items in Nalpak is disposed of after being used once, for deep frying, said, MD of Nalpak M J Giridhar.

After we received complaints that the oil we dispose might be reused by other eateries, mostly footpath joints, we have been giving the used oil to the National Institute of Engineering for its bio-diesel manufacturing unit, he said.