Restaurants and bars are breathing a sigh of relief now that they are allowed to stay open till 10.30pm. The new rule came into force from Monday and even though footfall was not bumper across the board the first couple of days, the industry expects a turn of fortunes from this weekend.

Oudh 1590 was almost full on Day One. “We did great business between 8pm and 10.30pm as the new timings are convenient,” said founder-director Shiladitya Chaudhury. So optimistic are they that they have even announced their annual Awadhi biriyani festival now. “It’s Rakhi this Sunday, the Puja shopping season is starting and dinner timings are finally fitting into people’s schedules. I just wish we could have got the Independence Day weekend too. We’d have done bumper business.”

Ankit Agarwal, who runs two eateries in Salt Lake, rues the same. “Such was the excitement in the Independence Day weekend that customers cited the 10.30pm order and demanded we stay open till then. We had to patiently explain to them that the order would only come into force on August 16 and that till then 8pm was closing time. People were in a mood to celebrate last weekend and it was a lost opportunity for our industry,” said the man who runs Le Coffee Creme opposite City Centre and Tango Chutney in the swimming pool area.

Cafe Ekante has got positive feedback too. “Monday is our off day so we could only start the extended hours from Tuesday. Compared to last Tuesday, this Tuesday saw a 12 per cent increase in guests,” said Debashis Sen, managing director of Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco). “We also opened Eco Park on the day and had a footfall of 1,381. The figure is modest compared to pre-Covid times but significant nonetheless. Mother’s Wax Museum, Eco Urban Village have opened too and so the restaurants will naturally do well now.”

Thank god it’s Friday

Sector V’s Opium bar and restaurant recorded 20 per cent hike in sales on Monday. “And this was on a weekday. The nature of our IT hub has changed during the pandemic as most people are working from home. So it’s weekends that are drawing more crowds,” said partner Moloy Dutta, expecting great business from tonight onwards.

At Country Roads, the micro brewery and restaurant at New Town’s DLF Galleria, eight or nine tables were occupied on Monday night. “Footfall would have been higher but it was the last Monday of the Sravan month and many people had rituals to follow,” says manager Rajdeep Shil. “We’ll know the real effect of the 10.30pm relaxation between Friday and Sunday. We expect great response.”

Many restaurants cited Sravan for inadequate footfall on Monday.

At Sector V’s Miam, partner Moumita Ghosh said customers were playing it safe. “We reminded customers on Monday that they can stay on till 10.30 but many were sceptical. They said since the rule was newly implemented the police might still harass them on their way home. It would take till the weekend for customers to gain confidence and party till late,” said Ghosh.

Changing habits

Customers at Abcos Food Plaza sit leaving alternate tables vacant, in keeping with Covid protocol

Samiran Mitra, manager of Abcos Food Plaza, says in the pre-Covid era customers would linger till 11.30pm. “But 10.30pm is good enough for now. Anything is better than 8pm, which was neither here nor there. People could barely enjoy a peg before it was time to leave. We would have to parcel their dinner,” he says. “Others would alter their plans and come for lunch instead of dinner.”

Agarwal says they would mostly get customers for snacks in the early evenings. “Large orders were not happening as people had to leave before they got hungry. And that’s a pity as traditionally we would get more customers for dinner than lunch. And south and north Indian cuisine, that as we serve at Tango Chutney, isn’t as appetising at home as it is piping hot from the kitchen.”

Chaudhury of Oudh 1590 agrees. “Our restaurant is a destination. Its drama and decor are part of this dining experience which one is missing by eating out of a box at home,” he says.

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