NEW DELHI - Mr Tamotsu Nomura and his colleagues at CoCo Ichibanya, a chain specialising in Japanese-style curry rice, are up against a stiff challenge.
The original plan was to open in March and most of the construction had been completed before a nationwide lockdown began on Mar 25.While restaurants were allowed to reopen in June, footfall still remains low across establishments.The response has been more enthusiastic from the sizeable Japanese expatriate community in and around Delhi, who crave the familiar taste of the popular Japanese dish, rather than Indians who remain mostly unaware of Japanese curry and even view it with scepticism.
Mr Lohit Chand Mangkhom, a 26-year-old cosmetics business entrepreneur, who tasted it for the first time on a visit to CoCo Ichibanya this week, said it felt"familiar" to some curries from back home in Manipur."It also reminds me of the kidney bean curry they served at my school hostel in Assam," he added.
He was at CoCo Ichibanya on Sept 24 to pick up his order."Since the lockdown, I haven't eaten outside. Even when I order, I treat the packaging with caution and reheat the food," he said. Its sales recovered from zero between mid-March to May to around 45 per cent of pre-Covid levels in June. This went up further to 90 per cent this month.
The restaurant business, which accounted for an annual revenue of 4.23 trillion rupees in 2018-19, has been among those worst-hit by the pandemic.