[amohit]

^ Also if you notice, a lot of these darshanis are completely washed at the end of the day. This certainly helps in keeping the place clean.

Regards,

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Had a bad experience at Bombay Post

That place had become horrible. Its fate and bad karma that it has closed. Good for us.

That place is HORRIBLE. Used to be good before. And I am surprised you didnt complain about the foul rotting smell of fish there.

[McLaren Rulez]

So basically, hygiene is no better, if not substantially worse, in the upmarket food chains? I find that a little hard to believe. Personally, I've never had a bad experience like the ones posted here but I have had insects, hair and what not in my food from the small darshinis.

[arin_12]

Just adding to this hygenic discussion:
KFC uses "ajinomoto" which they wrote in the pack with tricky scientific name. "Monosodium Glumate". So if you want to avoid this "ajinomoto" then stop visiting.

[vasudeva]

Perhaps you had a small argument with the manager/service beforehand and this caused the problem.

If you think this does happen only in India, it does happen in Four Seasons in California (near LA I think). How I do know. I have a relative who used to work there. Argue or be abusive with the waiter and you will get extra gravy in the form of multiple spits by the kitchen staff.

[rjvora_2000]

Originally Posted by arin_12

Just adding to this hygenic discussion:
KFC uses "ajinomoto" which they wrote in the pack with tricky scientific name. "Monosodium Glumate". So if you want to avoid this "ajinomoto" then stop visiting.

+1 to this

Ajinomoto is one of the worse thing to eat. Thank you for the English name of this item.

[Delta Wing]

A place which has freezing facilities might be expected to serve unhygienic food if their stock accumulates for low sales volume etc. A small place like a small eatery won't have this. There was this place in Barmer (9 years ago) where we went for food. I went to the back to search for the loo and found a piglet making itself comfy in the kitchen area (it was open at the back). Boy, did we leave in a jiffy. McD's use some horrible oil and I can't stand its smell (mind that I have eaten at any roadside eatery without ever feeling sick).
On a lighter note:
Patron: Waiter, mere chicken tandoori mein cockroach hai.
Waiter: Saab, ab 50 rs ki dish mein hathi to nahi na milega.

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Perhaps you had a small argument with the manager/service beforehand and this caused the problem.

If you think this does happen only in India, it does happen in Four Seasons in California (near LA I think). How I do know. I have a relative who used to work there. Argue or be abusive with the waiter and you will get extra gravy in the form of multiple spits by the kitchen staff.

Oh man thats disgusting! Another reason, other than common courtesy to be polite to waiters.

I too had a bad experience of finding a cockroach floating in my dal. It wasn't in a restaurant, rather in my office cafeteria which has multiple caterers and has lots of customers. Anyway, after I found it, I raised a hue hell with our admin chaps after which a lot more people came forward with complaints and eventually those caterers were thrown out.

Thing is, a lot of people choose to keep quiet (chalta hai, hota hai) and perpetrators get away and never learn a thing.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by amitk26

Yes that is true shiv sagar , Shanti Sagar and all the others known as Udupi joints in Mumbai and Darshanis in Bangalore are far more hygienic simply due to volume of transactions.

I have a feeling this may have to do with two primary reasons:

a) Open kitchens.

b) Owner sitting on the counter. An owner's presence always makes a difference in smaller establishments.

[MX6]

At Pizza hut in Greater london, we found plastic cover and printed paper in my wife's pasta. We were damn shocked. Those people didn't charge us anything and also gave us free replacement and didn't charge for that too. But I didn't want to take those. I just wanted to complain and down their shutters. Other's would have sued for a million bucks. My wife was on the family way and last thing we wanted was adulterated food. Upon her insistance I let them go scott free.
That was the last time we ventured out for food till our baby was born.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Not to gross out anyone here but couple of years ago, a friend told me that he once found some chewing gum in the chatni along with his dosa in the local Shanti sagar !!

I'm guessing that the boys who oversees the grinder must have been chewing gun and by mistake or for fun dropped/fell into the grinder and there was no way they could take it out. lol !

Hair strand in Pizza
Iron Nail in Pizza
Cockroach in food

These are all ok, finding a chewing gum in your chutney is the worst thing that can happen! OMG!!

[vinay.pillai]

Well when I started this thread, I never knew my case is pretty common across. I always thought there will one or two incidents but looks like its not.
Just to share, most of the employees working in ITPL goes to the ITPL mall below for their food. That is the easiest & fastest option they have (if they are not bringing food from home)
And if by mistake if you see kitchen of the restaurant (veg restaurant like kadamba/Dine n Sip/Paramount) in the mall, you cannot have food. Most of the employees in my company now bring their lunch box, including me.

But this is first time I had the case with Pizza Hut. I always thought they are clean and one of the finest place in ITPL. Really it was very awkward situation because I took my friends for small party.

[n.devdath]

My recent experience at the Garuda Mall food court. I avoid such places and was just taking a stroll last weekend during lunch hours. The place was jam packed with customers when I suddenly noticed that the staff of some outlet were standing in a closed circle outside the counter trying to do something with their feet. I walked upto them and to my horror saw a huge rat, alive and well at their feet and they were playing with it. The animal was completely drenched in some liquid (Sambaar, Gravy, Sauce, Rasam...take your guess) and was hence not able to run on the floor coupled with the smooth tiles.

When I asked them to kill it or get rid of it, the reply was "Kitno ko maarenge saab, roz milte hain yahan par".

[vkochar]

OMG !! That is all I have to say after reading these 3 pages.

The incidents mentioned here are nothing less than shocking.

The Hair Strand is very common and to a certain extent not that disgusting as it happens even in our kitchen. Although it's better to wear a plastic cap like they do in MNC chains.

But Nail's, Gum, Insects is downright disgusting.

Can you imagine the stuff that goes in wedding foods !! I always tend not to have curries in weddings where food is being prepared outside in huge cauldrons.

BUT I am yet to encounter a bad Mc Donald's - they are very very hygeinic here in Agra & Delhi. Maybe I have just been lucky.

I also feel the chains like Bikanerwala, Haldiram's and Sagar Ratna are very very hygeinic. I have had a chance to see their kitchens and I must say it's an absolute delight to see their kitchens. Superb cleanliness here. Their Mithai is prepared in such clean conditions that you are surprised yourself !

Cafe Coffee day is disgusting here. there are 3 - 4 in Agra and all absolutely rubbish. Costa is far better.

I guess Indians need to be more aware and should not take things like these so lightly. Specially Nails & Chewing Gums. That is gross !!

[Nikhilb2008]

My philosophy is simple:

If I like the taste of the food, I eat it. If it makes me sick, I try it again after a few weeks. If it makes me sick again, then I avoid it for a few years before I get over the allergy!

This happened with KFC. When KFc opened many years ago, I used to have a major stomach upset EVERY TIME I ate from there. I stopped eating KFC thinking that the oil they used didnt gel with me. Then, I got massively tempted with the burgers and started eating it again. Never had a problem

Seriously, I dont think too much about stuff like this unless I fall sick and thankfully, that has been very rare.

We are Indians. We eat roadside chaats, drink roadside cane juice, tea, coffe, etc... I think we have an immune system far superior to those from other countries.