Mangalore: Onion dosa, pakoda off menu in some hotels

 

Mangalore, 25 Aug 2013 (TOI): When onion prices retailed at Rs 60 to Rs 65 a kilogram, popular items like the onion dosa and onion pakoda were still on the menu in the city hotels. But when the wholesale onion prices are seeing a downward trend and have reached Rs 40 to Rs 45 a kg here, they have disappeared off the menu in some of the hotels.

 

Hoteliers say that they kept onion-based dosa and pakoda on the menu as historically the high prices never sustained beyond a week. But this time it has lasted for more than a month. Earlier, vegetable prices would fluctuate, so we could manage. This year prices of almost all the vegetables are high, so it is difficult to manage,’’ said a hotelier.

 

But if one is still interested in having onion dosa, it is still available in its original form and size at some eateries here. The 83-year-old New Tajmahal Cafe has not withdrawn it from the menu, but onion pakoda is off its menu. We cannot disappoint our regular customers. Prices go up and come down and profits have to take a backseat in times like these. We will absorb the extra costs,’’ said Kudpi Jagadeesh Shenoy, partner, New Tajmahal Cafe.

 

Hotel Woodlands managing partner Y Ramesh Bhat said: ’’We know our customers well and they have been patronising us for long. We cannot disappoint them. Onion pakodas are being prepared only once or twice a week till prices of onions come down,’’ he said. And irrespective of the price of ingredients, we don’t direct the kitchen personnel to cut down on onions in any dish that is on the menu,’’ Bhat added.

 

Ramesh of Janatha Deuxe said that they would be able to give their customers onion dosa and pakodas only when the onion price ranges between Rs 20 and Rs 25 a kg. But we have not been cutting down on onions in other dishes as otherwise taste will differ,’’ he said.

 

In this hotel onion dosa and pakodas have been taken off the menu for the past one week. He said that there was a great demand for these onion-based items and it would be difficult to give them at the listed price.