BANGALORE: Are you one of those who gorge on onion salads in restaurants and relish it with almost every other dish?
Then, here is some bad news for you. Several restaurants in the city have stopped serving onions as an accompaniment what with the onion prices soaring to Rs. 70 a kg over the last two months.
The wholesale price of good quality onion has touched about Rs. 60 a kg off late. A year ago, in September, onion was selling at Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 a kg in the wholesale market.
Neha Ravindra said that despite her repeated requests, restaurants refused to provide onion salads. “Onion adds the taste to almost all dishes. I do not relish food until I eat it with onions and I am disappointed as several restaurants have stopped serving onions.”
A restaurant in Shivajinagar, which regularly serves raw onions, had suddenly stopped serving the salad, much to the chagrin of patrons. When asked for onion salad, the waiter initially just smiled. On further probing, he admitted that the management had decided to suspend serving onions in view of the rise in prices.
In another restaurant in Fraser Town, onions were served to customers only on demand.
B. Chandrashekar Hebbar, president, Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association, said that the increase in onion prices had affected the owners of ‘darshinis’ and medium-sized restaurants. “With the increase in prices of almost all raw materials, medium-sized restaurants are finding it difficult to maintain quality without affecting the price. This is one of the reasons why they have cut down onion as an accompaniment. Star restaurants and fine dinning restaurants however are not affected.”
He said that the restaurants would provide onions as soon as the prices of onion decrease.
