MUMBAI: Months before the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh directed its cadres against chanting his name, and he asked his supporters not to invoke his name instead of the holy chant of Lord Shiva, BJP's prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi inspired a restaurant called, well, Namo. Not in his native Gujarat, or in his chosen additional electoral battlefield of Banaras, but in Hong Kong.
A life-sized portrait of Modi greets you at the entrance while another equally large one of Lord Shiva is placed inside the restaurant, which was launched in December last year by Rajeev Bhasin, a former manager with Delhi's Taj Mahal Hotel. NaMo, shorthand for Narendra Modi, invokes Lord Shiva for Indians and means "to bow down" in Thai, says Bhasin.
Overlooking the famous Kowloon seafront, Namo restaurant is spread over 3,800 square feet, with a seating capacity of about 130, and is ensconced in the vicinity of six top hotels in Hong Kong.
The hotel serves a variety of vegeterian and non vegetrian food including pork and beef. It has been known that the beef is exported from Gujarat in various Hong Kong hotel including Namo thai one.
Modi's visit to Hong Kong sometime in 2002, the tumultuous year when riots broke out in Gujarat on his watch as chief minister, first inspired him, says Bhasin. "I was a manager at the Viceroy restaurant in Hong Kong when I first met Modi-ji. He had no business to talk to me in restaurant but he was hard selling Gujarat and said I could contact him any time to do business there," he recalls.
Three Hong Kong-based businessmen - Raju Sabnani, Kumar Daryanani and Chandan Guria - invested close to $10 million to help Bhasin launch the restaurant. None of the three had any experience of restaurant business since they traded in electronic goods and other products in Asia and Europe.
"I, too, met Modi in 2002 in Hong Kong and have been a fan of his administrative style," says Sabnani, who is currently in India to attend a wedding in family. "When the idea of restaurant came, I was instantly ready to invest. Modi has become a brand among Indians globally." Sabnani says he is originally from Pune but has lived in Hong Kong for nearly 25 years now.
Since Modi was pressed for dates, Delhi BJP leaders Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Jolly inaugurated the restaurant. Namo restaurant's kitchen, advertised as an 'Avant-Thai' eatery, serves Thai food with Spanish fusion. Michelin-starred Spanish chef Alejandro Sanchez has teamed up with chef Wijannarongk Kunchit to create a new type of Thai food. One of the signature dishes includes the Moules Marinieres ($148), a typical French bistro dish but made with a chilli, galangal (blue ginger) and coconut broth. Then there is Angry Tiger ($168), grilled New York strip steak with Thai spicy salad served with sticky rise or vegan fried rise with tofu. Lunch per person costs Rs 1,500-Rs 2,000 while dinner is between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000.
Menu of the hotel
https://www.facebook.com/namohongkong/photos/a.454723044672848.1073741837.382562188555601/454724241339395/?type=1&theater
Source - Economincs times and Facebook page of hotel.
It's really amazing news about influence of India in the world.
ReplyDeleteBest Restaurant in Delhi