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Lahore: MM Alam Road — The ‘it’ place for Lahoris - Naveed Yaseen - 09-22-2008 07:04 AM
* People appreciate wide variety of cuisine available
* Customers complain about high prices at most eateries
By Afnan Khan
LAHORE: Various continental and international restaurants on the MM Alam Road have made it one of the busiest and most attractive Iftar-points in the city. Numerous people throng to different eateries for both sehr and iftar, resulting in traffic jams across it.
The posh commercial locality provides a massive variety of food, from Chinese dishes of all types to multinational fast food chains. It also has Italian, French, American and Spanish cuisine eateries. What most people fail to realise, however, is that MM Alam Road initially became popular because of the various desi restaurants on it.
Amir, a manager at one of the most popular eateries on the MM Alam Road said that most people visiting the restaurant for iftar are attracted towards traditional dishes, adding, however, that many also preferred Italian, Chinese or French dishes.
“We have all sorts of international and desi dishes at our restaurant from which our customers can decide what they want. However, most customers still prefer desi cuisines over international. Juices are preferred by all sorts of customers as accompaniment with iftar in Ramazan,” Amir said. He added that most people visited the restaurant in large groups, adding that bookings had to be made in advance as otherwise there was not enough room in the restaurant.
A manager at a famous multinational pizza eatery said that most people preferred to have iftar with mouth-watering pizzas, adding that they also ate salads, garlic bread, pastas, sandwiches, noodles and various creamy and chocolaty deserts available at the eatery.
He said that advanced booking was mandatory if anyone wished to dine there for iftar, as the number of customers at the eatery often exceeded the space available at the restaurant.
A manager at a Chinese restaurant situated on MM Alam Road said that numerous people visited the eateries every day, resulting in all restaurants being packed with consumers, especially during the last two weeks of Ramazan. He said that the restaurant was generally booked for parties, adding that they were only able to entertain other customers in small numbers because of the advanced booking. He said that MM Alam Road was the only place in the city where people could find almost all kinds of healthy and scrumptious cuisines.
Prices: A customer at a restaurant, Sameena Ikram, said that the MM Alam Road was the leader of all the food markets in the city, adding that it is the best out of the few places in the country where such a variety of edibles is available.
However, she complained that the government was not applying any price restrictions to these eateries. “A cup of cold coffee is for around Rs 200, while a similar cup of coffee, at a five-star hotel, is available for around Rs 170.”
However, District Officer (Food) Dr Masood Ashraf said that the Food Department has conducted regular inspections at the food outlets on the MM Alam Road, adding that they have fined those found violating the Food Department’s rules. He said that the Food Department has also checked the prices of the various eateries on MM Alam Road, adding that the recent increase of prices was because of the current inflation.
Competition: Similarly, the business of eateries is expanding as the demand for and population in the city rises. Similar food outlets are being opened up on Noor Jehan Road, Mehmood Ali Kasuri Road, Mini Market and Ghalib Market.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\09\22\story_22-9-2008_pg13_6