Missing the fine dining experience during lockdown? Here is a happy update.
From galouti kebabs to Peking soy steamed fish, four of the city’s Taj properties have created take-out menus featuring popular dishes from their signature restaurants, to reach customers despite the pandemic. However, instead of using a third party aggregator, the hotel is launching its own delivery service, Qmin, on July 31. Already operational in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi, its Chennai launch will be marked by the unveiling of a digital menu, to be followed later by an app.
With four Chennai properties on board, the number of Taj hotels to be a part of Qmin goes up to 17. Taj Coromandel, Taj Connemara, Taj Fisherman’s Cove and Vivanta Chennai will each have dishes from their restaurants. Southern Spice, Golden Dragon, Anise, Raintree, The Verandah, Bay View, Upper Deck and Mynt all have limited menus of their own, as segments within the overall digital menu. Expect favourites such as gilli biryani from Anise, kung pao chicken from Golden Dragon; asparagus paruppu usli from Southern Spice, prawn ghee roast from Bay View, and ragi masala kuzhi paniyaram from Raintree.
Akshay Tripathi, general manager of Taj’s parent company IHCL, handles Qmin’s operations hands-on in all four cities and says, “The focus is to offer differentiated delivery experience with an enhanced focus on stringent protocols of safety and hygiene. We have also evaluated the most favourite dishes of our guests that travel well, while curating the digital menus. This has been supported by the usage of appropriate bio-degradable packing material that is sustainable and holds the temperature of the food for a longer time.”
Hence, the service boasts of bio-degradable packaging and claims to follow FSSAI and WHO guidelines right from the stage of sourcing ingredients to temperature checks of personnel before delivery. Delivery is done in Qmin’s own vehicles. Prices match existing prices at each restaurant. The minimum order value is ₹1,500, and there is no delivery charge.
While the menu is online, orders need to be placed via a toll-free number. Each hotel delivers within an eight-kilometre radius of its location, and timings vary from restaurant to restaurant: from 12 pm to 11 pm for the coffee shops (Anise, The Verandah, Mynt and Seagull); and 12 noon to 3 pm and 7 pm to 11 pm for the speciality restaurants (Southern Spice, Golden Dragon, Bay View).
The menu will be available from July 31 at https://www.qmin.co.in. To order, call toll-free number 1800 266 7646.
