Sale down 50% during Ramzan: Lucknow eateries’ owners

While earlier Ramzan would mean more sale at eateries in Lucknow, especially in the old city areas, this time the meat ban has taken its toll on them. With less meat being available in the city, restaurant owners say that the footfall at their eateries has gone down by nearly half. With less supply the cost of meat has also gone up which is pinching people who would normally eat kabab-paratha or kulche-nihari during iftar or sehri. Although people are still breaking and beginning their fast during iftaari and sehri at eating joints like Tunday, Mubeen's and Raheem's in Chowk, as Mansoor Ahmed, one of the owners of Raheem’s says, "Woh baat nahi hai abki Ramzan mein! Ramzan ki raunak toh dikh hi nahi rahi hai is baar. We used to see people waiting outside on the road for the tables to get vacant, but this year there are limited number of people coming for roza iftaar and sehri," says Mansoor, adding, "This year we are facing a drop of 50% in sales because of high cost of meat dishes. Also there is less supply of meat and we are not able to cater to all our customers. People want to have nihari but majboori main hamein customers ko wapas bhejna pad raha hai." The Mubeen’s restaurant in Chowk (BCCL/ Farhan Ahmad Siddiqui)"We are in full support of the government and we understand that whatever they are doing is good by closing illegal slaughterhouses. But Ramzan is the most profitable month for us and less supply of meat is affecting our sale," says the owner of a popular eatery famous for its kulcha-nihari near Akbari gate, not willing to be named. Agreeing with him is Azhar Husain of Tunday Kabab, which has its joints in Nazirabad and Chowk among other places in the city. "Ramzan mein gareeb aur ameer dono kabab- parathe khaane aate hain. But now due to high rates of mutton and chicken kebabs, it has become more like ameeron ka khaana, because of which we are facing a downfall of nearly 50% in sale. Jahan pehle 64 rupees mein aadmi pate bhar ke khaana kha leta tha wahin aaj utne paise mein sirf kabab milte hain. Not everyone can afford that much every day. Toh asar to padega hi," says Azhar, adding, "Kabab mehnge hone ki wajah se yahan pe Ramzan mein bhi sannaata dikhne laga hai."People in the city too would often go to Chowk to eat at any one of the outlets there for iftari. But the high cost of meat dishes has made it a rare outing these days. Aqib Javed, a team leader in a call centre, says, "It was a routine to have sehri at Mubeen's in Chowk at least twice or thrice a week in the month of Ramzan with my friends. But after the meat ban, the rise in the price of chicken and mutton nihari has forced us to cut down on our visits there. Ab har roz toh itna mehgna khana nahi kha sakte, so we have sehri and iftari at home most of the days," he avers."My family would eat kulche-nihari, biryani or kabab-paratha every day during Ramzan," says Uzma Khalid, a housewife, adding, "But now the dishes are so expensive, we prefer to have a vegetarian fare at home. Meat has become like a luxury for us now." — Adnaan Rizvi