Worm found in pongal at Rameshwaram Cafe’s Bengaluru airport outlet, owners cry foul

Rameshwaram Cafe co-owners Raghavendra Rao and Divya Rao questioned the authenticity of the claim.

A customer dining at the Rameshwaram Cafe outlet inside Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport was in for an unpleasant surprise on Thursday morning when he allegedly found a worm inside a serving of pongal.

The worm was spotted in the breakfast dish shortly after it was served, according to the customer. FILE PHOTO (HT_PRINT)

The worm was spotted in the breakfast dish shortly after it was served, according to the customer. He claimed that when he reported the issue, staff at the popular South Indian restaurant initially tried to dismiss or cover up the incident.

When contacted by HT.com, the cafe’s co-owners Raghavendra Rao and Divya Rao responded to the incident.

Raghavendra Rao said, “We are trying to get in touch with the customer. Seems like he is travelling.”

Divya Rao, however, expressed scepticism about the claim. “We have seen such incidents in the past where customers have taken worms out of their pockets and used it to dent the image of the brand. We have earlier caught it on CCTV too. At the airport, we don’t have access to that. We need to look into it. But I am sure this is just one such incident to dent our name in the market,” she said.

Rameshwaram Cafe currently operates five outlets across Bengaluru, with its newest branch located on 100 Feet Road in Indira Nagar. Other locations include JP Nagar, Brookfield, and Rajaji Nagar. The popular eatery is also gearing up to launch an outlet at Kempegowda International Airport’s Terminal 1, which handles domestic flight operations.

Outside Bengaluru, the cafe has an outlet in Madhapur, Hyderabad, and plans to open one or two more branches in the city by 2025. However, the cafe clarified that there are no immediate plans to expand into Kerala or Chennai.