Is Gauri Khan's upscale Mumbai restaurant Torii really serving fake paneer? Here's the truth

Fake paneer on the table at an eatery as reputable as Gauri Khan's Torii is a very damaging look. But what's the truth really?

Are we looking at an IRL expose?

Is Gauri Khan's Torii really serving fake paneer?

Gauri Khan's upscale Mumbai restaurant, Torii, was put through a sudden wave of internet scrutiny following a video going viral. And creator Sarthak Sachdeva is to blame, pun intended. Sarthak's videos off-late have been definitely been gaining ground, with him having amassed upwards of half a million followers on Instagram. His latest however, is definitely one of a kind.

The premise of the video shows him walking into a slew of celebrity-owned upscale restaurants in Mumbai with one goal in mind — to test if each of these posh places are serving authentic paneer or not. First on Sarthak's list was Virat Kohli's One8 Commune in Juhu, where the paneer turned out authentic by way of the iodine test. This was followed by quick trips to Shilpa Shetty Kundra's iconic Bastian in Bandra as well as Bobby Deol's Someplace Else, also in Bandra. Paneer dishes in both these restaurants managed to seamlessly pass Sarthak's iodine test.

Last stop on Sarthak's food tour with a mission, was Gauri Khan's Torii and to his genuine surprise, the paneer there failed to pass the iodine test. For context, the iodine test happens to be a quick fix way to check if the paneer you have bought from the market is genuine or synthetic, given the massive influx of the latter swelling the shelves. The procedure is as simple as putting a few drops of iodine on a piece of paneer. If the paneer is authentic, the colour won't change. If it's synthetic, the starch in the fake paneer will react with the iodine turning it black or blue. And the paneer piece tested by Sarthak at Torii, unfortunately did change colour.

The restaurant was prompt in addressing the controversy if one can call it that, by commenting under Sarthak's post with the following clarification: "The iodine test reflects the presence of starch, not the authenticity of the paneer. As the dish contains soy-based ingredients, this reaction is expected. We stand by the purity of our paneer and the integrity of our ingredients at Torii". Attempting to lighten the vibe of the exchange, Sarthak responded with the following: "So am I banned now?😵‍💫btw your food is amazing👀".

Have you tested the paneer sitting in your kitchen yet?