Indian restaurants no longer represent the larger version of roadside eateries with delicious food as their only signature asset.
Restaurateurs have now adopted a new way of attracting customers creating swanky, cheerful and bright interiors with the aim of promoting customer loyalty.
The booming Indian economy is producing many double-income households and food lovers are willing to pay like never before for a good meal out. The ultimate beneficiary is the entrepreneur.
In Delhi, eateries with plush decor and ambience are the flavour of the season.
Rahul Pandit, the General Manager of Lemon Tree Hotel in Gurgaon, Haryana, believes that pleasing interiors pull in the crowds.
"If food, ambience and service were the three facets you are looking at. I believe in number, quantitatively speaking ambience plays 33 percent because when you are dining out, you are dining not only for the food but the entire experience. It can set mood for a dinner. It can be an elevator. It can be from good to great. That is the role I believe decor plays in a restaurant,"says Pandit.
Serving tables with mats having puzzles and jokes inscribed on them, abstract paintings, innovative bar stools, relaxing couches, glass-framed funky T-shirts all add to the contemporary look.
"We have looked at having a very bright cheerful hotel, a modern hotel and a very contemporary hotel. Ambience and service are the two things we look for promoting this brand," adds Patu Keswani, Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotel.
{{/usCountry}}"We have looked at having a very bright cheerful hotel, a modern hotel and a very contemporary hotel. Ambience and service are the two things we look for promoting this brand," adds Patu Keswani, Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotel.
{{/usCountry}}Neha, a regular customer, said that dining out culture in hep places is the most-in thing among the youth.
"This whole culture of eating out at the nicest places, places which are hep. It's just that people want the best food, best ambience and a good atmosphere here they can, not just sit but sit around and socialise," she said.
India with its large population and rising incomes, is one the fastest growing markets in the world and the service industry, basking under cheap labour and changing lifestyles, analysts say is just ripe for expansion.
Restaurateurs are scrambling to build new sleeker places, innovating by the minute as the fiercely competitive market rallies to tap into Asia's most promising economic boom.
India's economy is set to grow 7.5 percent in the year to March, 2006, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said earlier this week the figures should rise to 10 percent in two to three years.