Mutton, ‘tough’ items back on menu as limited LPG supply resumes in Kol
Times of India | 18 March 2026
Kolkata: Restaurateurs are again breathing easy. Dishes that had gone off the menu are back. Some restaurants that had drastically reduced operation hours have relaxed the timing a bit.
The commercial LPG crisis that was threatening to derail the food and beverage (F&B) business has eased somewhat with limited supply of around 30% in restaurants across Kolkata. However, the demand-supply gap has fuelled nearly a three-fold rise in the price of commercial LPG cylinders in the black market, prompting some restaurateurs to turn to the calculator and redo the viability math.
Speaking to TOI, owner of Manthan and Songhai restaurants Sudesh Poddar said from Tuesday, he re-started mutton dishes that take longer to cook. Mutton was taken off the menu a week ago to conserve fuel.
"We are also planning to start sizzlers that have been stopped. Now that limited quantity of LPG supply has resumed, everyone is breathing a sigh of relief. While many restaurants had shifted 70-75% of the cooking to electric, the LPG support will enable everyone to restore the entire menu," said Poddar, who is also the president of Hotel & Restaurant Association of Eastern India.
At 6 Ballygunge Place, tandoor and hot plate items like parathas, postor bora and gandharaj bhetki grill are back on the menu. "We made the menu concise following the LPG crisis. The restrictions have now been lifted. Only the buffet is still off the table. That will resume once LPG supply normalises completely," said Savourites Hospitality director Sushanta Sengupta.
Nitin Kothari, who operates Mocambo and Peter Cat, two of the most popular restaurants in Kolkata, said the resumption of supply was a major comfort, particularly for Peter Cat as shifting completely to electric was posing a challenge due to load issue. "We did not reduce the menu but adopted electric in a big way. We are continuing to use electricity and supplementing it with LPG. As the supply resumes, it will bring in more flexibility," he said.
Rajiv Kothari of Bar B Q and One Step Up is also relieved LPG supply has resumed. "We have adopted electric but it is good to have LPG burners available in the kitchen," he remarked.
Sagar Daryani of Oasis has also shifted majorly to electric to overcome the crisis. "We are doing 75% of the dishes with electricity. But some, like Chicken a la Kiev, are best done in an LPG oven. Earlier, we were doing the dish only when there were multiple orders. That is not so now," he said.
Catering, however, still remains a challenge. Sagar Daryani, president of National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), said that while all restaurants in Kolkata were operational, making commitments for large orders is still a challenge.
Apeksha Lahiri of The Yellow Turtle has already burnt her fingers, forking out an astronomical Rs 8,500 for a cylinder that officially retails at around Rs 2,000. " I have stopped taking orders because it does not make business sense to do so at that price," she said. 6 Ballygunge Place too wary of taking large orders till commercial LPG cylinder delivery normalises.