Want to dine-in or do a takeaway? The pandemic brings with it new dilemmas for foodies

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As the virus spreads far and wide, the new norm is about being cautious. Hotels and restaurants have started running their kitchens only after incorporating several precautionary measures. Today, one has to go through several stages of checks before even making it to the reception area. In most restaurants, the body temperature of guests is recorded, they have to sanitize their hands and only then can they enter the premises. Also, ‘no mask, no food’ policy is strictly followed.

Shruti Goyal, a government employee and a foodie shares, “You are spoilt for choice in a restaurant, but the options are limited when you order in. Given the situation, I’m apprehensive about stepping out. I am looking forward to going back to my favourite food places and will be the first one to sit in a cafe and sip a coffee. For now, I will rely on delivery services.”

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The onus on operators has increased manifold to ensure safety and it’s a constant effort with each order. Sam Singh, who owns a tiny fast-food space says, “I am trying my best to keep my staff safe by ensuring contact-less deliveries, where takeaways are placed on a counter in the parking area. No customers can enter the restaurant. Before handing over parcels to customers, temperature is checked and the food handed is over. It is mandatory that customers wear masks. The waiting areas are marked out to ensure that the customers practice physical distancing,” he explains.

No wonder that ‘Dine Out’ has launched the country’s first end-to-end ‘contactless dining suite’ for Indian restaurants to ensure they have a seamless plug-and-play technology and sanitation requirements to support no-contact dining for the foreseeable future. Alankar Narula, an advocate says that besides the fact that there is no comparison between dining in and takeaways, he will still wait for the world to recover. And that we all have to. Until then dine ‘in’.