Page 46 - e-magazine-masala-vol9-issue-1-august-september-2017

What is your favourite dish at Saras? As an Indian expat settling in Bangkok and launching his own
Figuratively, I play the role of a father to six children, who business, were there any major hurdles you had to overcome?
are my chefs, and each of them have their own skills. So As I have been living in Thailand since 2002, I was already
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best accustomed to the Thai culture. By 2009, when I decided to venture
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
rather than selecting just one dish, I have chosen the best
from each of them: into entrepreneurship, I knew that this country is my future home.
Language was undoubtedly one of the barriers for me, but it is
• Rajasthani: Satte ki roti with Satte ki roti with Satte ki roti with Satte ki roti with Satte ki roti with much less an obstacle now. Early on, I had to always depend on
besan gatte someone to translate my words, and while dealing with o cial Thai
• Gujarati: Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and Puri with undhiyo and documents, I had to make sure what I was signing was correct. It
masala khichdi (launching soon)(launching soon)(launching soon)(launching soon)(launching soon)(launching soon)(launching soon) wasn’t an easy beginning for me to start the business, as we did not
• South Indian: Podi dosaPodi dosa get any funding from banking institutions. It took a long time for us
• Indian Chinese: Corn kernelCorn kernelCorn kernelCorn kernel to convince them that our concept is sustainable and scalable.
• Chaat Chowpaty: Raj kachori and Raj kachori and and and
Vada pao Did your limited experience in the industry lead to any other
• North Indian: Daal tadka with Daal tadka with Daal tadka with major challenges?
phulka roti Arranging su cient funds to initiate and sustain the restaurant,
selecting chefs who specialised in many core cuisines, training
As f
As for the drinks, I love the Cold or the drinks, I love the or the drinks, I love the or the drinks, I love the Cold Cold Cold Cold Cold
As f sta to understand our concept, procuring a large list of raw
As f
co
co
co materials from all over India and Thailand and being updated on our
co ee with vanilla ice cream and my ee with vanilla ice cream ee with vanilla ice cream ee with vanilla ice cream and my and my and my and my and my and my and my and my and my and my
f
favourite dessert is the Ras madhuri avourite dessert is the Ras madhuri Ras madhuri Ras madhuri Ras madhuri Ras madhuri Ras madhuri Ras madhuri Ras madhuri Ras madhuri Ras madhuri products and services were just a few of the other challenges. The
and Amrit ras. revenue was also not what I expected, and in order to survive,
I had to venture into diversi cation.
Do you eat there often?
One can easily tell by looking at my weight before and So did the popular mithai corner come later?
after the launch of Saras that I do eat there every day. Back in 2009, whenever I craved for Indian sweets, I would have
I randomly sample the food at least two to three days to take the extra e ort to travel to Phahurat which required a lot
a week, and I also have my business lunch and dinner of time. So during the planning of Saras, one sel sh idea was to
meetings there. Let me reveal a secret — I anonymously serve Indian desserts. We also wanted to o er exclusive sweets,
order takeaway from Saras to di erent addresses to such as Bengali sweets, Ghewar and Sandesh, which are not
monitor the interaction and coordination of the team. available in Bangkok.
It also lets me fairly evaluate the packaging and food
quality. With Diwali coming up, is there anything special on the cards?
Most of our mithais are created during the weekdays, as on other
days, the consumption is much less and the sweets cannot last
for more than two to three days. Since Diwali is one of the major
festivals, every year we introduce four to six kinds of exclusive
premium sweets, each with their own unique presentation and
taste. Packaging also plays an important role during this time, so
we focus on fancy boxes to enhance the overall o ering.
Out of all the destinations, what prompted you to launch
Saras in Pattaya in 2012?
Actually, Pattaya is our third outlet. Not many people know this,
but we had opened a second outlet in Siam Paradise Night Bazaar
in Udomsuk. Somehow, the overall night bazaar concept did not do
well, which a ected our operations adversely, and we had to move
out. We then explored Pattaya as our next option.

Pattaya was selected because we always wanted to open a second
branch not more than two hours distance by road from Bangkok so
that we could understand the operational and logistics issues which
we were yet to experience. Other available options were Hua Hin,
Pattaya and Khao Yai, to name a few. Pattaya was the best option
amongst all, due to more tourists, local residents and expat footfall.

The restaurant business is no doubt an extremely risky
endeavour. How did you manage to keep your head above water?
The restaurant industry does come with several challenging issues,
particularly if you are an expatriate. It’s not easy to run and make
any restaurant pro table with only three days of weekend

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