Restaurant trashes tanuja's doggy bag demand

Thoda Khao Thoda Fenko!

The hit dialogue from Kundan Shah's cult film could come to haunt veteran actress Tanuja and her daughter Tanisha whose dinner at a Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant in Bandra ended on a rather bitter note when they requested for doggy bags.

On Tuesday night, the mother and daughter went for a meal at the uber expensive restaurant and ordered more than what they could consume. Tanuja revealed to Mumbai Mirror, "The place is fantastic and so is the service. But I guess we ordered too much food and it was something we should not have done."

Tanuja, who says she is used to requesting restaurants all over the world to pack up the leftover food, did the same here. However, Hakkasan, the restaurant, refused to oblige.

"When I asked them what they intended to do with the excess food, the waiter replied that they would throw it away," says the yesteryear actress, adding, "I was appalled. I have never heard someone say anything like this."

Apparently, the matter did not end there. When Tanuja insisted on getting a parcel, reminding the manager of the hungry multitudes that go hungry in the country, and promised him that she would give the leftover to the first beggar down the street, the manager allegedly summoned the 'bouncers'. "He said I should show the bouncers where exactly to dispose off the waste, but they would not hand it over to me," said the actress. "They should have alerted us when we over-ordered. It was their duty," she maintains.

Though Tanuja claims she simply paid off her bill and left the place, the restaurant has a different story to tell. Ajay Beri, COO, Hakkasan Mumbai said, "Yes this unfortunate incident happened Tuesday evening. We treated her with a lot of respect in spite of her being abusive and showing utter disrespect to our staff. She was completely drunk and probably did not know what she was doing." In fact, Beri also said that Tanuja reportedly walked up to the reception and broke one of the award trophies and "even threw food on the floor."

Citing the company's global policy of not allowing guests to walk out with excess food, Beri explained, "This is to ensure that the food does not harm anybody as there are different temperatures in which the food is cooked and consumed at the restaurant. We are not sure of when and how the food will be taken outside the restaurant."

Beri says Tanuja created a scene at the restaurant and said there are no "bouncers" there. "We have everything on video and it is strange that she is talking about food when she herself threw the food on the floor. In spite of all this we treated her with complete respect and this is no way to conduct at a public place. Sorry."

We get the feeling that Tanuja may just want to order home delivery the next time.