Marco Polo

Marco Polo Calcutta  - By Arati

What a waste. Waiters and a manager who do not communicate, limited menu cramped seating, I wonder why people choose to go to Marco Polo in Calcutta.

It almost seems they are doing a favour by letting you dine there!

 

You wonder when this ordeal will come to an end.

And then there were a large nummber of drunkards in many tables, making the place unfit for a family evening.

Ordinary food and poor service at high costs- will never go back.

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Marco Polo - lack of hygiene standards  - By Sudip

As a Calcuttan, who has lived in this city for his entire life of 48 years, I feel it is my duty to write this piece and warn my fellow-calcuttans about the risks of eating out in the so-called elite restaurants that have cropped up suddenly by the dozens, in this city.

 

These restaurants put up a very plush interior and carry themselves with all the style that is needed of them to sell their food at exorbitant prices. But as far as quality and hygiene are concerned ---- well, first let me narrate my latest experience.

 

Last night, along with a few friends I visited a restaurant called ‘Marco Polo’ on Sarat Bose Road. (Near its crossing with Lake Road) . We ordered some beer and a few starters which were all quite ok. But after that, when it came to ordering dinner, I was a bit puzzled to find that, whereas I wanted Baked Bhekti, the waiter took a lot of pain to convince me that I should order the other bhekti continental dish, available on the menu. I could not make out from the fancy name what it would be, but ultimately agreed with him in good faith and ordered the dish.

 

When the dish was served to me, (in very quick time) I got a waft of stinking fish coming from it. Not sure whether it was really coming from my plate, I forked one small piece and put it in my mouth.

 

The fish was rotten to the core, stinking like a KMC vat in the streets and was soft and slimy. I immediately rushed to the toilet to rinse my mouth. The nausea was so overbearing that I threw out the starters that I had already had and started feeling terrible. Before I had managed to rinse my mouth, I must have swallowed small bits of that fish, as I started having nausea and a bit of a queasy feeling in the stomach soon after.

 

I managed not to puke any more by biting into a slice of lime. I was too afraid to order anything else and reluctantly had small helpings from the dishes that my friends had ordered.

 

Because I had returned the offending plate, the waiter, having realized that the plate was stinking, asked me whether I wanted to talk to the chef. I was feeling so physically terrible that I did not even want to do that and told him so.

 

But the restaurant wasn’t done with me yet. Without any provocation from us, the manager of the place came and started off very rudely with me trying to tell me that there was nothing wrong with the fish. His body language was offensive, and his way of dealing with the situation was totally unprofessional. He kept telling me quite rudely things which meant , that neither did I know my fish, nor the taste of continental dishes and that it was actually supposed to taste that way!!

 

 

He got another plate prepared and served it to my friends trying to convince them of his point of view. As expected this was made from fresh fish and had no stink. It really proved nothing apart from the fact that, cooked with fresh fish, the dish is NOT supposed to stink that way.

 

I came back home and had a terrible night. I had severe bouts of nausea and abdominal cramps throughout the night.

 

Since both I and my wife are doctors, we managed to treat the symptoms with medication and avoided admission into a hospital.

 

I am sure that any other layman would have had no choice but to get admitted for treatment. I am also sure that the offending organism in the dish was of quite a virulent nature as such a small amount had caused such severe symptoms.

 

Had this happened to any child or an elderly (extremes of age) I am sure that they would have been critically ill.

 

I am now convinced that the dish that was served to me had been prepared hours ago and had been kept away, probably because someone before me had ordered but not taken it, due to whatever reasons. That must be the reason why the waiter was insistent that I tried this dish. They were only interested to push this dish through. It also explains, why, in spite of the fact that I was the last in my table to order my dinner; it was served in such quick time.

 

As a doctor and a resident of the same locality as this restaurant, I feel duty-bound to make people aware about the state of things in this place.

 

I have also decided that as soon as I am physically improved to do so, I will lodge formal complaints with the concerned department in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the local Police station about this incident.

 

PLS MAKE SURE THAT SUCH RESTAURANTS DO NOT RUIN YOUR EVENINGS AND PUT YOU IN GRAVE DANGER WITH YOUR PERSONAL HEALTH, WHEN ALL YOU WERE LOOKING FOR WAS AN EVENING TO ENJOY,   SQUEEZED OUT FROM YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE.

 

I WOULD LIKE YOU TO PASS ON THIS MESSAGE TO ALL CALCUTTANS, AND OTHERS, SO AS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO NOT FALL PREY TO THESE SO-CALLED ELITE RESTAURANTS AND THEIR TERRIBLE LEVEL OF HYGIENE.

 

 

 

 

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