Speciality restaurants plans big push in three years

New Delhi: Speciality Restaurants, India's first publicly listed restaurant company that owns and operates brands such as Mainland China, Asia Kitchen by Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta, plans to open 40-50 outlets in three years, its chairman Anjan Chatterjee said.

The company will expand in both India and abroad, he told ET.

"The expansion would be primarily in the Asian space through our Mainland China brand followed by Oh! Calcutta," Chatterjee said.


"We have plans to immediately expand our Oh! Calcutta brand that has completed 25 years through four more outlets," he said. "After London, we will launch our Chourangi brand, which is the 2.0 version of Oh! Calcutta, in the US. We are also in talks in London and the US for Mainland China and plan to take it to locations where the Indian diaspora is in substantial numbers."

Speciality Restaurants currently has 97 restaurant outlets across brands and 32 confectionery outlets. Chatterjee has especially curated a new celebration menu to commemorate the silver jubilee of Oh! Calcutta.

"Given how competitive the restaurant industry is, very few restaurant brands make it past the five years mark. And we have been in this business for 30 years. When we started, the space wasn't that big, but now it's disruptive," he said.

"We believe in the potential of robust, honest, authentic food," Chatterjee said. "Restaurants have to go beyond Instagrammable food and consistency is key."

Considering the popularity of Chinese cuisine, he said the firm plans to expand through Mainland China and Asia Kitchen by Mainland China brands in the next 18-24 months. "Mainland China is the largest Chinese brand to come out of India. We have already penetrated the Gulf and intend to be where the Indian diaspora is as they miss Mainland China food," he added.