By Satyaki Dutta
A quirky decoration, wall art, wall of images and quaint eatery, Hondo’s in South Kolkata, is a perfect hangout place for foodies.
The wall of images is for the people visiting, help make it memorable. One of the uniqueness’s of the restaurant – all who drops in get their picture clicked and print, free of cost. It was more like a journey of Phoenix for Hondo’s. Swarnaditya Upal Das, the owner of Hondo’s’s long-time plan to venture into the F&B sector became a reality and the restaurant was opened for the first time in 2013. The unique name of the restaurant actually came from Swarnaditya’s nickname, after the Zimbabwean cricketer Douglas Hondo.
After an initial run, there was some financial crunch and Swarnaditya met with an accident too. Hondo’s closed down in 2015 and reopened in a new location in 2016. Hondo’s got noticed more than the initial phase.
While talking about the primary marketing and promotional strategies, Swarnaditya said, “We don’t have a specific marketing or promotional strategies as the concept is simple. Good food at a good cost with good quantity, which I believe is rarely available in the food market. So, that has been our primary marketing and promotional strategies along with word of mouth which is the after-effect of the satisfied customers.”
‘We are dedicated to the non-vegetarian flair of our menu, have options for vegetarians as well. But our primary focus is on meat – all kinds of meat,’ he further stated.
Hondo’s cuisine is mostly European, American and Continental. They offer burgers and sandwiches, steaks and roasts and various kinds of rice and noodles too, which is part of the Chinese segment. Other customer-favourite dishes include bacon-wrapped prawns and devil’s pig. As Hondo’s remain open 24X7, people walk in the middle of the night or wee hours of morning, when they have no other option to eat out.
Hondo’s customers range from all ages too. Swarnaditya added, “I have seen a baby whose rice ceremony was the day they came over for dinner and the baby was fed both pork and beef by her parents as they celebrated the after party of rice ceremony in Hondo’s. I have also seen people who would be my grandparent’s age coming down and having a meal of steak, a burger or just rice and some accompaniment. So, there is no specific age or type of customer category that we target.’
One of the ideas that gained high popularity about Hondo’s in social media, is their Hulk Burger challenge. It comes loaded with beef, pork, chicken, fish, prawn, tomato, pickle, lettuce and heaps of cheese and number of sauces. If you can clean the plate in ten minutes, you will be declared the winner, or else, have to pay INR 1,400.
Every six month or year, Hondo’s reviews the menu, removes some unpopular dishes and brings in new ones, depending on the demand, feedbacks and suggestions.
Challenges are lots to face – starting from running inventory to wastage, optimum number of staff and background expenditure – all are to be taken care of as its is a 24X7 job. The only mode of growth is to branch out, hence coming up with ‘The North Kolkata Hondo’s, in Chinar Park, expected to be functional around February 2020.
Hondo’s got lots of accolade from customers and critics alike. They got the best eatery nomination and award of ‘The Telegraph’ in 2019, under ‘Global cuisine’ section.