Ohri plans to expand to Bangalore, Chennai

Hyderabad-based food chain and hospitality group, Ohri, plans to open restaurants in Bangalore and Chennai during the current financial year.The group on Wednesday opened their eleventh restaurant in the city, 'Ohri's Far East', that proffers the pan-Asian experience.

Addressing a press conference, Amar Ohri, executive director of Ohri group, said: "Though there are restaurants in those cities, there are not many which offer typical Indian food. And to tap such a market we plan to launch our Indian cuisine restaurant, Tadka, and ice cream parlour, Havmor, in these cities. The overall plan is to open 40 restaurants across the country by 2007."

He said the company expects the group turnover to grow by about 20-25 per cent this financial year. The group for the financial year ended on March 31, 2004 had a turnover of Rs 20 crore.

Speaking about the new restaurant, he said, "It is not a typical restaurant which offers Chinese cuisine, but a place where customers can find cuisines from five different Asian countries." The restaurant offers cuisines from Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

"We have invested around Rs 1.25 crore in the restaurant that follows the tenets of Feng Shui," Amar said.

The restaurant has an open kitchen as was as the 'Teppanyaki' counter which allows customers to interact with the chefs. The restaurant also has five private dining areas. Amar said that the group plans to open a restaurant-cum-lounge in Hyderabad in the next three months.