Butter chicken bonanza post-lockdown
More than 1300 butter chickens from one restaurant in 89 days — Gizzie, come on!
But it’s not just East Coasters digging in to Kiwis’ favourite curry since our forced five-week stay at home ended.
Takeaway orders at Indian restaurants around the country have run hot since the level 4 lockdown ended late on April 27, with more than 40,000 curries ordered on food delivery platform Menulog.
Menulog figures also showed butter chicken was the favourite dish in Auckland, Christchurch and Tauranga. At one Gisborne restaurant more than 1300 butter chickens had been sold in the past 89 days.
Restaurants now want Kiwis to take a chance and try something new.
“Butter chicken is always the best seller,” Auckland’s Bolliwood Xpress assistant manager Anjali Bisht said.
“But it’s time people started to sample a broader range of Indian food. There is a huge range of curries and spices in Indian food so there’s always new flavours to try.”
Post-lockdown orders showed Kiwis loved their takeaways, especially Indian food, Menulog NZ managing director Morten Belling said.
“We’ve always seen a strong demand for Indian cuisine and are pleased people are continuing to support their favourite restaurants.”
And doing so legitimately, unlike a Melbourne man who breached the city’s Covid-19 lockdown rules this month when he drove 32km to get his favourite butter chicken.
It was an expensive meal — he was fined $1735 for driving to his favourite restaurant, rather than his closest.