Culinary Tourism and Restaurant Review: Host India, Ottawa, Canada

This report provides a detailed review of a dining experience at the Host India restaurant in Ottawa, Canada. The author explores the restaurant's ambiance, décor, and its focus on providing authentic Indian cuisine. The report highlights the positive aspects of the dining experience, including the staff's communication strategies, food presentation, and attentive service. The author emphasizes how the restaurant promotes culinary tourism by introducing guests to Indian cuisine and providing information about the dishes. The review also touches upon the author's personal experience, including their initial unfamiliarity with Indian cuisine and how the restaurant's staff helped them understand the menu. The report references the restaurant's website and Facebook page, mentioning the appeal of the online presence. The author concludes by expressing a desire for a better ambiance and a willingness to revisit the restaurant. The report also references academic sources on culinary tourism and consumer behavior.

Running head: FOOD
Food
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1FOOD
CUISINE AND CULTURE OF THE RESTAURANT:
I went to dine in the Host India restaurant situated in Ottawa, Canada. The Host India
restaurant is known for fulfilling the wish of those food consumers in Canada, who crave for
Indian foods. It mainly provides all dishes that is popular in Indian cuisine and provides
authentic Indian food both in the form of buffet as well as delivery/take out. All contemporary
Indian meals and desserts are available there (Hostindiaottawa.ca. 2018).
REVIEW OF DINING EXPERIENCE AT THE RESTAURANT:
I and my friend went to the Host India restaurant to try a different cuisine, however we
had little idea about Indian cuisines. However, the experience there was exceptional as the
manner in which they presented their foods to us, I got to know a lot about Indian cuisines. The
first thing that attracted out attention while entering the restaurants was interior and exterior
décor of the restaurant. Unlike other classic restaurant in Canada, it had Indian decorations
instead of Italian decorations. The ambience may not be termed as exceptional or unique, it had
basic dining tables and buffet areas arranged for guest. However, everything looked sleek and
clean. This impressed me because hygiene is a priority for me when I visit a restaurant. Based on
the décor and cuisine, it can be said that the restaurant acted an ethnic restaurant that used their
dining services to attract the attention of tourist. Through their focus on maintaining authenticity
of Indian food both in décor as well as food served, they engaged in good expression of identity.
The notion of authenticity as a motivation for promoting culinary tourism was maintained (Molz
1998).

2FOOD
As I had no idea about the cuisine, I was a little clueless about the menu presented to us.
This is because we were mainly used to Italian and European cuisines and we were confused
regarding the food we should order. Once the staff realized that we were not acquainted with
Indian cuisine, he approached us in a delightful manner to explain about the specialty of Indian
cuisines and the food that is a must to try here. They were interest not only in serving food but
also in striking a cord with us. They asked us questions like ‘Have you dined here before?’ and
‘what type of food you wish to eat here?’. This type of communication strategy helped us to
understand the type of flavor and spices we can expect here. Hence, we finally ended up ordering
the classic samosa for starters and butter chicken with naan after we got to know that these are
the popular items in Indian cuisine. This experience also taught us how food can be a good
vehicle for tourism. They were involved in excellent culinary tourism by their communication
strategies. Restaurant staffs acts as the active agent, who help people who are not familiar with a
cuisine to construct meaning of the food and fetish the exotic food options. The strategy used by
restaurants to construct and negotiate identity about an unknown cuisine is understood (Beagan
et al. 2015).
In addition, while we were served the food, the staffs at Host India maintained the
edibility and palatability value of the food by their presentation styles. Each food items that we
ordered were nicely presented and one staff was giving us good information about the spices in
each food items. The cutleries and other items at the table were also arranged according to Indian
dining styles. They never left us unattended and came back during the meal to ask if we were
enjoying the dish. Their attentive service was a winning point for me as their attitude showed
that they were willing to provide good dining experience to us. This is also understood from the
concept of culinary tourism perspective as Indian food is a rare food item in Canada and by using

3FOOD
their food presentation technique and interest in making us familiar with the cuisine, they were
promoting interest of diners in Indian cuisine. This strategy to introduce guest to new food by
means of good dining experience and providing information about ingredients promotes culinary
tourism and ensures that people who are not familiar with cuisine eats the food with pleasure
instead of curiosity (Long, 1998)..
As a person who loves to experiment with different food items, the experience of visiting
the Host India restaurant provided me the opportunity to engage in connoiseeur
cosmopolitanism. Connoiseeur cosmopolitanism focus on learning about different international
foods and cuisines and the staffs at Host India helped me a lot in giving me knowledge about
Indian cuisines (Beagan et al. 2015). They engaged in constructive tourism too as after the meal
they asked us whether anything should be changed about dining experience there. I liked the
service, the presentation style, however I wanted a better ambience. Due to my curiosity for
Indian foods, I visited the website and Facebook page of the restaurant too after the dining
experience. The manner in which they have introduced them in the website is very appealing for
me. This is because it mentioned in great detail mainly about the Indian meals and the details
about the cuisine motivated me to visit again (Hostindiaottawa.ca. 2018).

4FOOD
References:
Beagan, B.L., Chapman, G.E., Johnston, J., McPhail, D., Power, E.M. and Vallianatos, H.,
2015. Acquired tastes: Why families eat the way they do. UBC Press.
Hostindiaottawa.ca. 2018. Host India Food Delivery & Takeout Menu | Ottawa. Retrieved 5
March 2018, from http://www.hostindiaottawa.ca/?
utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=website
Long, L. M. (1998). Culinary tourism: A folkloristic perspective on eating and
otherness. Southern Folklore, 55(3), 181.
Molz, J.G., 1998. Tasting an imagined Thailand. Culinary Tourism, 55(3), p.53.