Rashmi is king of the “halal” restaurants in Vientiane

Rashmi Indian Fusion, new kid on the block restaurant that cooked “halal” food for Muslims and non-Muslims was the leader of the pack of four “halal” or Muslim restaurants in Vientiane.

Rashmi’s dining room was impressive, it was brilliantly illuminated, the artificial light mirrored the sun, the walls and ceiling painted with matching colours, the dining tables had neatly laid out western cutlery, its huge glass windows faced Samsenthai Road so that diners could watch the traffic pass by and all these showed that its director, Jagesh Jeswani, wanted to give his customers five-star treatment when they dined.

Jewels of Rashmi were her three chefs, who hailed from northern India, they excelled in preparing dishes native to their region and so they gave this eating house the reputation as a provider of fine food from this part of the Indian sub-continent.

What was so good about the north Indian dishes compared to south Indian food, the KPL News reporter asked Jagesh last week. “As you said you were used to south Indian dishes and if you dined on north Indian food, you would be able to tell the difference,” he replied.

He also said that south Indian dishes were oily, spicy and less well cooked but north Indian dishes were just the opposite.

Rashmi served only mutton and chicken dishes which were “halal” and therefore “permissible” for Muslims and in fact for all to consume. She did not serve any pork or beef.

The restaurant’s mutton came from local goats that were slaughtered by a Pakistani Muslim who performed Islamic rituals before he killed them, thus transforming the goat meat into “halal” mutton.

The four “halal” restaurants here did not slaughter chicken in the Islamic way as the proprietors crossed the border to Thailand to purchase certified “halal” chicken from Nongkhai (province).

Restaurants in India had a tradition of serving “halal” food. “India, a secular country, but with a big Muslim minority, decided to foster harmony and so she ordered all restaurants to serve “halal”food,”said Jagesh.
According to Jagesh, his family went into the food business because they were passionate about it, they wanted others to enjoy north Indian food, so much so that they planned to set up a “halal” outlet for backpackers and others and charge “low, low prices,” just two to three USD for a wholesome meal.

This was the third of the series of a journalist’s walkabout in Vientiane’s tourist belt to source for stories on how the tourist outlets managed their businesses.

As Vientiane would be hosting the 25th SEA Games within a matter of days, many Muslim athletes, sports officials, supporters and tourists would be here and they would want to dine on “halal” food. Therefore this piece on a “halal” restaurant and another one a few days ago in the same daily served to give information to all that Vientiane had outlets that offered fine “halal” food to both Muslims and non-Muslims.

KPL Lao News Agency