New Delhi:
Gauri Khan’s posh Mumbai eatery Torii has come under scrutiny after an YouTuber accused the place of serving “fake” paneer. Influencer and YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva shared a now-viral video from his visit to Torii, claiming that the restaurant served paneer containing starch, a marker of adulteration, according to his test.
In the video, Sarthak performs an iodine tincture test on a piece of paneer served at the restaurant. This test, which is commonly used to detect the presence of starch, made a change in the colour (black or blue) of the paneer as soon as the food came in contact of iodine.
Reacting to the colour change, Sarthak declared, “Shah Rukh Khan ke restaurant mein paneer nakli tha. Ye dekh ke mere toh hosh udd gaye the (I was stunned to find that fake paneer was being served at Shah Rukh Khan’s restaurant).”
As part of a content series, Sarthak visited several celebrity-owned restaurants in Mumbai including Virat Kohli’s One8 Commune, Shilpa Shetty’s Bastian and Bobby Deol’s Someplace Else to examine the quality of the paneer being served.
None of the paneer samples from those outlets turned black during the test, suggesting the absence of starch.
The video prompted a buzz online, triggering a reaction from the Team Torii.
Commenting on the video, the restaurant wrote: “The iodine test reflects the presence of starch, not the authenticity of the paneer. As the dish contains soy-based ingredients, this reaction is expected. We stand by the purity of our paneer and the integrity of our ingredients at Torii.”
Sarthak replied cheekily, “So am I banned now? btw ur food is amazing.”
Gauri Khan, an interior designer, has previously designed restaurants such as Arth and Sanchos. She owns the Gauri Khan Designs in Mumbai. Apart from that, she has given makeovers to several suburban Mumbai restaurants and celebrity houses over the years.
