Workers at an Indian restaurant in London have copped some heat – figuratively – after a spice-related order slip-up.
Stuart Lynn, a self-confessed “spice lover”, visited the Valentine Restaurant in Southall, West London, where he ordered a venison curry, to be served ‘very, very mild’.
However, when his meal was served, Lynn was left with a bit of a shock when he found his meal ticket noted “VERY MILD, WHITE PPL”.
Speaking to The Mirror, the Heathrow Airport supervisor believes he is the victim of a “racial slur” that suggested that people of Caucasian descent cannot handle hot food.
“I was not happy at all – it said ‘white people’ next to my curry,” said the 44-year-old.
“It implies we can’t deal with strong curries. I do like a hot curry sometimes. I just fancied a mild one for a change. I thought it was very rude of them,” he told The Mirror.
“It was the first time I’ve been in there and I won’t be going back.”
However, despite Lynn’s insistence that the note was a ‘slur’, the owners of the restaurant have come out and said that the labelling was a simple communication error.
“I have investigated and can confirm it was a misunderstanding,” said the owner, Ruby Kandasamy, “Under ‘white ppl’, we don’t mean white people, but a white sauce made from milk, single cream, coconut milk and spices we add to our dishes when a curry is requested mild.
“‘Ppl’ means ‘milk’,” said the owner, referring to the abbreviation “pure pasteurised liquid”.
“However, we have decided to change the way we inform the kitchen and will mention ‘add white ppl’ or ‘with white sauce’ to avoid any confusion with our customers.”
“We want to apologize to the customer for any inconvenience and misunderstanding, we hope the curry was nice and he or she will visit us again.”
Unsurprisingly, Lynn has not accepted their apology.
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