Recently I have done a “price survey” on thosai and masala tea in 3 renowned Indian restaurants in PJ with my friend Gwen.
The survey started with both of us going to a famous air-conditioned restaurant in the “PJ state” area to have breakfast after attending mass in a catholic church. We ordered ghee paper thosai and rava thosai, and 2 cups of masala tea. The total bill was RM30.70. The ghee thosai was RM10.50 and Rava Thosai was RM6.50, and the masala tea cost us RM6 each.
I was quite surprised to pay RM30.70 for simple vegetarian food like thosai, as this price is more expensive compared to eating meat noodles in Chinese coffee shops.
My friend and I then decided to order the same food in other Indian restaurants in PJ, in the subsequent days, to compare prices.
The Indian restaurant (without air-conditioning) in Jalan Gasing charged us 1/3 of the price of the previous restaurant for ghee paper thosai, the price of a cup of masala tea was RM2.50 only. Total bill was RM13.45.
We then tried another Indian restaurant (with air-conditioning) in the Jalan Gasing area and ordered the same food, the total bill for 2 pax was RM14.00. The price of paper thosai was RM5, which was half the price of the first restaurant.
After eating paper thosai in 3 Indian restaurants in PJ, I must say that I started to like paper thosai. 😄
I don’t blame restaurants for marking up their prices. It is a “willing buyer and willing seller”market. We just need to learn to compare prices and be smart consumers.