Influencer Claims Paneer Used At Gauri Khan's Torii Restaurant In Mumbai Is Fake
An influencer accused Gauri Khan’s Torii restaurant of using "fake paneer" and compromising with the food quality.
Shah Rukh Khan’s wife and interior designer Gauri Khan’s stylish Mumbai restaurant Torii made quite the splash when it opened last year — combining luxe interiors with a curated dining experience. But the upscale eatery has now landed in hot water after a food influencer accused it of compromising on quality. In a viral video, a 19-year-old Instagram influencer named Sarthak Sachdeva, who boasts over 5 lakh followers, conducted the trending iodine test to check for “fake paneer” at various celebrity-owned restaurants, including Virat Kohli’s One8 Commune. His claim against Torii has sparked quite a stir on social media.
At Virat Kohli's restaurant, the influencer ordered paneer chawal. Before eating the dish, the influencer did the iodine test to find out whether or not the paneer used is real. Virat’s restaurant passed the test.
He next moved to Shilpa Shetty's Bastian. Here too, the paneer passed the test. Even Bobby Deol's Someplace Else, passed the test, indicating the paneer used is not fake.
The influencer then made his way to Gauri Khan's Torii. He ordered a fancy paneer dish. However, he claimed that the paneer used in the dish was fake.
The video is now going insanely viral on social media and the clip has generated more than 5.5 million views.
Check out the viral video here:
For the unversed, the iodine test for paneer refers to the check for starch adulteration in paneer. If paneer changes colour to blue or black when iodine is added, it confirms the presence of starch, suggesting it might be adulterated.
Soon after the video was shared online, several social media users reacted to it. One user wrote, ““Appreciate your honesty. Not everyone has courage to do this.”
“Dude, don’t drag Shah Rukh Khan in between this as it is his wife’s restaurant. Also, it’s not like Gauri personally goes grocery shopping,” another comment read.
Another one wrote, “The risk you have taken to say anything to Shahrukh’s restaurant, let us know if u get any threats…fyi we wont be able to do anything.”
“The paneer used in SRK’s retaurant was also real. Sometimes the starch gets stuck on paneer, which makes it fail the iodine test, get it checked in lab before claiming anything,” commented one user.
The video has also been noticed by the restaurant's official Instagram page. The outlet in their defence said, “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.”
Replying to the restaurant's post, the influencer said, “So am I banned now? BTW your food is amazing.”
