The Birsa Munda Food Plaza at the railway station. Picture by Manik Bose

Ranchi, March 27: At a time when the concept of getting a “status” from international organisations is yet to catch on with restaurants in the state, the Birsa Food Plaza at the Ranchi railway station is setting a trend.

The restaurant is soon going to receive the ISO901 tag for itself from Certification International United Kingdom Limited, the body that issues the ISO status.

After completing a “field verification” of the restaurant recently, the officials, who are based at the Calcutta office, have already sounded that the restaurant would be getting the good news on paper within a week.

“According to the rule, a lead auditor of a consultancy body attached to the Certification International UK Limited, verifies the spot and submits a report. For Birsa Food Plaza, the verification is over,” said Ajit Kumar, quality management systems (QMS), lead auditor.

Kumar said now it was only a matter of time before the restaurant is formally handed over the documents for the ISO901 status.

The idea for opting for an ISO status for restaurants and bars is new, both in the state capital and elsewhere in Jharkhand.

Hoteliers belonging to Jharkhand Hotel and Bar Owners’ Association also said the ISO status for restaurants and bars is not popular.

They, however, see no “utility value” of the status.

“Though the ISO status for restaurants and bars is new here, I do not see how much this tag could actually add to the hotel,” said Chandra Mohan Kapoor, the president of Jharkhand Hotels and Bar Owners’ Association.

Those who love eating out would opt for their favourite restaurant because of its food and not the ISO status, he observed.

Kumar, however, said the ISO status denotes the “quality” of a particular body or institution. And in case of a restaurant, the ISO status denotes the quality of its working environment, hospitality and management.

Birsa Food Plaza, a fully air-conditioned restaurant situated at the Ranchi railway station, had applied for the status around three months ago.

It had then gone through the long process of verification, followed by a positive recommendation by the consultancy body.

“The ISO status is surely a new tag for our restaurant. This would definitely bring good results for us in future,” said Vinod Kumar, the general manager of the Birsa Food Plaza.