Fish ‘N’ Tips? Minister Zameer Khan Tips Seafood Restaurant Employees Rs 25K
Mangaluru: Here in Mangaluru, diners at a restaurant or any wine and dine establishment don’t even bother to leave a decent amount of tips, and many of them don’t leave any tips after a meal, but one Karnataka State Minister has put food buffs dining out to shame. When is the last time that any rich customer dining at a restaurant left a big tip to a server/waiter for having done a good job- probably none? But here we have our Haj and Wakf State Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan who not only left a Rs 25,000 tips for the managing partner of a restaurant Haneef Mohammed and all the employees, but has also gifted Haneef a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Minister Zameer Khan was in Mangaluru for an official review meeting during the weekend, but for lunch had patronized a seafood restaurant named ‘Fish Market’ locatedin Lower Bendoor, near St Theresa’s School-Mangaluru, who was also by Former MLA Moideen Bawa, President of Wakf Committee UK Monu, UT Ifthikar Ali (Brother of minister U T Khader) and other party workers. Minister Khan had ordered couple of fish dishes, among which was Anjal (Seer Fish) and Pomfret, and he liked the taste so much that he wanted to speak to the chef.
Haneef Mohammed of Boliyar, who is a managing partner as well as the cook at Fish Market, was overwhelmed when the minister wanted to speak to him. Praising Haneef for culinary expertise and meticulous cooking he said that the pomfret and Anjal dish was superb, which he has never tasted anything like that before The Minister also insisted that Haneef sit next to him and fed him from his own plate. The minister then reached out to his pocket, and grabbed Rs 25,000 and tipped the restaurant employees, of which Rs 5000 was exclusively for Haneef, and He even promised Haneef that he bear his expenses for a trip to Umrah/Mecca.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Haneef who was working in Gulf for many years, and joined Fish Market restaurant as a partner three years ago said, “It was a very unexpected moment and I will cherish it for rest of my life. In the past I have served many renowned personalities/politicians/celebrities when they had visited Mangaluru, like Rahul Gandhi, former CM Siddaramaiah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Film star Ramya, among many others- and they have all complimented my cooking. But never received such a compliment and gesture from a state minister. However, it was a momentous day in my 18 year long professional cooking life,”.
Managing Partner and Chef Haneef Mohammed
The Rs 20,000 tips was shared between eight employees whom worked that day, namely Mohammed Ansar (Manager), Saleem (Chef, who also had worked in Gulf at a star hotel for nearly 12 years), Anwar Sadath (worked as Chef in Doha), Abdul Ghafoor, Mussafar, Mohammed Arif, Mohammed Gulzar, and Shiva Bele, and Rs 5000 for Haneef.
Apart from these employees, Pramod Bele from Madhya Pradesh also received Rs 1000 tips from the minister, for the tasty lemon tea that he had prepared for the minister.
It is learnt that this is not the first time Minister Zameer Khan has shown his generosity, because two weeks ago, he had donated Rs 1 lakh each to four youth who played major role as Good Samaritans in rescuing people during recent landslides at Jodupala. Apart from this, Minister Khan has also done a personal contribution of Rs 10 lakh to Snehadeep, a home that cares for AIDS-affected children.
One restaurant server, Abdul Ghafoor said, “It’s flattering. It’s nice to see somebody appreciate what we do and they’re willing to leave something like that for us. It’s hard to believe anyone deserves a tip like that. Our sincere appreciation and thanks to our beloved Minister Khan”