Australia: The restaurant owner was taken aback and offered a year of free butter chicken
Dubai: Would you break the law to satisfy a food craving? Recently, a man in Australia did. He travelled 32 kilometers for the “perfect butter chicken”, not caring for lockdown restrictions. But before he could satiate his butter chicken craving, he was caught on the way and fined $1,652 (Dh6,067). The Friday night incident was viral on Twitter by Sunday, now the restaurant has finally announced a year of free butter chicken for the man.
According to an Indian news report, the 48-year-old man named Noel Atkinson, a construction worker, felt like eating a specific kind of butter chicken he likes. Though it was already past 11pm, he decided to drive from Melbourne’s suburb of Werribee, to the city center. Twitter users shared the reports wondering what was so special about it that inspired him .
Tweep @MadhuVajpayee: “Being vegetarian, I have no idea how it tastes but this butter chicken must be very delicious!”
And, @shakirahussein tweeted: “…Melbourne wants to know: what is so specifically special about the butter chicken? Biryani maybe but butter chicken?”
The man, who is half-Indian, said: “Since it was after 11pm, all restaurants in my area were closed, and I wanted to have butter chicken. I grew up eating Indian food since my mother is from Ambala. I finally found one restaurant that was open but there was no home delivery to my place due to the distance. So I decided to go there.”
Reportedly, he was pulled over by cops just meters away from his destination.
He was issued with an infringement notice for violating the law. “I told police I was out to buy food but was ordered to go home. Cops followed me for some time to make sure I was headed back,” he said.
After the news of the huge fine went viral, netizens were quick to dub it the “world’s most expensive butter chicken”.
The owner of the restaurant that Atkinson was driving to said he was taken aback by the man’s devotion to the dish, and announced that they will be providing him free butter chicken for a year once he is able to visit after lockdown.
According to a delighted Atkinson, this would make the fine “easier to digest”.
Meanwhile, Australia has suffered its worst day of coronavirus infections, with Victoria state recording 484 new cases and warning numbers could rise further, amid a second wave.
