Waiter At Popular Kolkata Restaurant Arrested For Serving Beef To YouTuber

A waiter at a well-known bar-cum-restaurant on Kolkata's Park Street has been arrested after an actor and YouTuber accused the establishment of serving him beef instead of mutton.

The incident centres on Olypub, a long-established and popular restaurant in the heart of the city's nightlife district. According to police and the complainant, actor and social media influencer Sayak Chakraborty visited the restaurant on Friday night along with two friends. The group ordered mutton steak, but alleged they were served beef instead.

Sayak has claimed that this was not accidental and that the nature of the dish was not disclosed to them at the time of serving. According to his account, the food was placed on the table without explanation, and the group assumed it was mutton, as ordered. They ate the dish before realising what it was.

The matter came to light after a second dish was brought to the table. Sayak alleged that the restaurant staff then indicated that the earlier serving had been beef, while the new dish was mutton. In a video that later went viral, Sayak is heard recounting the sequence of events in detail.

"Right now we are at a very big restaurant in Park Street. We had ordered mutton steak. But we were served beef steak. Naturally, they didn't tell us what it was. They simply placed the order on the table and left. We thought it was mutton steak. We ate it," he said in the video. "Then another one came and served us another dish. They said this is the mutton steak. They had given us two - one mutton and one beef. What we had been eating all this time was beef steak."

The video also captures an exchange between Sayak and the restaurant employee who served the dish. Sayak is seen questioning the waiter about how mutton could have been "misheard" as beef, pointing out that they had already consumed the food. At that point, the employee is seen admitting that a mistake had been made.

The situation escalated further when Sayak invoked his religious identity during the confrontation. "What do you mean you made a mistake? Do you know I'm a Brahmin? You served me beef when I asked for mutton!" he is heard saying in the clip.

Following the incident, Sayak left the restaurant and lodged a formal complaint at the Park Street Police Station later that night. Based on the complaint, police registered a case and arrested one employee of the restaurant on Saturday.

Confirming the arrest, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said: "One employee of a popular restaurant/bar at Kolkata's Park Street has been arrested on charges of serving beef instead of goat meat to a YouTuber after he lodged a complaint with Park Street police. A case has been registered against the accused, and an investigation into the matter is on."

Police officials said the arrest was made after a preliminary inquiry into the complaint filed on Friday night. Investigators are examining whether the incident was the result of negligence, miscommunication, or something more deliberate. The role of other staff members and the restaurant management is also under scrutiny as part of the ongoing probe.

The controversy gained momentum online after a video of the altercation circulated widely on social media platforms. It has emerged that Sayak initially posted the video himself on social media but deleted it after some time. However, by then, the footage had already been widely shared and reposted.

The video was later put up by BJP leader and lawyer Tarunjyoti Tewari, further amplifying its reach.

The BJP criticised and condemned the restaurant over the alleged incident. BJP leader Keya Ghosh, in a social media post, said: "A well-known blogger, actor, and his friends went to Olypub, a restaurant in Park Street, and ordered mutton steak. But they were served beef steak instead. The waiter later returned with a mutton steak, saying it was a mistake. Later, even the manager came and tried to pass it off as a mistake, with a smile."

She added: "Why are Hindus made a soft target? Imagine the outrage if it were some other kind of meat served to some other community."