Netizens have been left confused after strange ‘one-dish’ restaurants appeared on their Zomato delivery feed. A Reddit post claimed that such restaurants have sprung up in Chandigarh, Union Territory of North India, offering a unique dish at “absurdly high prices”. Some suspect restaurants have no reviews while others have been bombarded with negative reviews. The names of the individual dishes, ranging from “Naughty Strawberry” to “Blue Adventure” to “Citrus Punch”, piqued the curiosity of the masses, who started conspiracy theories that these outlets could be fronts for drug delivery or money laundering.

“I came across some strange listings on Zomato in Chandigarh – so-called ‘restaurants’ that offer only one dish, at an absurdly high price. I wonder: could this be a front for money laundering? ‘money or some other shady deal?’ read the post in the r/India subreddit.

“Has anyone else noticed similar trends in other cities? Or does anyone have any idea what’s really going on here? I’d love to hear your thoughts!”

The original poster (OP) followed up with one of the restaurants ordering said item but did not receive any delivery.

“I tried to place an order but it was automatically canceled after a while and the restaurant now shows as closed,” the OP said.

What is happening with Zomato in Chandigarh?

Fake “restaurants” offering SINGLE dish at absurd prices, with non-existent addresses. Something really fishy is cooking @zomato @DgpChdPolice

Anyone else notice this? #Zomato #Chandigarh #ZomatoGate pic.twitter.com/wbBvCrqsPV

-nitish anand (@nitish_an) November 18, 2024

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Internet users speculate

As the post went viral, users offered their theories on what could have led to the emergence of such dark restaurants.

“It looks like the flavors of the juice you put in your vapes. The prices also seem consistent,” one user said, while another added: “That’s right. I know of exactly one operation like this in a other city, which mainly sells vape pens/cartridges. The price is almost the same, Rs 1000-Rs 1200 per item.

“Could this be a way to deliver medicine? With such a high price, only “a few” people will order. And those few already know what it contains, which is medicine . Just an idea,” commented a third.

A user pointed out that all the restaurants were in the same location, ‘Nayagaon’, adding to the mystery.