It ended up being a great night and we catered for about 700 people in the end and everyone was very happy.
After the banquet, we still had two services to go at the hotel, which went like a dream. The team was on a high after the banquet, and nothing was too much trouble for the hotel.
In the end, we had fed in the region of 500 customers in my restaurant and nearly 2,000 in the Indian restaurant plus the 700 for the banquet; it really ended up being a job well done.
As the restaurants started to wind down in the last few days of the festival, it allowed me some free time to visit the local area.
I headed to the local fish markets and found that they really are different to local markets in the UK. You can just imagine the smell of fresh fish at 6am in the morning in the 35 degree heat; it really wasn't pleasant.
However, I was impressed by just how fresh the fish was. It was interesting watching the scope of people in attendance from locals to restaurants and hotels all wanting to buy the day’s catch.
The transportation, however, was not well thought out: people were putting food on the back of motorbikes, in tuktuk taxis or carried on the women’s heads with juices dripping everywhere!
One of the highlights was seeing the sunrise at Marina beach, and what an experience that was. At 5:15am, locals could be found doing their yoga, as it’s the only time cool enough to do so.
The whole sky could be seen developing from dark grey to bright orange to red before reaching daylight in just 15 minutes.
At this stunning natural occurrence, I realised how obsessed people were in India with selfies as they all had their backs to the action and were taking pictures of themselves instead.
If I was to summarise my time, I would say it was a really testing thing to do, with all the issues of produce or lack of it and a lack of information on how things work in India. But the big question is would I do it again?
Yes, in an instant. The people are so nice and will try their hardest to please you, and once you have seen past the gulf between the rich and the poor, India truly is a wonderful, beautiful place with a very diverse culture.
I would like to thank Curry Life Magazine for inviting me along and also look forward to next year’s event.
Mark Poynton is the chef patron of Michelin starred restaurant 
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