Less than a year after moving here from Mongolia to establish the Sault's first plant-based fine-dining establishment, the owners of Ojas are packing it in.
"Most probably we’ll go back to Mongolia," Surendra Kumar Bansal tells SooToday.
The business was listed for sale Thursday afternoon for $180,000.
"We have decided to close the restaurant due to personal and business considerations," Bansal said.
"It was a tough decision but we believe it’s the right step for us at this time. We are incredibly grateful for all the support and love we’ve received from the community."
Bansal and Oyunbileg Chuluunbazar came here last February from Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia with a population of 1.45 million.
The couple leased the popular Muio's location on Queen Street East and re-opened the place in late April under the name Ojas.
Bansal's hometown is Baghpat, a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, part of the National Capital Region surrounding New Delhi.
"I have been living in Mongolia since 2002. I went there to work and then I got married. My wife is Mongolian," he says.
His wife Oyunbileg started a chain of Namaste Indian restaurants in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2010.
In November 2023, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, a branch of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, named Namaste Ulaanbaatar one of the top six Indian culinary experiences in the world.
Their eateries have fed the Dalai Lama and prime ministers of India and Bangladesh.
They even have a Namaste restaurant ready-to-eat products manufacturing unit.
Bansal and Chuluunbazar have been managing their Mongolian businesses from Sault Ste. Marie as they toiled here to build their Canadian beachhead.
And that's one of the factors that's persuaded them to wind down their Canadian operations.
"The visa process in Canada has been quite discouraging," Bansal says.
"We applied for the renewal of our business visa over six months ago, submitted all the required documents, and have made multiple follow-ups.
"While we did receive a response stating that our application is being processed, no decision has been made so far.
"This uncertainty has significantly impacted us, as we need to travel back and forth to our home country, where we have ongoing business commitments."
Bansal said Ojas won't close until someone buys the restaurant.
"Honestly, I love the people and community here."