The Lunch Man

• 01 March 2026
• india

Family, friends, foes, foes who will become friends, and friends who will become foes, welcome to a special little travel anecdote!

Lunch

We did a beautiful ridge-line hike in the morning and ate some delightful homemade donut-esque balls with mango and pineapple, as well as chapati and potato curry. Like many things in India, the hike abruptly ended a few kilometers from town. When I suggested to the guide we would just walk, he informed us he'd already called a tuk-tuk. It's really hard to argue even when you're going to pay the high tourist rate of ~$1.60 for a ride, so we acquiesced and took our first electric tuk-tuk (A+ experience, would electrify all tuk-tuks). Well unbeknownst to us, our guide had told the driver to take us to a vegetarian restaurant we'd discussed earlier (almost all restaurants are advertised as veg, non-veg, or veg and non-veg). It was a very local affair, and in fact called a "hotel," because that is apparently another name for restaurant here. So we went into the Veg Hotel for lunch!

In India it is rare to be greeted when you walk into an establishment, which I assume is due to the sheer number of people around at any given time. Everyone (except us tourists) knows their business and proceeds to sit down at any of the shared tables. We followed suit and soon enough a stern looking man presents menus. The menus are all in English, but not for our sake, it's mostly for other Indian travelers that most likely speak another language from the state we're in.

We decide the "special lunch" is probably the thing with many small tins that we want, so we can try all kinds of foods. Sarah points at the menu and gestures about lots of small cups and the waiter nods. Yes, two please!

Shortly two trays arrive with 12-14 small metal cups of delightful foods. I can't really tell you what any of them are, but I can tell you every single one is delicious. Even the red onions, which are served to help cut down on the spice, much like you can clear your palate with ginger between sushi. We start eating.

Your humble author, pretending he loves photos taken before the face-stuffing can commence

The waiter then proceeds to appear with more things, because in Southern India I have yet to experience any sort of shortage of food. We learn that in addition to the ~15 small cups of food, and several bread items, we are also expected to eat a heaping pile of rice. All with our hands, which we think we've kind of figured out.

Except then a man comes over, says hello, and asks where we're from (a very common question). We chat a little and he starts telling us about the food. I assume he's the restaurant owner. He insists we need a second little tin of the dessert item. How can I refuse? He also proceeds to give us tips on how to properly smash the rice down so it's easier to eat with your hand. I guess we weren't quite the experts I had hoped.

Lunch finishes. I'm stuffed, which is how I feel 70% of the time. Because every time you get food, it is some of the best food you've ever had. People like to ask what your favorite dish is, but I literally have no answer because it's almost always the last thing I ate.

Anyway, the friendly man comes back to our table, and he tells us he is so glad we are visiting India and he insists on giving us his phone number so that if anything goes awry anywhere in India, we can call and he will assist us. He then tells us as he parts that he has bought our lunches.

I do not know who this man is. He was not the owner. Maybe he is extremely wealthy. But probably not, because it was an affordable, local restaurant (think $2-3 for a big meal). I do know that he's very generous, and even after meeting many friendly people, I am still a bit in shock that a strange man decided to buy two Americans lunch. So thank you Raj!

A bonus picture. Numerous people have asked to take photos of us. Or in one case, the man sitting in front of me held up his phone on a tour, put it in selfie mode, and then carefully held it right in front of my face to get a photo of me. I of course smiled. It seems quite normal for people to take photos. Some ask, some don't. After having taken a handful of group photos with small children, families, businessmen on a hike, I finally realized I also needed them to take a photo with my phone. So here's Sarah and myself, and this Indian family.

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