Bangali dhaba

Bangali dhaba is sitting right on the main road in Janta Nagar, which is a pretty crowded part of Ludhiana. We are quite close to Basant Park, so we get people walking over after their evening stroll. It’s a bit of an odd mix, having a Bengali-style name here in the middle of Punjab, but people seem to like it. The place is quite basic, just a typical dhaba setup with a few fans trying to keep the air moving. It gets very noisy with the trucks and cars zooming by on the main road just a few feet away. We aren't trying to be a five-star restaurant. We just serve food on steel plates and make sure the tea is hot. The kitchen is always busy, and there’s usually a bit of a mess behind the scenes with all the sacks of flour and onions lying around. We have a few staff members who have been with us since we opened. We spend a lot of time just sitting out front when it’s quiet, watching the traffic go by. It’s a lot of long hours, starting early to get the stove going and staying open late for the late-night workers who need a meal. It’s not fancy, and the walls are a bit stained from the smoke, but it feels like a real place. We just serve what we know and hope people enjoy the meal.