Palki Khana Restaurant (Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel)

Our restaurant, Palki Khana, is located within the Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel inside the City Palace Complex. This is the heart of Udaipur, the 313001 area, where all the old buildings and narrow roads are. Working here is interesting because of the old stone architecture, but it also means we have to deal with some old-fashioned problems. The stone floors are hard on the feet, and the kitchen is tucked away in a corner of the old structure. We spend a lot of time moving tables around the courtyard to catch the shade or avoid the rain. It isn't a modern, air-conditioned box; it is an open space that feels the Rajasthan heat. We don't really go out and look for customers because the palace tourists just find us while they are walking around. Our job is mostly about keeping the place tidy and making sure the kitchen is stocked with what we need. It is a lot of manual work, carrying trays across the uneven stones and dealing with the wind when it picks up. We are just a group of people working in a historic spot. Sometimes the power flickers, or the water pressure is a bit low, and we just have to fix it and keep going. It is a very different environment than a regular street restaurant, but the daily chores of cooking and cleaning are mostly the same.