When I see people going gaga over food trucks, I shrug. Long before them, we were lining up before what was known as a van. In many parts of Delhi, there’d be a dilapidated van parked in some corner, selling mostly Chinese food. When we couldn’t afford restaurant food – and that was often — we bought our soup and chow mein from them, at rates that we wholly approved of.

One such van was in the South Extension Market. We went there all the time, but once in a while — when somehow the pockets were crisp with notes — we used to go to a restaurant in the other part of the market: South Ex 2. This was Daitchi, and we — a group of close friends — just loved the food there.

I can’t recall when I went there last, but it was possibly in the late '70s or early '80s. And then, a few days ago, we ordered from Daitchi — and it was like meeting a long-lost friend, and finding that we still liked the same kind of music, and read the same books.

Let me start at the beginning. A friend has moved to South Extension Part 2. We went to see her house and stayed back for dinner. Her kitchen was not functioning yet, so I had a brainwave. "Let’s order from Daitchi," I said. The others hadn’t eaten there, but were willing to give it a try. So I called the restaurant up (26257511)and asked for a plate of vegetable noodles, vegetable fried rice (both ₹370), assorted vegetables in hot garlic sauce (₹ 320 — there was, as you’ve guessed, a vegetarian among us), chilli chicken and chicken with pak choi (both ₹380). The food arrived within half an hour. We sat down to dinner — and I discovered that the food was as good as ever.

The rice and the noodles had been lightly tossed with the vegetables. I didn’t have the friend’s vegetable dish, but focused on the two chicken preparations. One was a dry dish — the chicken had been stir-fried with pak choi, and the flavours of the greens had nicely sharpened the light taste of the chicken, cooked with chopped green chillies, onions and ginger. I enjoyed the chilli chicken immensely. It wasn’t that blackish-brown soya colour that most chilli chicken dishes come in, and hadn’t been overwhelmed by bell pepper and onion chunks, as they often are. It was appetizingly pale in colour, and the sauce was light and superb, with just the right amounts of pepper and onions in it. The dishes were a bit hot, I must admit, but I, for one, wasn’t complaining.

The helpings were good, too. There were five of us, and the hostess had some leftovers for dinner the next day. We didn’t ask for the pork dishes, which were a particular favourite of mine when we used to go there. They still have quite a few dishes — such as pork roast, ribs and double-fried pork — on the menu. Next time!

I am glad our friend has moved to South Ex. It’s ended up reviving an old and once much nurtured relationship. I should now look up the van.

The writer is a seasoned food critic