‘Baba ka Dhaba’ owner starts a new restaurant in south Delhi, Indian and Chinese on the menu

New Delhi: Indian and Chinese meals will be served from Tuesday at the new restaurant of Kanta Prasad, the 80-year-old dhaba owner who shot to fame in October after a video showing him sharing his woes following the loss of his business due to the Covid-19 pandemic went viral on social media.

“A chef and his helper whom we have employed are busy cooking Indian and Chinese food. We will start serving it as soon as they are prepared. The Indian meal--Chawal-Dal, Roti, and Subzi--will be severed for Rs50 per plate, the same rate that we charged at our old eatery. The rate of Chinese food will be decided by the chef and my son,” said Prasad. Prasad, his wife, Badaami Devi, and their son, Azad Hind, inaugurated their new restaurant in Malviya Nagar a few hundred metres from their roadside eatery that the couple ran for decades. They have rented the space for the new Baba Ka Dhaba restaurant for Rs35,000 per month. The family has invested Rs5 lakh in renovating and buying items for running the new restaurant, said Prasad.

“The new restaurant has a kitchen, a bathroom, and six tables along with chairs that can accommodate at least 20 customers at a time,” said Prasad. He added the donations that poured into his account after the video went viral helped him start his new restaurant. “Starting a new restaurant was the idea of the people who supported me or donated money,” he said. Prasad said from morning till noon, he will manage the restaurant and later his son will take the charge. “With this new restaurant, we are trying our fortune in the business. I hope people will come to our new restaurant and support us,” he said. He added his son was unemployed after he lost his job as a ward boy at a hospital. Prasad said free meals were served to 50-60 people on Monday. In the viral video, a teary-eyed Prasad was seen interacting with YouTube “influencer” Gaurav Wasan on how the Covid-19 pandemic hit his business. Prasad later filed a police complaint against Wasan for the alleged misappropriation of funds. He accused Wasan of sharing his and his family and friends’ bank details and mobile numbers with the donors to collect donations and to cheat him. Wasan has denied the allegations. The Delhi police have booked Wasan on cheating charges.