Unless you’re the type of person who carries your yoga mat everywhere and works the words “transcendent” and “Nepal” into every conversation, you probably wouldn’t know that there’s a very good café crammed into Travelers Tea Company, a shop that sells East Asian goods as envisioned by someone whose most prized possessions are a dog-eared Lonely Planet guide and a copy of Monsoon Wedding. Go past the Bollywood posters, the essential oils, and the figurines of Hindu gods, and you’ll find a few café tables adjacent to the windows.

Travelers has some of the best (vegetarian) Indian food in the city and offers one of the best cheap lunches on the Hill. The rice bowl is our favorite; it changes daily but is normally topped with chutney and curried vegetables or beans. They also serve thalis that include dal and raita, two veggie dishes (for example, green spinach-potato dumplings in red curry), another side salad, basmati rice, and chutney. If you’re a vegan, they will adjust most dishes for you with no fuss, with the exception perhaps of the one crossover dish: naan pizza (garlic naan topped with green chutney, Monterey Jack, tomatoes, and red onions). Chai here is cheaper than at any of the neighborhood’s coffeeshops, and there’s a long list of sweets to go with it.