Imagine this: you take all of Lahore, every single person, sit them down and calmly, patiently, tell them they can’t go out for food. This is across all the different layers of society — from high-tier sushi brasseries to the Old Lahore dahi barha dhabas — all banned indefinitely. Once the announcement reaches the ears of the residents, the air slowly leaves the building, leaving the residents gasping for oxygen as they try to comprehend that the one thing that mattered most to them has suddenly been snatched away — albeit for their own good but that doesn’t matter at all.

This was the scenario once the pandemic hit Pakistan somewhere mid-March. Not exactly the dramatic effect of oxygen being sucked from a building and Lahoris physically falling into a deep state of despair, but the no-eating-out part. All restaurants were shut and a lockdown imposed in an attempt to control the virus. But if there’s one thing this city knows it’s how to find avenues to not only endure but also to come up with solutions to survive and make city life livable no matter what the situation — come a deadly virus or literally anything else.

The pandemic has had a huge impact on the restaurant industry as the luxury of sitting in a restaurant, among strangers, and having a meal — an activity that requires people to be without masks — seems almost impossible for a while. Although home deliveries gradually began in the city, the number of people comfortable with eating food prepared by other people and then packaged and delivered by complete strangers was relatively low. Some restaurants in Lahore then began to offer DIY (do-it-yourself) meals that came with all the ingredients and an instruction chit. This became increasingly popular in Pan Asian restaurants like Bamboo Union and Rice bowl. I, for one, also started getting naan pairay from the tandoor near my house to make them at home for my own mental satisfaction. But the latest trend the city has recently introduced, called “car dine-in,” aims to not only address hygiene issues in times of coronavirus but also give the residents of the city an opportunity to leave their house and at least get a feel of “eating out”.

Sarah Khurram, who has lived in Lahore all her life, spoke to TNS about her own experience of car dining outside restaurants. She explains that although she wouldn’t have been comfortable with the idea when the lockdown began, gradually she began to crave her favourite eateries and also started feeling that she could go out for a meal if she remained in the car and the restaurant staff followed all SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).

“I’ve been going to SUMO, Café Aylanto, Capri, Muhammadi Nihari and Karachi BBQ,” she said. “And I think the experience varied at each restaurant, depending on the way they followed the SOPs and the way they served. I’m just so glad that I am able to do this even when nothing else seems possible.”

For car dining, restaurants are serving in disposable plates and utensils, while the drinks are served in cans or bottles. Every customer is handed out their own tray to keep their food.

At those restaurants that can afford them, the servers are all wearing N95 masks and carrying hand sanitisers so that the customers can keep on sanitising throughout their time there. Rafia Shehryar, who went a week ago to SUMO, a Japanese restaurant with two branches in the city, was shocked to find out the number of cars that were parked outside the restaurant — for car dining. “I just assumed nobody would be there because people go and have Japanese food more for the ‘experience.’ But when I counted them, there were nine cars being served at 10 in the night,” she said.

For car dining, restaurants are serving in disposable plates and utensils, while the drinks are served in cans or bottles. Every customer is handed out their own tray to keep their food.

“While I felt the food was slightly soggy, my husband loved the experience and has totally made it a weekly thing in his mind.”

Not everyone feels similarly. According to Alizeh Ali Shah, car dining isn’t satisfactory at all, but no one is to be blamed for it considering even the restaurant staff were never really trained for this kind of a situation. “Car dine-ins are less about the experience and more about getting what you felt like eating and just satisfying your craving.”

While everyone still believes that this isn’t a substitute for dining at restaurants even remotely, it is the only option if one doesn’t want to stay in the house all day every day. “A large part of the price is what you pay for the ambience, and without it, the same bill seems unreasonable,” said Noor Mazhar, another longtime resident of Lahore.

“Life in lockdown is getting monotonous and frustrating, and while I’m grateful for work and family, being able to dine out in the car is the only form of entertainment left. I’m glad we are able to break the routine and have an excuse to get out of the house,” she added.

As people still warm up to the idea of car dining, Tenerife Café decided to take it a step further and introduced a Drive-in Movie Theatre for its customers. The café has turned its parking lot into a space overlooking a screen onto which movies are projected. Customers can order food from their takeaway and delivery menu, which is served in take-out packaging but in individual trays. Every night, from 7:30pm onwards, two movies are played that can be heard from the comfort and safety of the car of the customers by tuning into FM 108.

Two sisters who run a blog on Instagram by the name of Blog By Dentists threw a birthday surprise for a friend in the parking lot of Tenerife where they decorated the trunk of their car and then ordered food and watched a movie without breaking any Covid-related SOPs. “It was a great experience,” said Anum Jahangir, one of the bloggers.

It’s been almost five months now since the city was locked down for the first time and Covid-19 became a reality for Pakistan, which the country still seems to be struggling with. While the residents of Lahore have been shut in their homes apart from each individual’s essential activities that cannot be avoided, it’s heartwarming to see how the city is grabbing at different ways to make this time somewhat bearable for its citizens across all strata of society — with restaurants from Lakshmi Chowk to Defence adapting themselves according to this new, strange time. And if the situation remains the same for a while, which it seems like it will, it’ll be interesting to see what other novel ideas we come across.

The writer is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School, New York, and works as a freelance journalist. She tweets at @nushmiya