In a country of night owls Abhishek Gurung often wondered why there were no service providers who catered exclusively to them. “Most people I know stay up late and get their work done in the nighttime. Seeing as how our lifestyles are changing, I’d say there will eventually be more night owls than early birds,” says Gurung adding that seeing this as an opportunity, he and a friend, Shejey Agitsyang, conceptualized a food delivery service that would operate just in the wee hours of the night. Food because hunger pangs are especially severe late at night when watching a movie or meeting up with friends, explains Gurung.

Thus came Bhok Lagyo. On its third year and still the night hero, Bhok Lagyo’s operating hours are from four in the eafternoon and till four in the morning. Located in Gaushala, their premises have a fully equipped kitchen, store rooms, delivery rooms (where the orders come in), offices and a packaging section. Orders are received from their Facebook page, Viber and their website. There are planning to launch a mobile app soon. 

Bhok Lagyo’s menu is admittedly limited and their food strictly the fast food kind. But given the hours they’re working, getting food delivered at the earliest is their main priority. “We want our customers to not go to sleep hungry. Fast food, as the name itself suggests, is quick to prepare. Offering one too many dishes may also slow us down so we are sticking to fast food and less variety,” says Gurung. 

With a team of 14 employees comprising of cooks, delivery boys and order receivers, Bhok Lagyo works at full speed. Because of their odd hours, Gurung admits that hiring workers was initially was one of the hardest processes. By their first month of operation, all their workers had quit so they had to reassemble a new team. And it didn’t help that late hour deliveries were risky affairs. From street robbers, stray dogs to drunks, the road can be an unsafe place during the night. Gurung claims that most of their delivery boys have been bitten by stray dogs.

To add to this is the regularity of pranks calls they get. Callers place orders and give false addresses or they simply fall asleep after placing an order. Often orders come in from far-off locations and, with the state of the roads, the delivery takes longer and the food goes cold. This has been a consistent customer concern. Nights, when it rains especially, are dreadful with all the ditches and the muddy roads. On one occasion, one of Bhok Lagyo’s delivery man fell into a ditch and had to be pulled out with local assistance. This, Gurung says, is exactly why boosting the morale of his workers and motivating them is a top priority.

Troubles aside, Bhok Lagyo is enjoying its status as Nepal’s first late-night food delivery service and expanding continuously. The founders have plans to have the service run 24 hours a day and are looking into ways to do that. Also a daytime outlet can be expected in the near future. “One shouldn’t go to bed with a hungry stomach. I hope people think of us when those hunger pangs kick in,” concludes Gurung.

 
• night
 
• work
 
• hour
 
• hunger
 
• youth
 
• life