Gandhi, who landed here last night, drove to the guest house from where he along with OPCC President Jaydev Jena went to dine at hotel Dalma in Madhusudan Nagar area.

Sudden arrival of the Congress leader without any prior information left the hotel staff surprised.

“I could not believe my eyes when Rahul Gandhi pushed the door and entered our hotel with a great smile on his face,” said hotel manager Alok Ghosh.

Describing it as a big luck, cook Pradeip Nayak said he would always cherish the meeting with Rahul Gandhi.

“I served him rice, roti, dalma (a mixture of dal and vegetables only prepared in Orissa), santula (dry vegetables), a piece of fried fish, one prawn, chatu rai (mushroom and mustard) salad and papad,” said Srinivas Biswal.

Though he liked all the food, Gandhi asked for ‘dalma’ and ‘khir’ twice. He also drank a bottle of a cold drinks.

“He (Rahul) shook hand with me,” the waiter said thanking the Congress leader for not having a “little bit of pride” despite being born in a great family.

Interestingly when the dinner came to an end, the hotel manager refused to place the bill at Rahul’s table.

How much was Rahul’s dinner bill? “It was only Rs 280 for three persons including Rahul Gandhi,” Ghosh said adding he was forced to accept the amount.

The Congress leader gave Rs 100 as tips to the waiters.

“I am extremely happy that Rahul Gandhi ate in our hotel.

I was also pained when his private secretary forced me to accept money,” Ghosh said.