Eibrahim runs a small restaurant out of a rented back room in a cafe in Paris. A group of immigrant friends spend the summer eating there — they love Eibrahim’s dosas. He always tells them the food is “from the heart.” One evening, they linger in the restaurant long after the cook has gone home, and Eibrahim sits down with them. They ask about his backstory, and he tells them that he is Tamil, but from Vietnam. He has a wife and children, but during the war he had to leave them. He is waiting for his wife to come to him in Paris.

One day, after being out of the country for a few months, the friends return to the cafe. However, Eibrahim’s restaurant is no longer there. The cafe owner tells them they can find him in his apartment. They knock on his door, and end up having tea with him. One of the only friends originally from France, Francoise, stays with Eibrahim after the rest of them leave. 

Some time later, the friends discover that Francoise is seeing Eibrahim romantically. Although they initially disapprove of the relationship because Eibrahim is married with children, they find it beautiful to watch the closeness between the two, and they are glad to see Francoise so happy.

Eventually, Eibrahim’s wife and children come to France. The friends don’t see Eibrahim or Francoise for months, and finally they go check on Francoise. She looks extremely bedraggled and her apartment is a mess. The friends clean up her apartment, and stay to comfort her.

Some time later, the immigrant friends leave Paris. Both Francoise and Eibrahim happen to come to the train station to see them off. Eibrahim gives them a gift — a model of the human heart. He says the heart is complicated, and Francoise pipes up to say that it is not complicated, but very simple. He places his hand on hers.