New Delhi, March 21 -- A few weeks ago, a friend shared a dining-out fiasco. She was at dinner with her husband and his colleague. The restaurant was dimly lit. My friend, who is in her 40s and wears glasses, could not read the tiny font on the menu, and ended up ordering the most expensive dish. The colleague was paying, and though it had been a mistake, it looked unseemly to have ordered it.

Eating out, especially at a high-end restaurant, has become a dining-in-the-dark experience. I recently visited an Italian restaurant in Delhi, where the food and ambience were impeccable, but reading the menu was a challenge.

Under the dim light, I struggled to decipher the names of the dishes through my bifocal glasses. It did not help that each...