Inside H Street’s Funky New Oasis for South Asian Street Food | Eater DC
"Named after the rowdy Mumbai street culture (“vagabond” in Hindi) but influenced by South Asia, the new Nepalese and Indian restaurant at 600 H Street NE envelops diners in intricate blue, yellow, and white patterns and vintage mismatched tile, aiming for a layered, funky atmosphere that pulls materials from across the United States. The anticipated project from the team behind Daru opens on Friday, March 14; the duo—who met while working at Rasika West End, worked 12-hour days to open their original Indian spot, and hosted pop-ups across the city for over two years—now have a full team supporting a more ambitious operation. The menus, from chef Suresh Sundas with Nepalese chef Baburam Sharma joining via Zoom and beverage director Dante Datta on drinks, contain an array of classic and elevated street-food dishes and tropical (sometimes frozen) cocktails, with dishes and flavors that span from Kerala to Nepal. Specifics include dosas, thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup), pani puri (deep-fried shells with different spiced fillings), and momos (Nepali dumplings); Sundas drew inspiration from his childhood in Nepal and his start in South Indian restaurants, and says he’s not worried about combining many cuisines because “the spices connect us all.” He also concedes that there’s “a lot of things going on in the menu,” and the biggest challenge has been making pav (fluffy buns) in-house—experimenting with different recipes to make the perfect Mumbai-influenced buns for vada sandwiches and vessels for bhaji. Even the Himalayan chow mein noodles and buckwheat momo wrappers are made from scratch and took plenty of research and experimentation. Tropical cocktails borrow spices from the kitchen; Datta is especially excited about a tropical take on a Boulevardier made with tamarind-washed bourbon, lots of extra spices, and even banana flavors, and other drinks loop in liquors washed with coconut oil cooked with Indian spice blends for an added depth. “I think we’re just taking what we were doing and trying to dial it up,” says Datta. The kitchen was outfitted to match the ambition—tandoori oven, fryers, and a custom convection oven were added—and the dining room remodel by Edit at Streetsense (behind Jane Jane and The Dabney) enlisted local bartender-turned-artist Patrick Owens to hand-paint traditional symbols and shapes—“You’ll see this sort of, like painting on door frames in India, on window frames,” Datta points out—across walls, the front of the bar, and playfully looping over tables. Owens spent two weeks painting inverted triangles, arches, and flower-like icons and created a massive, brightly colored mural that alludes to the tapori subculture and builds in main characters from the Bollywood hit Rangeela—zipping motorcycles, a speedboat riding the waves—and pays homage to South Asian trucker art with two powerful figures and animals like peacocks, a blue heron, and swans. Paintings and knickknacks were sourced from the large Indian-American populations in central New Jersey’s “Little India,” and patchwork tiles featuring lemons, fluid blues, and dappled browns were sourced from across the country to create intentionally mismatched seating—custom retro booths, mid-century-inspired chairs and stools, a curved bar, and a communal table that can seat over 20—tying together Hindu symbols, beaded curtains, and mint-upholstered banquettes to evoke a place that could have existed in the space for thirty years and transport diners before they even try food and drinks that cover almost 2,000 miles of culinary cuisine across South Asia. Of the overall aesthetic Streetsense helped craft, Datta says they “wanted to bring this idea of mischief into it... It’s fun, it’s a little acid trippy at the same time.” The restaurant starts with dinner service Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m. and will extend to seven days a week shortly after opening." - Emily Venezky
