When I used to live in New York City, I would sometimes get the halal cart food from the street, especially after a long night of socializing with friends. I stopped going to these carts at some point after someone told me how much calorie goes into the dish but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss an absolutely delicious plate of chicken and rice with the addictive white sauce. On a recent restaurant visit in DC with my wife Jun, I think I discovered the closest thing to what I remembered to be this late-night indulgence. One of my favorite restaurants in the District is Daru for its distinctive take on Indian cuisine, so I was very excited to hear about the team’s new project called Tapori that features South Asian (Nepalese and Indian) dishes inspired by street food culture of the region. Compared to the environment at Daru, Tapori looked livelier with glitzy lighting and a large communal table in the center, and the restaurant team does seem intent to replicating a rowdy street environment somewhere in Mumbai. More importantly, we enjoyed many of the dishes we ordered from the fun and eclectic menu.

The small plates at Tapori are quite ideal for sharing while taking in a sip of cocktails. The cauliflower with roasted garlic and curry leaf, accompanied by Kashmiri chili mayo, quickly disappeared after it landed on our table, and I was glad that Jun ordered the cold lotus root chaat with tamarind and sweet yogurt. I only vaguely knew that Nepali cuisine has dumpling dishes, and one of the first dishes that grabbed my attention when I browsed the menu was jhol momo, a wagyu dumpling in consommé. It tasted somewhat like a Chinese xiaolongbao soup dumpling that we were more familiar with, but unfortunately wasn’t quite as memorable as I thought it would be. I was somewhat surprised that there was no curry-based dish on the menu at Tapori, but we still had delicious main dishes. The tandoori chicken, with the whole roasted poussin accompanied by garam masala spice and Greek yogurt, was not surprisingly delicious on its own, but it truly shone with the dum biriyani dish that came with slow cooked goat and saffron. The chicken and the deeply aromatic basmati rice from the biriyani was a potent combo, especially with a side of spicy Kashmiri-Habanero chutney that gave us irresistibly spicy kicks. It was while savoring this potent combo that I had this eerie sensation of devouring on a chicken and rice dish back in the days in Manhattan. By the end of our meal, we were sweating profusely with our faces red, but we walked out one happy couple.

Getting a reservation at Tapori wasn’t too challenging; one thing to note is that if you want to get a booth seat with your own table as opposed to the communal table, make sure to select the correct option. As noted above, the fun, hectic vibe that the dining space was giving could either be an attraction or a distraction to your dining experience; our reservation was on the early dinner time, so it didn’t feel as chaotic during our meal but I can see the place being an absolute party atmosphere during peak hours. The cocktail program incorporating various South Asian ingredients and inspirations will help with enhancing your meal, and the wine list was surprisingly versatile with some fun options designed to complement the South Asian cuisine well. Tapori is the kind of restaurant that would be a great place to visit with a large group of people where you can liberally indulge on a variety of foods and drinks. While Jun and I would probably lean more toward Daru when it comes to Indian food, it is another strong newcomer to the increasingly colorful dining scene of the H Street corridor.

KenScale: 8.0/10 (Jun’s Score: 8.0/10)

Address: 600 H Street NE Suite E, Washington, DC 20002

Website: https://www.taporidc.com/

Reservation via Resy