46th Annual International Taste of Columbus Presents: Namaste Indo-Nepali Cuisine!
This year, US Together is hosting the 46th Annual International Taste of Columbus; the theme is Dumplings of the World! Throughout the months of July and August, we are visiting different refugee- and immigrant-owned restaurants in Columbus to find out more about their dumpling choices and how they changed their business operations due to COVID-19.
We started our tour with Namaste Indo-Nepali Cuisine, the first Indo-Nepali Restaurant in Columbus! The restaurant made a home for itself in the heart of Ohio, located at 1279 Morse Road in Columbus. It opened in 2013 and since then has grown tremendously.
With every delicious dish is an even more fruitful history: Head Chef Chandra Rimal faced many hardships in the beginning. Rimal comes from Bhutan, where between 1990 and 1993 more than 100,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese people (or around one sixth of the country’s population) were forcibly displaced. Seen as a threat to the culture and political dominance of the Bhutan Drukpa, the government adopted a “One Nation, One People” assimilation policy. This policy banned the teaching of the Nepali language in schools and required residents to dress in the traditional clothing of the Drukpa. Many ethnic Nepalis without land or tax paying records were denied citizenship. Those actions of assimilation triggered political unrest. Due to this unrest, Rimal’s family had to move to a refugee camp before resettling to Columbus in 2008. He was a part of the first Bhutanese-Nepali refugees to resettle in Ohio’s capital.
New to the country and a businessman with limited experience, Rimal worked diligently to establish Namaste. The goal was to create a menu that not only Nepali and Indians could enjoy, but for everyone to find something they like. Finding customers who were willing to taste the Indo-Nepali cuisine was important to the restaurant’s success. Namaste was not only the first Indo-Nepali Restaurant in Columbus, but also the first Bhutanese-Nepali owned restaurant, and third Bhutanese business in general. The Bhutanese-Nepali community in Columbus has grown to over 30,000 since 2008. This year, Namaste Indo-Nepali Cuisine became a partnership, run by Rimal, Ramesh Adhikari, Sibesh Bhattarai, and Esor Khanala.
Namaste’s warm hospitality compliments its welcoming and peaceful environment. Every dish is prepared with fresh, home grown, and organic ingredients. Ramesh told us his favorite dish is the Chicken Chili Momo (dumplings), steamed, hand fried, and marinated in chili with green peppers. The restaurant offers 12 uniquely prepared Momos! Samosa Chaat sums up the delicacy of Namaste’s South Asian cuisine with a Nepali twist. The main ingredient, a samosa, is breaded and stuffed with vegetables, potatoes, and chickpeas all spiced with Indian and Nepali spices. The samosa is then deep fried and chopped into small pieces with onions and tomatoes, all dressed in yogurt and tamarind sauce. Yum!
Food has the power to bring people together. Namaste serves people from around the world— Nepali, Indian, Pakistani, American, African-American, Somali, Mexican, Ugandan, Chinese, Japanese are a few of their regular customers. Its serene atmosphere is great for family dinners, outings with friends, or simply dining solo. Every dish is sharable with great proportions, and reasonably priced. Ramesh says, “I believe being able to remain open to date and serving people from around the world is the greatest success for Namaste. When such diverse customers come to a tiny restaurant to enjoy a dish they have never heard of and returning customers who love the food so much that they eat the same dish over and over is what makes Namaste so fortunate.”
Despite current challenges with COVID-19, Namaste remains open for business! It offers socially distanced dine-in, online ordering, local pick-up, as well as delivery options via GrubHub. Try some of their delicious dumplings and share your experience with tag #TasteOfCbus on your favorite social media channel!
We thank our dedicated volunteer Teryn Scott for working on this article and helping us spread the word about the 46th Annual International Taste of Columbus.
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The International Taste of Columbus is hosted each year to promote international understanding through intercultural experiences. It is a cultural and educational event that brings community members closer together and raises funds for US Together’s charitable causes.
The 46th annual International Taste of Columbus will be a virtual, live-streamed event at 5:30 pm ET on August 27! The theme of this year’s event is “Dumplings of the World,” and it will be live-cast on US Together’s Facebook Page.