Himalayan Doko — Restaurant in Washington

In order to mitigate the amount of Black restaurant-goers in DC from giving a racist establishment their money, I’m compelled to share my deeply disappointing experience at Himalayan Doko: Nepalese and Indian Fusion. This is a place that, despite its potential, failed spectacularly in every aspect of service. From the moment my friends and I entered, we were met with an unsettling coldness that could only be described as dismissive. There was no warm greeting, just unwelcoming stares that suggested our presence was a nuisance.

We were seated at a booth in the far corner of the restaurant, isolated from the rest of the patrons. This wasn't due to a lack of space; the restaurant was hardly busy. Our sense of isolation was palpable, and it was clear that the location of our table was intentional.

What followed was a frustrating and glaring example of poor service. Despite the establishment not being crowded, no one bothered to check in with us. We waited an egregious amount of time without anyone taking our order or even bringing menus. We were left to sit, ignored and forgotten, while other patrons were attended to promptly.

The most disheartening aspect of our visit was the undeniable feeling of being treated differently, given that we were the only Black patrons in the restaurant. The combination of neglect and the unwelcoming atmosphere felt like a clear indication that we were not wanted there.

Himalayan Doko not only failed to deliver basic customer service but also left us feeling disrespected and unwelcome. This experience was a stark reminder of how profoundly negative and damaging poor service can be. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a pleasant...

Incredible Nepalese / Indian restaurant located in the heart of downtown DC. I visited this delightful little restaurant for a Friday dinner and was thoroughly impressed — the food was fantastic, the service was friendly and efficient, and the space was lovely. The restaurant is divided into two spaces; there’s a small waiting area immediately by the door, then a couple of steps that take you to the host stand and main dining area. The main area is quite cozy, with rows of comfy booths and standard tables arranged below a gorgeous pair of chandeliers. Each booth is adorned with a miniature blue and white glass lamp, which adds to the cozy, intimate, and slightly fancy vibes.

My friend and I split the fish thali meal and vegetarian jhol momos. Both dishes were super flavorful and expertly prepared. The thali meal came with several small dishes around a bed of rice, including a fish curry, lentils, cauliflower curry; spinach, and single gulab jamun. Every item was delicious, and it was a great way to sample a wide variety of items. I was a bit surprised that nothing was spicy, but everything had a deep, rich, and complex flavor. Each dish was super unique, but they complemented each other well. Most of the items are standard across all of Himalayan Doko’s thalis, but you can choose between fish, chicken, beef, or a vegetarian item for your main protein. The jhol momos were also fantastic; the dumplings were quite large and packed with veggies. The wrapper was thin and had a slight snap, and the soup was nice and very comforting on this cold winter evening.

All around a great spot for a casual, comforting meal. Can’t wait to come back and try out more...

By far, the worst restaurant that I have eaten in. I have never had servers as horrible as theirs helping us out (maybe the owner taking their tips might be true, since that would explain their lack of hard work). They were very ignorant of us, brought our food 50 minutes after we ordered it, did not bring certain items that we ordered, and did not pay attention to the fact that we needed water. I would have ignored the issue if the restaurant would have been empty, but we were one of 6 tables there, and they had two servers working that day. On top of that, the chicken was under cooked (which is extremely unsafe) and when we asked the server to help us with it, he was extremely rude and kept cutting the chicken aggressively with a spoon. Overall, the food is not great at all, and is not worth the $13-$15 fee for a small portion. Over the course of our dinner, the homeless people saw even more annoyance and eye rolling from the staff. Its clear that the owner took advantage of the social media craze, and decided to make more money out of his false philanthropic nature by cutting corners everywhere possible. Something that others noticed was the differential treatment of certain people, which is something that I noticed as well. Some were treated much better than others, and when a large group of 20 people came for iftar, all of the sudden servers started kicking clearing our tables and literally kicked us out of the restaurant.

Please do not go to this establishment, its good hearted nature is a sham and you will greatly regret...