The Resy Guide to South Asian Brunch in D.C.

Tamashaa describes their brunch as “memorable”, an accurate term for how you’re likely to feel about your brunch at this chic Indian gastro-bar. For $37, diners are treated to a three-course menu that allows guests to select from several choices. On the menu:  Indian brunch ‘sliders’ made with paneer bhurji, where paneer, a springy, mild Indian cheese, is crumbled and cooked like scrambled eggs (“bhurji” literally means scrambled in Hindi) with tomatoes, onions, and spices including turmeric, garam masala and red chili. The result is a rich, creamy tangle that is piled high on a buttery bun.

There are also savory green lentil pancakes, accompanied by a chili-garlic sauce, fried bread that arrives with a bedmi puri potato curry, and a potato-stuffed bread (yes, Indian cuisine is a love letter to carbohydrates!). The venue also offers several Indo-Chinese dishes, a popular cuisine in India that combines the flavors of Indian and Chinese food. Go big or go home — come with a group of friends and order it all.

With its bevy of brunch dishes, cocktails, speciality coffees, and buttery pastries, it’s no wonder that Lapis has one of the most renowned brunches in D.C. Leap into Afghan-inspired brunch fare like karayee, a plate of scrambled eggs spooned over sautéed tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and hot peppers; the Kabul frittata, loaded with leeks, cilantro, and potatoes; and a brunch bolani, centered on an Afghan flatbread pan that’s seared to a crisp, smothered with your topping choice of smashed pumpkin, leek and cilantro or potato and onion, and complimented by tangy yogurt and a bright cilantro chutney.

Don’t sleep on the pancakes either; the rosewater and cardamom flapjacks arrive with warm rosewater-infused syrup and crushed pistachios, yielding a delightfully earthy and aromatic dish. Drinks-wise, the Bloody Lapis includes harissa and za’atar if you need a kick to wake you up, and their take on a cardamom latte is pleasantly sweet and floral if you prefer to ease gently out of the night.

The Indian brunch at Pappe covers all the bases. If you’re an eggs-and-toast person, you’ll enjoy the Bombay toast; sunny-side-up eggs arrive with a feisty tomato-chili jam to dip your bread in, with a helping of ‘gunpowder’ spice-dusted fries. If you love shrimp and grits, the restaurant’s decadent shrimp are saffron-glazed, and if you crave a sweet and savory brunch option, try the dates & eggs, a generous tumble of scrambled eggs studded with sweet medjool dates. For a truly wild east-meets-west curveball, order the smoked daal and omelet, a dish that includes a perfectly cooked buttercup yellow omelet sandwiched between a generous serving of smoky, creamy black lentils on one side and fragrant basmati rice on the other.

Kabobs are wildly popular in Northern Virginia, and good ones are generally easy to find. This is especially true at Kabobistan in Arlington, but this family-friendly place also serves a traditional Afghan brunch. Not sure where to start? Order their Ottoman breakfast for two — you’ll be rewarded with a spread of fresh and ripened Afghan cheeses, a trio of sweet house-made jams, sprinklings of nuts, olives, grapes and dried fruits, charbroiled veggies such as eggplant and bell pepper, fresh cucumber and tomato, grilled sujuk sausage (which tastes like a cross between pepperoni and merguez), as well as your choice of a boiled or sunny-side-up egg. Order your favorite bread on the side — there’s also honey and butter that need a vessel — and settle in for a feast.

Walk-ins only. More info here.

A longtime fixture in the Friendship Heights neighborhood, Cafe of India serves different North Indian thali selections as a midday meal every day of the week. Each thali includes a silver platter laden with the diner’s choice of curries and sabzis, plus basmati rice, bread, and chutneys. On Saturdays, the kitchen rolls out special items like shahi paneer, a dish made by dousing fresh cottage cheese in creamy gravy, and dry sauteed bindi (okra) with masala spices. On Sunday, you’ll have the choice of baigan ka bharta (roasted eggplant smashed and cooked with onion, tomato and several spices), or palak tofu, a dish of fried cubes of soft tofu cooked with a creamy spinach. Garlic naan is included, as is dessert. What could be better?

Recently under new ownership, the venue known as Indique for over 20 years was recently renamed Dakshin Indique, complete with new South Indian-focused dinner and brunch menus. Brunch offers all kinds of fun options: a breakfast kathi roll, where a flaky paratha is stuffed with veggies and a duo of sweet and spicy chutneys, and rolled up like a cigar; vada, savory lentil donuts hailing from South India, where they are often eaten for breakfast; a masala omelet; and an egg dosa, consisting of a flaky lentil and rice crepe brimming with scrambled eggs and a fiery tomato chutney. Best of all? Dakshin Indique offers an all-you-can-eat brunch deal for $29, so you don’t have to choose between their bounty of dishes and you can add on bottomless brunch cocktails (hello, rum lassi!) for $16 more.

Pakistani restaurants are not nearly as common as Indian establishments here, and few of them bill themselves as breakfast clubs, which makes Desi Breakfast Club a rare gem indeed. This Herndon spot serves up Pakistan’s best breakfast and brunch dishes all day. Halwah puri is a traditional ‘nashta’ (breakfast dish) sold by street vendors throughout Pakistan that has sweet and savory components. The sooji halwah is a warm, sweet semolina pudding spiced with cardamom and offers the quintessential counterbalance to the savory curries — which can be ordered vegetarian or non-veg — that are also part of the dish. The puri flatbread, in all its buttery, flaky glory, brings both sides together. Finally, haleem is another wonderful dish not frequently offered at many South Asian restaurants. Made with slow-cooked whole grains, lentils and chicken, it’s comfort food at its most soulful.

Learn more here.

Among the many things that Spice Street offers its guests, a South Asian breakfast trinity is perhaps the most compelling reason to bookmark this Silver Spring favorite. Chole bhatura, the spicy chickpea curry with puffy, crispy deep-fried bread is perhaps the best hangover food there ever was. Meanwhile, heavenly pav bhaji – a classic street food dish hailing from Mumbai – is a dish that enlivens and comforts, consisting of smoky potato, cauliflower, and green peas, cooked with butter, tomato puree, and heaps of spices like cumin seeds, coriander, amchur, cardamom, turmeric powder, and ground chilis. The veggie blend is cooked down slowly to a rich, complex gravy, which is then piled onto a pillowy bun.

Finally, no Indian meal is complete without a sweet note. Try the jaggery pua — deep-fried Indian pancakes, infused with jaggery syrup and crowned with a scoop of malai ice cream — for your final bite. Pro tip: Spice Street is a great dinner spot too, with a menu highlighting the different cuisines of the various regions in India, such as South Indian fare, dishes that hail from the north-west part of India such as chicken kadhai, and street food dishes popular in Mumbai.