Momo Crawl NYC aims to find best Nepal, Indian and Tibetan eateries, help flood victims

Momo Crawl NYC — an annual competition where dozens of Nepali, Tibetan and Indian restaurants compete to serve the tastiest dumplings — brought thousands of food enthusiasts to the streets of Jackson Heights and Woodside on Sunday.

At least two of the 31 competitors were Nepali Americans from Long Island who own restaurants in the Queens neighborhoods, and the event had special resonance this year, raising money for victims of a massive flood that hit Nepal and Tibet last month.

Newsday has reported that two Long Islanders, who were tourists visiting Nepal, are also among the missing in the floods.

A long line of participants Sunday, wielding "momo passports" featuring maps of the parti cipating restaurants and ballots for voting, formed in the early afternoon outside Kathmandu Fusion Kitchen on 61st Street in Woodside.

 Jeevan Bom, the owner and head chef, has lived in Lynbrook since he immigrated to the United States 25 years ago. He said despite his sadness over last month's tragedy back home, he was happy for the chance to share a taste of his culture with New Yorkers who may never have tried a momo before.

"This is my chance to introduce Nepali food to all over the world," Bom said. "America is a diversity — everybody likes different types of food."

Momos are dumplings stuffed with vegetables, chicken or beef (an American stand-in for the yak or water buffalo meat traditionally used), typically served with a spicy, tomato-based sauce. They are a staple of Nepali, Tibetan and Indian cultures. Who serves the most delicious version is the subject of long-standing friendly rivalry, Bom said. While Nepali and Indian momos use a variety of spices like turmeric, coriander, cumin and Szechuan pepper, Tibetans use spices more sparingly.

Kavya Rao, of New Hyde Park, whose parents immigrated from India, said she was excited to compare Nepali and Tibetan momos head-to-head.

"I haven't had, like, a faceoff between a Tibetan and a Nepali momo before. Today's my day!" she said.

Several restaurants, including Rasuwa Lirung on Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside, were donating proceeds from the day to relief efforts back home. On Aug. 26, a collapsing glacier along the Nepal-Tibet border caused a tsunamilike flood, destroying dozens of towns and villages and leaving at least 1,300 dead and more than 5,000 still missing. Thousands are displaced, with experts raising concerns about the possibility of waterborne disease outbreaks in the aftermath.

Geeta Tamang, 24, a college student who was volunteering at Rasuwa Lirung for the momo crawl, said she is from a village just above the river that flooded. About 25 friends and family members are missing, so it's been hard to concentrate on anything else, Tamang said.

She said she was pleased that Nepali Prime Minister Balen Shah will travel to New York later this month to address the United Nations General Assembly about climate change, which has shrunk glaciers across the Himalayas and likely played a role in the recent floods.

"Everyone needs to pay attention, because global warming and climate change are so important," Tamang said.

Along Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, a line stretched around the block in front of Gorkhali Nepalese Restaurant, owned by Gyanu Thapa Magar, of Oceanside. 

"I'm glad to share my culture with people — it makes me happy," said Thapa Magar in Nepali as she collected customer payments.

Thapa Magar said she opened the restaurant six years ago and bought a house along the shore in Oceanside three years ago because it reminds her of her hometown of Pokhara, a lakeside city in Nepal.

About 6 p.m., the event's organizers, from Students for a Free Tibet, counted the votes and announced that Om Wok, a Tibetan-style momo restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue, had won.

"It's OK," said Thapa Magar when she heard the news. "It was worth it — I got to serve so many people."