This Portland teriyaki restaurant serves delicious Nepali dumplings with a side of John Denver (review)

Pani puri with a small carafe of tamarind water at Portland Teriyaki and Nepali Cafe.

Given the Pacific Northwest’s longstanding love affair with teriyaki — specifically, a Korean-American spin on Japanese grilled chicken doused in sweet ginger-garlic sauce — it’s small wonder that culinary mashups have proliferated. In Portland and its suburbs, it’s easy to find teriyaki meat stuffed into hoagie rolls; fried chicken wings slicked in molasses-dark sauce; or heaping plates of chicken alongside phở and khao soi at local Vietnamese and Thai restaurants.

But as far as we can tell, this restaurant in a Northeast 122nd Avenue shopping center is the first and only Portland restaurant to offer the dish on a menu otherwise devoted to South Asian food.

Actually, teriyaki might be the least interesting dish at Portland Teriyaki and Nepali Cafe. The restaurant, which changed ownership in 2023 and has slowly grown its menu’s Nepali side since, serves a straightforward version: generously portioned meat, plain white rice, simple steamed vegetables. Shrug. Like the mock shoji — or Japanese-style sliding door — that rests in the window, it’s a holdover from the restaurant’s previous incarnation, and one you can safely ignore.

Perhaps teriyaki pays the bills. But the real highlights at this quirky restaurant are the momo (obviously), as well as the Nepali takes on Indian chaat and thali plates, the cardamom-scented desserts and the tendency for live music to break out at any moment (but especially on Friday and Saturday nights).

You probably know momo, the hand-folded dumplings originally from the other side of the Himalayas in Tibet. Portland Teriyaki and Nepali Cafe’s are among Portland’s best, hearty and house-made, stuffed with a choice of chicken, pork, beef or veggies, each with its own distinctive shape — round twists, half moons — that the kitchen steams, fries or coats in a spicy tomato chutney. My favorite are the jhol momo, thick, braided dumplings in a tomato-peanut soup that lingers with the residual heat of a late-summer sunset.

Fried momos tossed in spicy tomato chutney at Portland Teriyaki and Nepali Cafe.

Who can resist pani puri, the one-bite orbs of puffed-up dough, tops cracked open like so many pipped eggs, their hollowed-out centers filled with spoonfuls of tender potato and chickpea? At Portland Teriyaki and Nepali Cafe, the classic street snack comes with a small carafe of musky tamarind water for pouring down each hole. Like the chat pat, a bhel puri variation with puffy rice, tomato, red onion and Thai chiles that crackles at the table like a bowl of Rice Krispies (only soaked in spice water instead of milk), the differences between the Nepali and Indian versions are subtle matters of texture and flavor.

Hand-folded veggie momos in a soup with all the lingering heat of a late-summer sunset.

For the most part, the teriyaki and Nepali sides stand apart. The closest thing to fusion might be the thukpa, a noodle soup with mushrooms and bell peppers floating in an earthy, lentil-like broth that utilizes the same long noodles used in the restaurant’s stir-fried chow mein.

You might not cross town from Apna Chaat Bhavan for the thali, with its array of greens and pickles and yogurt and achar, the pickled Nepali hot sauce, around a small dish of stewed beef or chicken or mutton. But it’s nice to know the thali’s here. Ditto for the rice pudding, ras malai, gulab jamun and other syrupy Indian desserts (besides its soothing powers, the house-made mango lassi might be sweet enough to qualify as an after-meal sweet).

Speaking of sweet, service at Portland Teriyaki and Nepali Cafe is unfailingly so, with owner Sonam Gurung and his family suggesting dishes and sides to try, or bringing out warm cups of spiced tea. On my first visit, Gurung asked if I liked music, then, before I answered, took to the small, neon-lit stage to play a rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” John Denver’s 1971 hit that found enduring life as a karaoke favorite throughout much of Asia. Including, apparently, Nepal.

Details: Portland Teriyaki and Nepali Cafe is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday at 12427 N.E. Glisan St., 503-262-0684, nepalicafeportland.com

Recommended dishes: Samosas, pani puri, chat pat, momo in all their many forms, thukpa, thali and khoja sets.

Vegetarian options: Nearly every dish save the teriyaki is either vegetarian or can be made so.

Accessibility: The restaurant is on the ground level of the Menlo Park Plaza shopping center and has plenty of room between tables.

Public transportation: TriMet bus lines 25 and 73 pass within a block or two of the restaurant.