Restaurants We Visited

Our journey into Tibetan food began with a trip to Queens. Our first stop: Little Tibet (the featured picture). Nested in a small spot on the side of the street, beneath the subway tracks, the restaurant was cozy and very welcoming. The spot, located at 72-19 Roosevelt Ave, Jackson Heights, NY 11372, offered a trip into traditional Tibetan cuisine filled with staff who were well versed in the options and kinds of food they were serving.

Upon setting foot into Little Tibet, you’re immediately reminded you’re not in a typical American restaurant. The walls are decorated with pictures of Buddha and the seats have an interesting pattern that doesn’t register in my mind as something I’ve seen before.

While the actual square footage of the restaurant was not large, it didn’t necessarily feel small. Rather, it felt cozy. Comfortable, even. People to our right spoke a language I didn’t recognize but they were certainly talking about Tibet and the Dalai Lama (words I heard). Everything felt like an authentic slice of Tibet that’s surrounded on the outside by the essence of American lifestyle.

The waitress came out and greeted us with the menus pictured below:

The menu presented both the Tibetan names of food, in addition to an English explanation of them. While fairly priced, the food definitely was filling. We’ll elaborate on the food and tastes later in other posts.

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The other restaurant we paid a visit to was Himalayan Yak. While the restaurant technically presents itself as a Nepalese restaurant, much of the food is very similar and it gave us the opportunity to compare and contrast foods present in the different region. Also, I’ve never had yak before so I felt like it would be interesting to try it for the first time.

The restaurant was very near Little Tibet. It looked like the picture below (I forgot to get a picture so this one is from Google):

The menu is on the outside, which I did get the opportunity to snap a picture of:

Interestingly, the menu was significantly larger and more expansive than the one offered at Little Tibet. But, inside, the building was significantly larger so it chalked it up to a larger capacity to serve more people. The walls were also decorated with many paintings, many of whom depicting Buddha in different forms. Also, up above the station for live music, there was a picture of the Dalai Lama enshrined almost like one would commemorate a late father or someone to that effect. I found it interesting. But, both restaurants we visited offered a lot of insight into Tibetan food and the kinds of food the region has to offer.

Tibetan Butter Tea

The Tibetan Butter Tea was one of the most interesting things I’ve ever tasted. Tea that I’ve tried in my life typically comes in a bitter or sweet taste that one can instantly pick up on when trying. However, this was the first time I tasted tea that was salty. I’ll admit that it is something that I would have to get used to. In addition to the salty flavor, I could definitely taste the butter inside of it. The tea also compliments other food items as well. The Tibetan Butter Tea is very warm and goes well with the bread rolls. The strong buttery and salty taste was perfect with the bread rolls that didn’t possess as strong a flavor. The pairing of the tea and the bread rolls helped me acclimate to the taste of the butter tea much better.

The tea’s interesting taste made me curious so I researched the origin of the drink. Its ingredients are yak butter, tea leaves, water, and salt. However, butter from cow milk is more popular due to availability and low cost. Looking at the ingredients gave me a clear understanding of the exquisite taste of Tibetan Butter tea. I also found numerous other facts about the tea that are just as interesting. For example, according to Tibetan custom and etiquette, the tea is drunk with multiple sips. Meaning, after every sip, the host refills the bowl for the guest. When the guest doesn’t want anymore tea the individual must simply not drink the tea until they leave. Trying the Tibetan Butter tea was for sure an unfamiliar yet satisfying experience.

Phingsha

Something we really focused on while eating was getting an authentic Tibetan food experience. Subsequently, we asked the waitress what she would consider to be the most classic, Tibetan entree they offer. She recommended we try Phingsha. Between the menu and her description, we found it to be a beef soup consisting of noodles, potatoes, and mushroom (called mokro).

It was served in somewhat “family style” in American restaurants. There was a large bowl for the table, smaller bowls for everyone eating, and a large ladle for serving. The food was certainly delicious. I didn’t love the noodles, as they were kind of hard to actually get on my spoon, and were hard to bite, but were otherwise delicious. I especially liked the beef.

Looking at the food as a classic Tibetan dish, it certainly makes sense. It’s a hearty meal, consisting of noodles, beef, and potatoes (very filling foods), and would go a long way in feeding a lot of people. Looking at classical East Asian dishes, this is certainly in line with many of the stews and soups hailing from places like China. It’s an earthy dish, but by all means delicious.

Bread Rolls

One side dish that the restaurant served that I wasn’t expecting was a side bread roll. Apparently it came with our dishes. Cut into fourths, it didn’t look like any bread I’d ever tried. Instead of the classic crispy outside, soft inside, the entire roll appeared to be a singular, soft consistency.

Upon biting into it, it was very surprised that it totally lacked any familiar flavors. It’s thick, moist on the inside, but totally lacking any buttered or salted flavor. It was just kind of there. Certainly filling, and fitting for a culture that includes many different sauces and options as a topping. But it was certainly a surprise upon the first bite.

Obviously, some research was in order to determine the origins of this food. Interestingly, this roll is called Tingmo, and it is the exact same as the thick outer shell from the momos. That explains the similar consistency between the two, but the flavors were likely different because of the flavors from the inside of the momo. Apparently it is similar to Chinese flower rolls, meaning these was some kind of sharing of culture long in the past, which is consistent with the information we’ve learned in class.

Desserts

We couldn’t spend time eating delicious food without trying some of the dessert selection. At Little Tibet, we asked our server to describe the options (there were only two present on the menu). The first she described was the Bhaktsa Margu. To be frank, I don’t remember what she said about it, but I do remember thinking it was the worse of the options. The second choice she described was the Tsampa Cake (pictured above). It was supposed to be a small dense cake topped with vanilla ice cream.

And the description was right. The cake was very short and very dense. It crumbled easily, but had great flavor. It tasted, to me at least, a lot like a Reese’s but with an entirely different consistency. Something like a dry cookie maybe, but much much denser. The ice cream tasted a lot like ice cream I’ve had anywhere. The caramel drizzle on top was certainly a nice touch. I would absolutely recommend this food to anyone interested in trying a Tibetan dessert.

Something I found interesting while researching the history of the Tsampa cake was that it was instrumental in partially unifying Tibet. Many people identified themselves as “Tsampa-eaters,” which came to suggest that a true Tibetan ate Tsampa. It was surprising that such a delicious dessert could be so instrumental in bringing together a culture.

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At Himalayan Yak, we gave another dessert a try. It was called Bhakcha Markhu. It was described as a chewy pasta coated in sugar, butter, and grated cheese. It is pictured below at the top of the picture:

Personally, I didn’t find it particularly appetizing. It was a tad too chewy, and I didn’t love the flavors. But it was still certainly worth trying. I don’t know if I would recommend the flavor, but I would certainly recommend it to someone interesting in trying something new.

Surprisingly, I couldn’t find much information about this dish in my research, but a few references to this particular restaurant on social media. Perhaps its a more proprietary recipe?

Momo

Something that became immediately clear to me during my journey through Tibetan food was that momos (essentially dumplings) are particularly important in the food culture. Obviously, they’re the most readily accessible to the American palate, as most Americans coming from a relatively diverse place have probably tried dumplings.

From Little Tibet, the waitress recommended we try the momos. We chose the beef option since we imagined chicken would be the same anywhere, but beef might be a little more diverse. They came out on a while plate circled around a “chilly sauce.” The red sauce proved to be slightly sweet and very delicious.

At first, I felt a little out of place consuming a traditional Tibetan food with a fork, but when I looked around it appeared everyone was doing it so I considered it a non-issue. The first thing that struck me about these momos compared to dumplings I’ve had elsewhere was the thick skin. All other dumplings I’ve had had a very thin skin. Also, interestingly, they usually had more vegetables. These had a small amount of spices but nothing very notable besides meat.

At Himalayan Yak, we went for the yak momos, pictured below:

Most notably, we got them fried this time instead of steamed. Instead of the chilly sauce from before, this time the restaurant gave us an assortment of 3 sauces (not pictured). A red hot sauce, a green sauce, and an orange one. I didn’t get the chance to learn what exactly they were, but I personally preferred the orange one.

The biggest difference I found between the two restaurants was the total lack of vegetables in the Himalayan yak restaurant. While there were few vegetables at Little Tibet, Himalayan Yak actually didn’t offer any at all. It was still delicious, especially because of the yak. It was a nice first foray into that source of meat.

The history of the momo is very interesting. It is believed to have originated in Tibet and spread to surrounding regions (Nepal, India, and Bhutan). Apparently it had spread from the region by traders passing through the area into other places. Coincidentally, many other regions, from Korea to China and to Japan, also have very similar dishes. There is not much history defining how all of these foods came to be so similar, but the thicker outer shell likely points to different readily available flours or bread present in the area.

As a whole, I found momos to be a delicious food an interesting kind of Tibetan food considering the similarities and differences compared to other, local cultures. It’s no surprise that Tibetans are so proud of their momos, I would be too if I were Tibetan.