Savor Scout › Food guides › Tibetan food
How to find good Tibetan food
Tibetan food is highland cooking — dumplings, hand-torn noodle soups, barley — warming, simple and inexpensive, and often served in small family restaurants alongside Nepali and Indian dishes.
What separates a good one from a bad one
- Momo pleated by hand — Beef, vegetable or cheese dumplings, steamed or fried. Tibetan momo tend to be larger and plainer than Nepali ones, with the flavour in the filling and the chilli sauce.
- Thenthuk with hand-pulled noodles — Flat, hand-torn noodles in a hearty broth with meat and vegetables. Rustic and comforting.
- Sepen — Tibetan chilli sauce. Every kitchen makes its own, and it can be fiery.
- Shapale — Fried bread pockets filled with seasoned meat. Crisp and juicy.
- Butter tea, if offered — Salty tea churned with butter. An acquired taste, and a sign of a traditional kitchen.
What to order
- Beef momo — Steamed.
- Thenthuk — Noodle soup.
- Shapale — Fried meat pies.
- Laphing — Cold, spicy mung bean noodles.
- Butter tea — Once, for the experience.
How Savor Scout looks for it
The search reads for momo, thenthuk, shapale and Tibetan or Himalayan, and favours small family restaurants where reviewers describe the food as home-style.
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