Interestingly, the restaurant scene in Lhasa is predominantly Chinese, with the flavours of neighbouring Sichuan featuring everywhere, and catering to the very large Chinese community that populates Lhasa. These, and a sprinkling of Muslim Hui eateries providing an alternative to Tibetan food.

The so-called “elevated beyond a subsistence diet” Tibetan Cuisine as mentioned in The Lonely Planet, is featured by a number of mainly Nepali run restaurants, offering dishes that may seem to be Tibetan by virtue of their names, which sometimes include geographical indications.  But, once the food arrives at the table, one can sometimes recognise that some of the dishes had influences that could have only come from outside Tibet.

At the Snowlands Restaurant where I had my first lunch, I ordered a Tsamthuk Soup, an order of Yak Momos, and a Sweet Milk Tea.

Tsamthuk Soup, Yak broth thickened with tsampa.

The Tsamthuk Soup was a rich, almost creamy soup, almost like a velouté, but with a grittier texture.  This was made with a yak broth, chunks of yak, shredded radish, spinach leaves, and thickened with tsampa.

Boiled Yak Momos with a Tomato Chutney Dip

The Yak Momos were boiled, and arrived neatly arranged on an oval plate, looking very much like Chinese Guo Tie.  These had a rather dominant yak flavour, but the spicy tomato chutney like dip served with them helped to mask a bit of the yakkiness…

The Sweet Milk Tea, also called cha ngamo locally, is very similar to the sweet milk teas served here in Singapore.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t particularly strong, and was in fact quite weak, with the mug arriving with the tea bag still in it…

The next meal was at the New Upper Mandala Restaurant, an open-air type rooftop restaurant overlooking the Johkhang Temple.

Here, I had an Amdo Soup and Fried Lhasa Lamb Ribs with Potatoes.

Lhasa Lamb Ribs with Potatoes and Amdo Soup

The Amdo Soup was a deeply coloured, lightly spicy (chilli powder) and sour (vinegar) yak soup garnished with chopped Spring Onions (scallions).  It was robust and warming, with a consistency that reminded me of a Hungarian Goulash.  It also had a strong resemblance to neighbouring Sichuan’s Hot & Sour Soup, but without all the associated bits of ingredients one would find in a typical Sichuan Hot & Sour Soup…

The Fried Lhasa Lamb Ribs with Potatoes were almost an echo of the soup, with the flavour of chilli powder dominating.  Fortunately, they were not very hot (by my standards)… The roughly chopped lamb ribs were marinated in chilli powder, chopped spring onions (again) and mustard oil, and were deep-fried.  These were served with roughly cut potato chips that had previously been par-cooked, then deep-fried in fat (possibly the same fat as the lamb, and at the same time too…) till crisp and hard.  The dish had a rather bold lamb flavour, and fortunately, I had a nice cold Lhasa Beer to wash it down…

Tibetan Set

The next meal was in the garden of The Garden Restaurant.  I had the “Tibetan Set” which comprised of a few dishes served on a platter, somewhat like an Indian Thali Set Meal.  On the metal platter, was served some Osun, what was probably lettuce stem, Tibetan Sausage, stuffed with heavily spiced lamb intestines, and which had a deep, smokey flavour.  Shogo Katsa, sliced potatoes with chilli powder and mustard oil with a mild flavour and just a touch of heat.  Son Labu, a delicately pink coloured and mildly flavoured shredded pickled radish dish with dried chillies.  Kham Salad, a light and refreshing dish of black fungus (woodsear) and vermicelli salad dressed in rapeseed and mustard oil.

All these mostly vegetable dishes, were accompanied with a mantou like steamed bun called Logo Momo, a Tomato Dipping Sauce with the consistency of a pureed soup, and spiced with a hint of chillies, and a serving of Yak Yoghurt for dessert.

Chang Soup and Shabaleb Bread stuffed with Yak Meat

Dinner that day was at a restaurant called Lhasa Kitchen, where I tried Chang Soup, a soupy concoction of Barley Beer/Wine, small cubes of Indian Cottage Cheese (Paneer), and spiced with a sprinkling of ground black pepper.  The soup smelt mildly alcoholic, and was somewhat thick and robust, with an alcoholic, residual sugar sweetness, and a lightly yeasty, bread-like flavour.

For mains, I had Shabaleb Bread stuffed with Yak Meat, an unleavened bread, which was basically two round pieces of unleavened bread, one on top of the other, with a stuffing of shredded yak meat seasoned with spring onions (scallions), and with the sides folded at the edges like a curry puff, and (possibly) shallow fried.  This was served in quarter cuts and stacked, and were quite mild in flavour.

Bobi Set

The next meal was at Tibet Steak House, where lunch was something called a Bobi Set.  In concept, this was very similar to something available in many Chinese provinces called the Bao Bing, and also similar to something which we call Popiah in Singapore.  The idea of the Bobi, is that you have soft, thin rounds of unleavened wheat bread, and you put in an assortment of ingredients, roll the bread, and eat it as a roll.  To compare this with something Western, think of the Tex-Mex Fajitas, but without the usual hot-plate…

The stuffing in the case of this Bobi were, shredded green and red chilli peppers sautéed like a vegetable.  These were sweet, and only mildly spicy.  There was also Osun, or lettuce stems, which were shredded, and sautéed with sliced onions, chilli powder and ground black pepper.  Chinese Celery Stems sautéed with shallots and ginger, enhanced with a whisper of light soya sauce, and the delicately pink Pickled Radish shreds, with dried chillies, and with shreds of yak meat.

This was served with a bowl of hearty Yak broth, with cubes of flavourful yak meat, radish, spring onions (scallions), and whole dried chillies.

Fried Cheese Momos with a Cold Curried Dip

Eventually, I made my way to the famous Dunya Restaurant and popped in for dinner.  Operated by Western expatriates, this was the only restaurant I visited with a proper bar.  Dinner was an order of Fried Cheese Momos, which the Dunya was famous for.  These were crescent shaped, and were filled with cheese and deep-fried.  Served with a cold curried dipping sauce, which was a little fiery despite its rather pale colour.  Interestingly, the consistency of the cheese was rather like that of melted Swiss Raclette, whilst the flavour was somewhat like Dutch Gouda.

This was washed down with a mug of Hot Ginger Tea, which helped to cut the somewhat stodgy greasiness of the deep-fried Cheese Momos, and, reduced the nausea of being at such a high altitude.

When I later met the owner of the establishment at his bar, I discovered over a couple of drinks, that the cheese used in his Cheese Momos, was specially made and aged for him in Nepal, before delivery to Tibet.

The fame of Dunya’s Cheese Momos, was due to their acceptable eating qualities to western travellers, and, not to their notoriety, as I had originally thought, as these were not made with Yaks Cheese…

Yak and Potato Stew with Pa

Lhasa Namaste Restaurant was where the next lunch took place, and it is here that I had a Yak and Potato Stew with Pa.  The Yak and Potato Stew, also called shamjay, is a traditional Tibetan stew.  It was somewhat like a thick curry, and was quite mild, tasting somewhat like an Indian Dhal, but with meat.  This was served with Pa, which is tsampa mixed with yak butter tea, and hand-rolled until a solid mass is formed.  Pa, is very dense, and heavy, with a mild flavour, somewhat like rye bread or Indian chapattis, and is very filling.

My final dinner in Tibet brought me back to the Dunya, which was the only restaurant that seemed to have space that day, the others being quite full, and not willing to take in a single diner.

Meat (yak) Thukpa

This time, I had a Meat (yak) Thukpa, which was basically egg noodles in a yak broth.  The soft, flat egg noodles were served in a moderately robust but quite intensely tasty broth, with red peppers, haricots verts, cucumbers, spring onions, carrots, lettuce stems and boiled yak meat, all shredded, or cut shred cuts, except for the haricots, which were in a horse ear cut.  The influence here, was definitely Chinese…

In my time spent in Lhasa exploring not only the sights, but also the restaurant scene, it became quite clear that Tibetan cuisine as featured in the restaurants in Lhasa, was something created to cater to foreign travellers.  The restaurants that catered to these international travellers, tended to offer not only what they called Tibetan cuisine, but cuisines like Indian, Nepali, Chinese, and Western dishes, all in the same menu as well.

These restaurants will soon face an interesting challenge from the new International Chain Hotels that are due to open in Lhasa.  Who knows what creations the likes of the St Regis, and Banyan Tree Resorts will bring, when these open in 2010 and beyond?

So, frankly speaking, did I happen to enjoy the food at all?  Well, my experience with this interpretation of Tibetan cuisine in Lhasa, was generally positive.  The dishes were mostly tasty, and, for one who has eaten widely and has tried many cuisines, I found that the flavours were not too alien.

The drinks, however, were a different story…

Find out more on the next post, Tibet Special Part 3 – Tibetan Beverages

Nowadays, much of what is written about Tibet tends to be about it’s political situation, it’s economy, and how the Tibetans’ culture and ways of life are being eroded by the modern aspects of 21^st Century life which is now prevalent in it’s capital city, Lhasa, and are fast spreading to other outlying areas.

There isn’t a lot written (in English) about Tibetan cuisine, and I have a few hypotheses on why this may be so.

Firstly, travellers will usually be the ones who write about their experiences wherever they end up visiting.  In the case of Tibet, most travellers tend to be overwhelmed by everything else that they encounter (all the sights, sounds, and experiences), that they tend to miss out on writing about what they ate.

Most of the time, all they would remember to write about, was the bowls of Hot Yak Butter Tea offered to them… Everything else that they would have eaten would have seemed somewhat underwhelming, compared to the overall experience of being in Tibet.

Secondly, for the foreign tourist travelling with a tour group (the only way for a foreign tourist to even enter Tibet these days), meals would have been arranged by the Tour Organiser, and Tibetan dishes would probably be featured in a meal or two for the entire duration of the trip.

The travel agent that I had used for my trip to Tibet gave me a bemused look, after I had told her that I wanted ALL my meals to be Tibetan. “Are you sure…?”, she asked, looking very concerned.  “Most Singaporeans will want to eat anything else by the second day!”, she continued, trying to convince me that 6 days of Tibetan meals would make even the most seasoned travellers balk.

But, I insisted that I wasn’t the typical Singaporean tourist when it came to food, and that I had an academic interest in everything to do with food and drink…  After some negotiations, I settled for Tibetan meals to be organised for all lunches for the duration of the trip, leaving dinner to be settled on my own account and breakfast, with the compliments of the hotel I was to stay at. I could see her shaking her head quite sadly, and hear her sighing, as I left the Travel Agency Office.

A month later, when I arrived in Lhasa, I met my Tibetan Tour Guide, perhaps the third reason why Tibetan Cuisine remains such a mystery to foreign travellers.

The Tour Guide was Tibetan, but had spent most of his life outside Tibet, leaving as a child refugee, and living mainly in Nepal, with a few years spent studying in Europe…

He spoke fluent Tibetan, Nepali, Putonghua, English, and even Italian, but, when it came to food, he wasn’t too fluent at explaining what the Tibetan dishes on the menus of the various eateries where we ate, were all about.  The descriptions that he could provide, were rather vague and hazy at best…

I also noticed, that whenever he ordered his meal, it would be chosen from the Nepali section of the menu.  It seemed to me, that he was more comfortable with the cuisine of his adopted childhood home. When I once asked him whether he ever ordered Tibetan dishes, he replied quite sadly, “Tibetan food upsets my stomach…”

The fourth reason becomes apparent once you’re in Tibet.  The usual barrier of language pops up and trying to interpret what’s on the menu becomes extremely difficult…

Nowadays, most eateries catering to foreign tourist/travellers have menus in English, where “Western” or “Fusion” items like Yak Burger, Yak Steak, and Cheese Momos (dumplings) can be found, in addition to Indian, Nepali and Chinese dishes.

However, when it comes to the Tibetan section of the menu, most tourist will encounter strange and exotic sounding dishes, which the wait-staff won’t usually be able to describe, as most of them do not speak anything except Tibetan, sometimes Nepali, maybe some Putonghua, and perhaps, if you’re really lucky, a smattering of English.

The fifth reason, is as suggested by an expatriate hotel and restaurant owner in Lhasa, who was quite succinct, when he said; “Tibetans can’t cook”…  According to this expatriate of more than 10 years, most of the cooks in eateries catering to foreign travellers tended to be Nepalese, whilst those catering to the Chinese, were obviously, Chinese…

So, if Tibetans can’t cook, what then do Tibetans eat?

Traditionally, Tibetan cuisine was based on a few basic ingredients that were available to them in their rather harsh, high altitude environment.  The most important ingredients were, barley, yaks, salt, and tea.

A Yak Butcher stall, Barkhor District, Lhasa.

Yak herders would roam the vast Tibetan Plateau with their herds of yaks, and, as they roamed with their herds, they would gather salt from saltpans and pick various medicinal herbs along the way.  They would then trade the gathered salt and medicinal herbs, along with their yak products in exchange for Roasted Barley Flour, which would be grown by the farmers, and for tea, brought in by traders.

"Pa", Roasted Barley Flour or Tsampa, mixed with Yak Butter Tea, and rolled by hand into doughy breadlike balls. "Pa" has a flavour that is reminiscent of Indian Chappati or Rye Bread.

Roasted Barley Flour, or Tsampa, was, and still remains the main staple food of Tibetans.  As this is already cooked, it can be eaten as it is, usually by the spoonful, and washed down with Hot Yak Butter Tea.  Alternatively, the tsampa can be made into a ball of hard dough/bread called Pa, by mixing it, with what else but, Hot Yak Butter Tea.

A typical stall selling Yak Butter, Barkhor District, Lhasa.

Yaks were their main source of movable food, providing not only yak milk, yak yoghurt, yak butter, yak cheese, but also yak meat, which was normally air-dried, and eaten raw.

A typical stall selling Yak Cheese of various age and form, Barkhor District, Lhasa.

A typical Tibetan meal would consist of tsampa, washed down with lots of Hot Yak Butter Tea, some air-dried yak meat, and dessert would be yak yoghurt, perhaps with a bit of wild honey…

So, if the above is a typical Tibetan meal, what then did I eat during my trip to Tibet?

Find out on the next post, Tibet Special Part 2 – Eating in Lhasa.