Lhasa is where tourists can find unique food to have a taste, which will no doubt offer them a different experience from what they can get in other cities. It will definitely make your Lhasa tour special and memorable if you can get the chance to go to those recommended restaurants to try Lhasa food that you like.

Due to the natural conditions in the plateau, Lhasa cannot offer a rich variety of food. But Lhasa cuisine will take you to feel differently from other Asian cuisines. Tibetan people mainly eat yak meat and mutton. And potatoes, cabbages, turnips and some other vegetables that can grow on the plateau can be seen on their dining tables. However, highland barley is the main ingredient in Tibetan cuisine, which means that barley will be found in most Tibetan food.

Local Tibetan Food

If you are not familiar with what food you will taste in Lhasa, you can continue reading the following content. Here we provide the most popular and traditional food you will want to have a try in Lhasa. We hope that you can get to know the food before you start your Lhasa tour and expect what you will eat in Lhasa.

Tsumpa

As one of the traditional staple foods in Tibet, local people will eat Tsumpa daily. After sun-dried and roasted, the highland barley will be grounded into flour. When Tibetan people are ready to eat Tsumpa, they will pour a little butter tea into the flour and then knead the flour into a ball, which is easy and quick. And Tsumpa is high in calories and easy to carry.

Tsumpa

Tibetan Yak Meat

Tibetan Yak is raised in Qinghai-Tibet plateau regions and Tibetan people often eat yak meat. Tibetan yak meat is high in protein, low in fat and calories, as well as rich in a variety of mino acids. Aside from the regular cooking methods, Tibetan people love to make air-dried yak meat. And tourists can find air-dried yak meat everywhere in Lhasa.

Tibetan Yogurt

Tibetan yogurt is special because it is made from fermented yak milk. It is totally natural and much more nutritious than regular yogurt that you have eaten in your daily life. But it is also more acid than regular yogurt, which is why it needs sugar to neutralize the acidity.

Tibetan yogurt

Tibetan Momo

As one of the most eaten dishes in Lhasa, Tibetan momos are very delicious and unique for international tourists to have a taste. The fillings include different meats, various vegetables, and cheese. Momos look like Chinese dumplings or Baozi and they can be steamed, deep-fried or pan-fried.

Thukpa

Tibetan noodle soup is called Thukpa in the Tibetan language. The noodles are sticky and need to be cooked and cooled before cooking. When it is ready, noodles will be put into a bowl, poured with hot and tangy yak bone soup. With some yak meat and scallion, a Thukpa will be served to you.

Highland Barley Wine

It is an alcoholic beverage made from highland barley in Tibet. You can also call it “Chang”. As the favorite beer to Tibetan people, it is indispensable during every festival, wedding, childbirth, and party with friends and families in Tibet. It tastes sweet and refreshing, featuring a unique fragrance.

Highland Barley Wine

Butter Tea

Butter tea is a special drink in Tibet. It is usually used as the staple food with tsampa. It is made from butter and strong tea. In order to get butter tea, local people will put the butter and salt into a specific bucket and add boiled tea into the bucket to repeatedly pound them. Butter tea tastes salty and sweet with fragrance. You may not like the taste at first. But you will fall in love with its unique flavor easily.

Butter Tea

Sweet Tea

If you really don't like butter tea after you have tried it, you can try a cup of sweet tea. It is made from black tea, powdered milk or yak milk, and some sugar, which tastes similar to milk tea. Many international tourists will spend time sitting in a small sweet tea house and drinking a cup of sweet tea there.

Recommended Restaurants in Lhasa

Where to try Lhasa food and dishes is probably the most concerned question that every international tourist wants to know. Some good and popular Lhasa restaurants can actually serve the best taste of different dishes for tourists, which is why we want you to know those places before you start your Lhasa trip.

If you want to try traditional Tibetan dishes, there are some good restaurants that offer the best service. However, some of those dishes in those restaurants may be improved to cater to tourists from all over the world. Tibetan Family Kitchen, Lhasa Kitchen, Snowland Restaurant, Gangki Restaurant, and Ganglameduo are some of the popular restaurants in Lhasa that can offer traditional Tibetan dishes and food. With a nice atmosphere and Tibetan-style decoration, tourists can feel very comfortable in those restaurants while enjoying the best Tibetan dishes.

Tibetan Family Kitchen

Besides, there are some specialty restaurants in Lhasa that can attract lots of tourists to visit, such as Makye Ame, Namaste restaurants, etc. Maykye Ame enjoys a good location in the southeast corner of Barkor Street, serving yogurt, salad, fresh barley wine, Tibetan butter tea, roast mutton chops, fried beef, roasted mushroom and so on. There will be singers performing on the second floor for all customers.

For sweet tea with good taste, there are some sweet tea houses in Lhasa for you to visit. Guangming Kamqung Sweet Tea House and Canggu Temple Tea House are the most popular places for tourists to order a cup of sweet tea and enjoy a leisure Lhasa life.

All in all, tourists don’t need to worry about what and where to eat in Lhasa. There are so many restaurants and dining rooms that offer kinds of dishes and snacks all day long. You can try traditional Lhasa food, Lhasa drinks, as well as other cuisines in Lhasa. Usually, those popular Lhasa restaurants will also serve Sichuan dishes, western food, Nepalese food, and Indian food, which can perfectly solve the problems when tourists cannot get used to the taste of traditional Tibetan food.