Victoria B.
Yelp
I'm in love. It's real this time.
This was my first time eating Tibetan food. Where have you been all my life? I feel cheated that I never knew.
We popped in here on a whim to escape the madding crowds of Elm Street in Davis. We were looking for vegetarian of substance -- not just an aside -- and we found it here. The serve all kinds of meat, for sure, but they also have a large number of vegetarian (and, yes, vegan) options throughout their menu. Because my date eats vegetarian, I opted to go all veggie so we could split and share without constraint. And let me just say, if all vegetarian food was this good, I could be one, too. (Maybe.)
To the specifics, at 730 ish on a Friday night their large-ish (for Davis) one-room restaurant was at capacity. Just as we arrived, two tables opened but were filled by us and the folks behind us. They're clearly thriving! The service was efficient and fluff-less. Servers all wore masks as if they meant it. Neither of us had ever even seen a Tibetan menu, so we were slow, but our navigation was helped by the clear descriptions and categories. If menus could get stars, theirs would get five. It was an actual menu, too. No need to drag out the uber-cumbersome qr scanner. The room is nicely decorated with flags and stuff. No tablecloths but solid utensils and lovely dishes. Do Nepalis use chopsticks or forks? IDK. Good space between tables. No bar seating -- in response to Covid? -- but I hope they add it.
The food is good. Very good. The soups (we each got a different one -- churue and tofu thang) are stellar. A good soup has layers of flavor and texture. OMG. So good. And their bowl-size serving could be the entree. We also got fried onions and potatoes, also very good. Again, layers of flavor. The dipping sauce!! The dumplings (momos?) were very good, but the spinach filling needed more flavor. The red chutney-like accompaniment was served cold? We took the offered option of getting half steamed, half fried which is a good way to start. (Next time I'd go fried.) (And ask for more of the spicy red sauce that came with the fried onions.) (And speaking of spice, they can increase the heat on any dish -- our sweet server laughed as she said this.) (I presume they can decrease it, too, but why?) Our single entree of red curry with tofu and pineapple and something else was very very good. How to find more superlatives?
Drinks! They have a huge selection of non-alcoholic offerings -- teas and such -- but they also serve beer and wine. I ordered a ginger-lemonade that was perfectly flavored. It was served room temp so I asked for a glass of ice on the side.
(No pictures -- I was trying not to be that person -- but the food is beautiful.)
I can't wait to go back!