Xiahe Restaurants

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We visited Gesar Restaurant which is located just off the main street and overlooks a wall of Labrang Monastery. Like all restaurants in the area it is a simple affair with traditional Tibetan tables (low carved wooden) and colourful wallpaper.

The menu was quite extensive and included traditional Tibetan food, Chinese food and limited western food.

I tried the momos (like dumplings - pastry and meat or vegetables) which you could get fried or steamed. They are fantastic and very filling. They are also usually cheaper than a main meal so if you're low on cash and hungry then these are a perfect option.

Picture is my Tibetan breakfast, two items cost around 15 yuan which is quite expensive for a breakfast in China, but its okay, I just want to try how the Tibetans' foods. From my observation, the Tibetans seemed lack of competitive skills to run a restaurant comparing with Han Chinese, they make a breakfast this simple, took nearly 20 minutes and it cost that much. But I like the interior of their restaurant, so colorful. What you see in photo is a glass of tea and a bowl of Tibetan Tsampa, dough made with roasted barley flour and yak butter. This bowl cost about 2 plate of chowmeins but it can only fill up quarter my stomach. Taste are quite nice tough.

In the Snowland restaurant, just across the road in the direction of the monastery from our hotel, they have an english menu. They serve chinese, tibetan and western food.
The special thing about the restaurant is we always saw some monks in there. Must be good when even the monks come here.