Lhasa Restaurants

Lhasa Kitchen was where our guide took us for lunch on day one of our sightseeing in Lhasa. While the place is not fancy by any means, it looked clean and presentable, catering mostly to tourists. As an added bonus, the waiter spoke enough English to understand our orders.

Food was, as with many similar places on Tibet's main tourist route along the Friendship highway, a mix of staple Italian, Tibetan, Chinese, and Indian/Nepali dishes. Soft drinks, tea, coffee, and beer (local Lhasa as well as Budweiser) are also served. My choice was Chicken Tikka and Cheese Naan, with the latter being one of the best things I've tasted on our trip through Tibet.

Service was quick, and prices quite reasonable (30-35RMB being the maximum I can remember).

Favorite Dish: The cheese naan, of course!

A bit out of place in Lhasa, with laptop internet (I think they have wifi, but they also have three computers you can use and good coffee. Decently healthy food is also available, though they don't have an extensive menu- mostly cold stuff.

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warm and cozy place with friendly service.

plus, you get to write your name on the wall! on t-shirts on the wall, that is.

look for tsering, tell her miko from the philippines says hi! (i was there last august, 2006)

Dined at this restaurant with a group of friends, twice. The second time for dinner. On this visit, we had arrived just prior to a large tour group (25 people), who had a preselected menu, ordered, in advance of their arrival.

Half of our group, received their orders in a timely manner, the rest of us, sat waiting, while the tour group was served. After an hour of waiting, and not yet having received my meal, I walked out of the restaurant.

If you enjoy waiting, visit the Lhasa Cafe!

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For a little bit of fun and Ok food, head to Shangrila Restaurant where they do a "culture" show every evening. You will need to book to get in as a lot of tour groups come along. It's Y60 and it includes a buffet dinner with 1 drink (beer or soft drink) and the culture show.

The show is certainly nothing to write home about but it will make you laugh and keep you entertained for 30 minutes or so.

The food is Ok with a smallish buffet selection with mainly Chinese and Tibetan dishes. There are plently of options for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. All in all a good evening out!

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The Dunya Restaurant is located on Beijing Dong Lu which is a main street and is basically a western restaurant. It is owned by a Dutch couple but still has a strong Tibetan presence.

You are able to get Tibetan food but majority of the menu is western. Prices are above average but I suppose tourists will pay more to have food that they recognise!!

Upstairs is a bar which again is a little more expensive than usual but is lots of fun and has music playing until close at around 1am. May I recommend the landslides.... Yum!!

Whilst in Lhasa you have to visit the Summit Cafe which is in the old quarter right next to the Shang Bala hotel.

You can actually get REAL coffee here (albeit expensive coffee) and sit in a quiet atmosphere with big comfy chairs, internet access and a book exchange. It's the perfect place to unwind after a long day's sightseeing.

Coffee: Approx Y30

There are several backapacker cafes and restaurants dotted around Barkor Street so you wont get hungry. They all have english menus along with Chinese ones and other popular foreign languages. I managed to take note of some of the dishes they had at this place to give you a taster...

It was packed full of people at lunchtime when we went, so I presume it is in the guidebooks by now for all travellers to know about. It was cheap and cheerful. I bought some fantastic postcards for only 2rmb each here, of different people throughout Tibet from different sects...I will put those up here soon too.

Favorite Dish: The menu includes Continental dishes with pastas, steaks and pizza, starting at 18rmb going up to 30 rmb, then soups, salads and snacks ranging from 8rmb to 15rmb.The wonderful curry I had falls under the Indian and Nepali dishes which include all kinds of vegetable and meat curries and of course naan bread. Prices range from 12rmb to 30rmb for the curries. Tibetan dishes are cheaper from 15-25rmb and have such delicious goodies as yak calf (!), tsampa soup and momo (steamed yak dumplings). And finally the Chinese dishes have all the usual fare with desserts to follow which sound mouth watering..banana fritters, lemon cheesecake etc...

I had the chicken tikka and eventhough it was by far the best that I had had on the trip it was a little watery...no cream had been put in the sauce...unlike all the curries I get at restaurants in Beijing and abroad. But maybe Im better off this way, afterall, it would probably have been yak cream and tasted foul!!!