Lhasa Moon, San Francisco

Pictured here is Shogok Ngopa - sliced beef sauteed with thinly cut potatoes, spinach, garlic and ginger, along with a Tibetan steamed roll

Favorite Dish: Also recommended:

Lhabu Dhikrul - lamb, daikon radish and spinach leaves, simmered in borth with herbs

Tsel Gyaker - vegetable curry of cauliflower, potatoes and green peas, with rice

Phingsha - sliced chicken sauteed with been thread strings, sliced potatoes, and green peas. Flavored with ginger and emma (Tibetan peppercorn).

After seeing "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion" at the Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, I announced to my family that we were going to eat at Taste of the Himalayas (formerly Lhasa Moon), the only Tibetan restaurant in San Francisco. The Persnickety Teens (my restaurant reviewers) rolled their eyes at yet another one of my "themes" and were certain the food would be too weird for them.

We were very pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is small and has pictures of Tibet and HH the 14th Dalai Lama on the walls, Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags hanging from the ceilings, and waitpersons in their native dress. This place is not touristy in the least and the food was absolutely delicious.

The Persnickity Preteen (age 12) proclaimed her dish as "good and not too spicy". The Persnickity Teen (age 15) between shoveling in mouthfuls of shogok ngopa described his dish as "very good, with the right amount of spice."

I was pleased to see a number of vegetarian dishes on the menu.

We will definitely come again soon, bringing more friends in tow.

Favorite Dish: Lephing & Bhaley Flat Bread with spicy soy vinegar and bean curd, a favorite Lhasa dish

Momos (beef, chicken and vegetable dumplings), best described as a Tibetan potsticker

This is the only Tibetan restaurant that I know of in the whole SF Bay Area. If you're a fan of Indian food and Chinese food and you're looking for something a bit different you've come to the right place. The Tibetan music that they play provides a pleasant ambience to your dinner.

Favorite Dish: Try the steamed momo. This Tibetan favorite is similar to the potsticker but with a variety of fillings. Try the Tsel Momo which is the sampler plate of momo giving you a taste of all three varieties (chicken, beef and veggie)

Jhasha Shamedeh (chicken curry) is similar to a dish that you would find in a Indian restaurant. Chicken in a curry sauce with veggies.

The tibetan rice wine is nice too. It kind of tastes like sake but has a milky white color to it.