Over two weekends in November, I traveled to the neighborhoods of Jackson Heights and Woodside in Queens to taste and learn more about Tibetan cuisine.
In Jackson Heights, I first went to Lhasa Fast Foods (LFF)–a small, food-court style restaurant located behind several stores in a mall-like building. There, I was able to step inside the small kitchen and watch the two cooks at work. Because they both spoke Mandarin, I was able to ask them about food preparation and dishes as well as their backgrounds. They were extremely friendly and willing to answer my questions.
My next stop was Phayul, which was only a couple blocks away. However, because it was also quite hidden, I had to pass by the area several times before I realized that I was standing right in front of the entrance (the door then led to a flight of stairs to the actual restaurant). Phayul was also quite small, but because the lighting was darker and the furniture was a deep brown, it had a cozier feel than LFF. I had to wait for quite a while for our food because there was some sort of a kitchen fire. After eating, I had the chance to chat quickly with one of the cooks, who was very eager to show me the different ingredients they used for the dishes.
As I stepped back out onto the streets, I saw the Potala Fresh Momo food truck. If only I had room left in my stomach…next time.
The second weekend, I journeyed to Sunnyside/Woodside, in a different part of Queens, and stopped first at the Tibetan Dumpling Cafe (TDC). The inside of the restaurant was tastefully set up and decorated. The highlight of this meal was definitely the large and fluffy tingmo, which was delicious with the sliced beef tongue.
When I finished at TDC, it was quick stroll over to Gakyizompe. Walking in, I saw that I was the only customer–during the meal, no one else came into the restaurant. Nevertheless, the waitress was extremely friendly and the food, though nothing special, was satisfying. One thing that drew me to this restaurant in particular was its name. I regret not asking the waitress what Gakyizompe means or if it has a meaning.
Though I only had time (and stomach space) to go to four restaurants, here are a couple that I bookmarked for potential visits in the future:
- Cafe Himalya (Lower East Side)
- Cafe Tibet (Jackson Heights)
- Himalayan Yak (Jackson Heights)
- Little Tibet (Jackson Heights)
One thing I noticed was that all of the restaurants in both Jackson Heights and Woodside seemed to rely on delivery and take-out for business, in addition to sit-down customers. There were always a couple phone orders being taken or a worker leaving the restaurant with bags of food. The Jackson Heights restaurants clearly have a larger customer base, which makes sense because it has a denser Tibetan population. TDC and Gakyizompe were markedly less busy, even though we went at times similar to when we visited LFF and Phayul.
Overall, the quality of food seemed pretty even between the four restaurants (granted, I don’t have much experience with Tibetan food from other contexts and thus have no real basis for comparison). I have to say that I had better experiences at the restaurants in Jackson Heights, just because the settings seemed much more authentic and I had the chance to actually speak and interact with the cooks (I chose not to reach out to the cooks at TDC and Gakyizompe because the environment was more quiet and subdued).
I would encourage anyone unfamiliar with Tibetan cuisine to take the time to go to Queens and eat at a Tibetan restaurant–even better, eat there and make it a point to strike up a conversation with either the waitress or cooks or even people that seem like locals (I had it a bit easier just because I speak Chinese, but many of them do speak English decently). This project was so much more meaningful because I was able to have those exchanges.