Lhasa Cafe

159 Main St, Northampton, MA

Atmosphere: Damn you, memory!

This was my first time eating Tibetan food. If I remember correctly, which I probably don’t, we didn’t even study it in school. I also know pretty much nothing about Tibet, except that it’s in Asia and the Dalai Lama lives there. So, with the newness of the experience and the (pleasantly) distracting conversation on exposed brick, I’m having a hard time recalling what the inside looked like. I see plants and a handful of tables, that’s about it. Sorry.

What was eaten:
Phing alla
Tse shogok
Tsel Thenthuk
To drink:
Bocha
Chai

Phing alla –Spring roll = good. Vegetarian spring roll = great. These were filled with bean thread, carrot, cabbage, onion and I’m going to go with…stuff. They were hot, but not too hot to eat and they were already cut for us!

Tse shogok – Potatoes, spinach and peppers covered with a mysteriously delicious brown sauce. This was served with a pretty steamed roll. Very good and very filling.

Tsel thenthuk – Pulled pasta, daikon and spinach in another mysterious and even more delicious sauce, almost like a soup. Not knowing how it was meant to be eaten, we just mixed the rice into the dish. I don’t know if this was proper, but it was yummy.

Bocha- Buttered and salted tea with milk. “Wait, don’t you mean popcorn?” While that is what it smelt like, it’s not at all what it tasted like. It was pretty much like drinking watered down, melted butter. Defiantly not yummy.

Chai- Chai tea. I enjoyed this one, but it might have just been the contrast of the Bocha. This, too, smelt better than it tasted, but at least it was drinkable
Overall:

What would Dionysus say? No alcohol! I really don’t know what to say about this. Not being able to order a drink did force me to try the tea though, which is a lesson I’m glad I learned and can share with others.
Value- I didn’t pay for this, so it was great. The portions were big without being ridiculous.
Veg selection- Mostly vegetarian menu!!! Just about everything sounds good. Hip hip hooray for the Tibetans!