Tibet is unlikely to become a hot destination for foodless. Though you will not starve, Tibetan food will probably not be a highlight of your trip. In Lhasa, there are a few restaurants that have elevated a subsistence diet into the beginnings of a cuisine but outside the urban centres, Tibetan food is more about survival than pleasure. On the plus side, fresh vegetables and packaged goods are now widely available and you are never far away from a good Chinese cuisine stores.

Specialties of Tibet
The basic Tibetan meal is tsampa, a kind of dough made with roasted – something wet. Tibetans skillfully knead and mix the paste by hand into dough-like balls – not as easy as it looks! Tsampa with milk powder and sugar makes a pretty good porridge and is a fine trekking staple, but only a Tibetan can eat it every day and still look forward to the next meal. Outside of Lhasa, Tibetan food is limited to greasy momos and thugpa. Momos are small dumplings filled with meat or vegetables or both. Variations on the theme include hipthuk and thenthuk. Glass noodles known as Phing are also sometimes used. The other main option is shemdre, a stew of potatoes and yak meat on a bed of rice. In smarter restaurants in Lhasa or Shigatse you could try dishes like damje or shomday, droma drase and shya vale.

In rural areas and markets, you could see strings of little white lumps drying in the sun that even the flies leave alone – this is dried yak cheese and it is eaten like a boiled sweet. For the half-hour it is like having a small rock in your mouth, but eventually it starts to soften up and taste like old, dried yak cheese. Also, popular among nomads is yak sha. It is normally cut into strips and left to dry on tent lines and is pretty chewy stuff.

Muslim Food in Tibet
The Muslim restaurants found in almost urban centers in Tibet are an interesting alternative to Chinese or Tibetan food. These are normally recognizable by a green flag hanging outside or Arabic script on the restaurant sign. Most chefs come from the Linxia area of Gansu. The food is based on noodles, and of course, there is no pork.

Food in Tibet also could be regarded as a charming sightseeing waiting for your special taste and enjoy!