tibetan momo dumpling — *Nepalese/Tibetan Momo dumplings are always something that I've wanted to try*

I’ve always wanted to try Tibetan/Nepalese cuisine, more specifically the Momos (Tibetan dumplings), and when my girlfriend sent me a TikTok of this restaurant in Bangkok serving real AUTHENTIC Tibetan cuisine? We had to go there.

Now this is my first time trying real Tibetan cuisine, so a lot of the dishes are unfamiliar to me but I will try my best with researching and describing the dishes in as much detail as possible for you guys.

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My YouTube Video on Tibet Kitchen

If you want to get up close and personal in the mouthwatering Tibetan food in this article, I’ve made a vlog on my YouTube channel, JamesKWN, trying out Tibet Kitchen :)

Cozy Vibes and Tibetan Authenticity

tibet kitchen restaurant — *A small cozy restaurant with comfortable seating*

Tibet Kitchen is a little restaurant deep into the alley of Sukhumvit Soi 22. The restaurant itself is quite inconspicuous, on the outside it doesn’t look like much and the construction blends into the surrounding walls.

Inside is also a similar story, a cozy little environment with only a handful of seating and the walls are lightly decorated with traditional flags and garments. Although the upstairs is more spacious and relaxing.

If you are interested in Tibetan culture and actually traveling to that region, I’ve written a few blog posts about my travels to the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture mainly places like Shangri-La City and the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

A Little Questionable Service…

Before I continue, I want to point out the elephant in the room and that is the poor service. When I went it was during lunch hours and there were only a handful of people in the shop including us, so not busy at all.

There was only one staff member working, taking orders, and serving food, and he does not look like he wants to be there…

I asked him a little bit about the menu items and he just kinda gave me a blank stare like he was confused, literally no communication whatsoever… Our food was also served to the wrong table multiple times…

Not a great fist impression, I might say…

Tibet Kitchen’s Menu

tibet kitchen menu — *Tibet Kitchen's Menu is very extensive and quite intimidating to be honest*

The menu at Tibet Kitchen is overwhelming for someone who is unfamiliar with this style of cuisine. They do have pictures to show what some dishes look like so that’s a big plus.

There are all sorts of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, and the momos, the Tibetan Dumplings, have a page all to themselves, so you know the speciality here has got to be the momo dumplings.

There are soups, chicken, lamb, pork, noodles, paneer cheese, rice, fish, prawns, and basically everything under the sun.

Pricing

The pricing is pretty fair for this cuisine, you can expect any type of Indian food or central Asian restaurants to cost quite a bit. But Tibet Kitchen’s pricing is good, you can expect to pay around 150 - 250 THB per dish and for the portion sizes, they are big and worth the price.

Salty Tibetan Butter Tea

The first dish (or drink) that came was the Tibetan Butter Tea that my girlfriend ordered. Butter Tea was something we always wanted to try and we were excited that Tibet Kitchen has it on their menu.

The tea was very smooth in texture and salty in taste, which I didn’t expect at all, it tasted like if you were to melt salted butter in some water or mild milk. It tasted ok, though the drink was topped off with a thick layer of what I assume is milk foam. Similar to what you would find in a Cappuccino but more foamy.

Luke Warm Mango Lassi

The next drink that came out was the Mango Lassi I’ve ordered. A Lassi is a yogurt-based smoothie drink with added spices that’s popular in the Indian subcontinent. A Lassi is always served chilled however the lassi at Tibet Kitchen was served… Room temperature? Actually, it was more like lukewarm which really messes with the drinking experience.

The mango flavor was nice but the lukewarm-ness made drinking this lassi very unpleasant in terms of texture and mouthfeel. You’ve ever had a smoothie that’s been sitting out for too long? It’s sort of like that in terms of drinking experience.

What a disappointment honestly…

Chili Garlic Chicken Thukpa

Our first entrée is the Chili Garlic Chicken Thukpa, which is the first time I’ve had this dish. A Thukpa is a traditional Tibetan noodle dish and I have to make a comparison here. It tastes like a Thai chicken noodle soup, and it’s almost exactly the same in terms of ingredients and flavor profile.

That’s not to say it’s bad or not-unique, but it’s just an interesting observation to see how faraway countries can have similar dishes to your own.

The noodles are similar to Ramen noodles in that they are firm and slimy. The clear broth soup was very tasty with a subtle vegetable stock flavor compounded with tons of fried garlic aromas.

The chicken and carrots provide a nice flavor, and while the dish has the word “chili” in it, it’s not spicy in the slightest. Overall a pretty solid noodle soup, although a bit disappointing (for me) that it tastes so similar to a dish from my home country.

Chicken Momo Dumplings

tibetan momo dumplings — *Plump juicy dumplings sitting in a rich looking sauce, what's not to love?*

Now here is the dish that I was most excited for, the Momos, a popular dumpling eaten in the regions of Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan.

We’ve ordered ours with a chicken filling and the Momos are served either plain or with a saucy, spicy, tangy soup called Jhol Achar, we got ours with the Jhol.

The Jhol has a slight nutty taste as if the based of the sauce was made from peanuts, also there a slight little hint of spice, it paired pretty well with the Momos which were plump and a little juicy.

The chicken filling wasn’t all that flavorful and the wrapper was a little too thick for my liking but eating the dumplings with the Jhol sauce and some roasted chili kicked it up a notch..

Tingmo Bread

One little side carb that we ordered was the Tingmo Bread, imagine a Chinese Mantou bun but twisted to have these gorgeous layers. We used the Tingmo bread to dip into the Jhol Momo sauce and it made for the perfect vessel as the fluffy bread soaks in all of that wonderful Jhol sauce.

Crispy Chili Lamb Stir Fry

Our most favorite dish was the Crispy Chili Lamb Stir Fry. Slices of lamb deep fried in a thin coating until crispy then tossed in a stir fry of bell peppers, onions, and a chili tomato sauce.

I loved this dish, although, the breading was a bit soggy from the sauce, the lamb still retained some crunchy crispiness. The sauce was sweet, tart and slightly spicy like it’s a spicier version of ketchup.

There is no gamey-ness or any odor from the lamb, it was slightly salty as well from the natural flavor of the lamb. The bell peppers also gave the dish a nice texture and refreshing crunch.

Eating this was addicting and I highly recommend this dish.

Conclusion

Pros

The pricing is fair and the portion sizes were good and filling.
The Momos and Lamb stir fry were good
A large variety of menu items including a lot of vegetarian dishes!

Cons

Poor service, staff doesn’t seem like they want to work here
The dishes were all pretty average, nothing stood out.

Overall I am a bit conflicted with Tibet Kitchen, On one hand I want to give them praise and commendation for being one of the few restaurants serving Tibetan cuisine in Thailand, but the poor service and average food really brings down my ratings. There is not really anything that stood out to me at Tibet Kitchen except for the Momos, which I think is difficult to find anywhere else in Bangkok.

Perhaps I just didn’t order the right or popular dishes, but it would’ve been great if the staff was more willing to help with recommendations.

Tibet Kitchen | 6.5 / 10

Phone: +66 95 519 0532

Location: 627 Sukhumvit Alley 22, Khlong Toei Nuea, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110

Opening Hours: 11:30 AM - 10:30 PM | Tue - Sun

Pricing: 500++ THB | $$

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