Tibetan Restaurant

 

Today I worked on campus, and every time Travalon and I carpool, we pass a restaurant called Little Tibet on the way home. I have been curious about it for ages, and while I had never eaten there, it seems like I saw yak on their menu at one point. Tonight the whole area was parked up, because there was a big concert at Breese Stevens Field (which we hadn't known), but we went around the block once and then saw a guy leaving, so we got a space right around the corner. One of us is living right! (I'm putting my money on Travalon.) 

Now Travalon is not a big fan of the Nepali restaurant on State Street, Himal Chuli, and he thought the Tibetan restaurant might be similar, so he wasn't too excited to go. I kept assuring him that Tibetan is not the same as Nepali, and as my regular readers know, I've been on kind of a Tibet kick recently. They have a fairly limited menu (and no yak), but I pointed out that they had lamb curry, and Travalon thought that sounded good. But then I said I was getting momos, which are stuffed dumplings, and he thought that sounded good too. He got chicken and cheese momos pan-fried, and his came out as a plate of dumplings. I ordered mushroom and cheese dumplings steamed with what I thought was a side of spicy cheese soup, but they came out with the dumplings in a big bowl of soup. I was slightly weirded out, until I tasted it - delicious! We also had chai (so good!), and I got tingmo steamed bread while Travalon got roti that looked and tasted like a tortilla. And yes, we were naughty and split a dessert of ice cream with mango and coconut. As far as I know, neither mangos nor coconuts grow in Tibet, so this is probably not a traditional dessert, but it was the only one they had, and it was good. 

There was some sort of saying in Tibetan on the wall, so I asked our waitress what it said, and she got another waiter, who told us it was about the four pillars of Buddhism. I am still geeking out over the fact that the Buddha had a feast day (November 27) on the Roman calendar, August 26 on the Eastern Orthodox calendar. I found this on Wikipedia but wasn't sure it was trustworthy because, you know, Wikipedia - anyone can write anything there. However, it is also in the Catholic Encyclopedia online. If I ever became a Buddhist, I would definitely be a Tibetan Buddhist because it's set up just like the Catholic church with clergy (the lamas), a head (the Dalai Lama like our Pope), and prayer beads (like rosaries). Pluses: they wouldn't have an issue with my belief in reincarnation. Minuses: they don't have the Eucharist. I am literally so drawn to the Eucharist that one day I was walking down the street when I felt a compulsion to walk into a door and found myself in a chapel. I kept walking toward one particular spot in the chapel and then realized I was right in front of the tabernacle. Actually, that has happened more than once, in churches where the tabernacle is in an unexpected place but I'm drawn to it like a moth to the light before realizing that's what it is I'm heading for. And it's not like these were beautiful tabernacles - it took me a moment to realize what it was I was standing in front of. I will say at our usual church, the tabernacle is front and center, and it is very beautiful. It looks like something you'd expect to be holding the Eucharist.

I really liked the music at the Tibetan restaurant too. It is what spa music aspires to be but never achieves: very meditative and relaxing. Oddly, the time to go to this restaurant is seven, which is when we usually eat dinner. We got there not long after six and it was packed, but by seven we were practically the only ones in the place. Or was that just today? Travalon said, "I'd go again!" So we undoubtedly will.

Famous Hat