The Tibetan Kitchen — Restaurant in Ladakh Range

’d first like to narrate the facts. Calmly waiting for quite sometime (more than half an hour), I was offered a place to sit where the table was yet to be cleaned. Guy immediately turned up for offering menu and later to take order. I politely reminded him to clean. He said adjust to karna padega (I should adjust). I said khaana khaana h, log uthein hain abhi saaf to karna padega (People have just dined and left so the table should be cleaned first). He said itne saare log baithein hain abhi sab ko manage kar rahe hain ( so may people are sitting, we are managing everyone!). I said to saaf nahi karenge aap (won’t you clean?). He said theek h aap bahar khade ho jaaie main saaf kar deta hoon (Please stand outside I will clean it!). Is that insulting? I said fine par bulaya bhi to aapne hee h (you only had called me in the first place). He said maine nahi bulaya (I didn’t call you). It was rude! I said jinhone bulaya wo bhi to aap hee k staff se hain (whoever has called me in is your staff only). This much he was arguing. He then left and returned just to reverse the cloth that was lying already on the table. Is that the way it should be. See, the hygiene they maintained. Later he didn’t return for at least 10 minutes. Further, a staff came and pointed at me to wait for a minute. I nodded. He also didn’t turn up! Suddenly came the guy who brought me in the first place (Mr. Lakota) and when I told him whether or not will they take order. He smiled and said that abhi tak order nahi hua? (Still no one took order!) I said abhi aap le lijie aur bata dijie kitni der m aega (please take order and let me know when will you deliver?). He took order. But the truth is he came so that I’d have allowed him to share my table with someone. I had no problem so I agreed. Came a foreigner and he was served with the cutlery before I was served and he was also served with his dish and I was still waiting for the cutlery. Why this differential treatment? Well, still waiting and waiting for cutlery, I am amazed with the kind of services they may offer picking and choosing people if they have no adequate justification for what they did and why they did. I expect, if not an apology, but at least a courtesy response as to why happened what was happened?

I ordered mutton baglev. Meat was rubbery and I couldn’t chew it complete. When asked it was told that it is lamb and it’s like that!

PS: IT MAY BE BUSINESS FOR YOU. FOR US ITS HEALTH AND MOREOVER WE ARE PAYING FOR IT. BE KIND, COURTEOUS...

Their USP is that they do not use MSG. They have a limited daily menu which you can choose from. Customers are supposed to write what they want on a note (Korean much). When I visited, they were on a 30-day no-meat resolution. I was a little disappointed at first, but that changed once I saw what I was served.

I walked in when there were just two other tourists, so I walked up to the counter and asked for the menu. There were two women cooking behind the counter. I was shown the small menu. I asked for a "thukpa" and lemon tea. One of the women at the counter said lemon tea wasn't available, so I opted for "butter tea." Another Tibetan specialty.

While I waited, I looked around the cozy room. There were awards for local marathons and even a prize money certificate. All of them in the female category. One of the women probably loves running. (I'll try and find out who when I go there again)

There were flasks with hot water on some tables, which is so welcome in a place like Leh. The seating is in Tibetan style, which was not particularly comfortable for me. The seats and tables are low. I know I shouldn't complain, it's a Tibetan eatery after all.

A man was doing the serving and he brought me my butter tea first. It tasted a little less potent than what I had in Bangalore. Probably a difference in how much butter was used.

And then my plate of vegetarian "thukpa" was placed before me. It was beautifully put together. Almost fine dining level, I think. Some of the vegetables were shredded into patterns. For a second I wondered if I should worry about the bill.

There were pieces of paneer to replace the meat and it tasted just right. Something was missing, though. The chili sauce. I added a dab and it brought the dish together.

Either it's the extreme weather that's making me appreciate good food more, or this bowl of noodles and soup was superb. I'll have to go back and taste some more.

The bill came to a total of Rs. 200. 150 for the "thukpa" and 50 for...

Disclaimer: Don't miss this place if you are in Leh. Don't leave the city without tasting their thukpa and momos. You can afford to miss some local sightseeing but not this and get your dinner reservations done one day in advance otherwise you will have to wait for good 20-30 mins or even more.

By far the best food experience in Leh. I was craving for some Tibetan food (had been in Leh for 8-9 days and have yet not had a chance to go for authentic local food. I didn't want to leave Leh without it). And I had to do a lot of convincing to get my wife to visit this place as our experience of Tibetan food in Bangalore hasn't been that great (but then it's like comparing Bangalore's authentic dosa to what I get in my hometown or Punjab's pranthas to that of Bangalore's.. apples to oranges basically). So we went to The (Great) Tibetan Kitchen after recommendations from numerous ppl and we weren't disappointed at all. We had to wait for 20-25 min to get a table - isn't that a good sign of things to come for your taste buds? We ordered veg thukpa and veg momos which were very rich and delicious beyond expectations. I have never had those yummy momos so far in my life and the veg thukpa was equally great. We ordered tibetan bread veg Bagleb but then it had the same filling as of the momos so we had it exchanged for veg noodles which were good too. Their choupsey dishes looked great as well though we didn't get a chance to taste the same. We left with our tummies full but left craving for more. Perhaps...