White Yak Restaurant — Restaurant in Philadelphia

EDIT: My son is 9 so a high chair was not even part of the discussion and I specifically spoke to the person who seated us about my dissatisfaction with the dish (bc the waitress did not once check on us) and was told "I'm sorry" and she walked away after I specifically pointed out how watery it was. ** I can't say 1 positive thing about this restaurant. I tried to book a table online and it said they only took reservations for tables of five or more so then when we arrived, I was offered a table for two with a chair in the aisle for my son even though there was a four top table available. I was told that there was a reservation for that table. A table of four. We ordered the satay as an appetizer which came out dry and with no flavor - wait, I can praise the plum sauce. That was yummy. My husband ordered the Momo dumplings as an entrée. Those came out after the satay, but before the other two entrées we ordered. But before I continue to complain about my bland meal, let me just tell you how ridiculously loud it is in this restaurant. There is no sound proofing. Our son is autistic, and while I kept worrying about his comfort level as he has sensory needs, even I contemplated asking for paper napkins that I could stuff in my ears. SO LOUD. Anyway, the other two entrées finally came out and when they brought out my curry, they told me that they were out of rice and that another customer was OK with chow mein instead. I should've jumped on that offer. Eight minutes later, I was not brought the jasmine rice that is supposed to come with the entrée, I was brought what was probably a microwaved product that they likely bought from Acme up the street. The woman who directed me to the smaller table, seems to be the manager or the person in charge. Our waitress literally never once did anything other than take our order. She did not come back and check on us. She did not ask if everything was OK and when there was something we needed we had to get up and ask the other woman for those items. When I asked why there were no tomatoes or onions in my curry. I was told they were already in there when they obviously weren't. What I got was a bland watery Dryad out chicken mess with white rice likely from the local grocery store. And when I complained about how tasteless and watery it was, I got told sorry and they walked away from the...

A delicious and ESSENTIAL addition to Northwest Philadelphia’s restaurant scene.

White Yak is very, very good. Speaking as someone who has some familiarity with food culture of Tibet and its nearby culinary regions of Sichuan and Nepal, I am extremely excited about the arrival of this restaurant to our area. It fills a void, not only for being the sole representation of Tibetan/Himalayan food in the Philadelphia metropolitan region, but also for providing Northwestern Philly neighborhoods with a delicious option for distinctive South and East Asian flavors. For those of us living in Roxborough and East Falls (which sadly lack decent Indian and Chinese restaurants), White Yak should be heartily welcomed!

I’ve eaten there a few times now, and last night we had a big table so we were able to order quite a few things to share. The menu is a very interesting mix of dishes popular and important in Tibet, along with several foods that reflect interactions with India/Nepal and Sichuan and Central China. Appetizers include a delicious homemade beef sausage and starch jelly noodles (“laping”) that are popular from Sichuan all the way to Katmandu. Momos (Tibetan dumplings) feature prominently on the menu, as they are one of the most popular Tibetan celebratory foods. We particularly liked the fried momos and the pepper sauce. The other very uniquely Tibetan item we sampled was the daikon soup thickened with tsampa (toasted barley flour is a staple among nomadic families and is a very unique flavor).

In addition to these we got several entrees to share, and they were all terrific. The Phaktsee (which was very similar to Sichuanese “double cooked pork”) was extremely flavorful. The crispy fried fish was deliciously doused in a mild pepper sauce, the “Chilly chicken” reminded me of a much beloved dish famous from Indo-Chinese restaurants. The beef curry had a deep flavor, which I happily sopped up with Tingmo steamed bread.

The manager, Treley C. Parshingtsang, is a gracious host who is happy to talk about her food. She told us she studied in famous kitchens between China and India, and it really shows in the diversity of the menu selection.

These are very fresh flavors for us in Roxborough (all of which are expertly prepared in house despite the misguided claim of one Google reviewer)....

I’ve been here three times so there’s enough experience to assure an assessment is relatively objective and not emotionally driven. I always strike to be fair and informative to readers. I’m not in the paid reviewer game. I’ve concluded based on 3 orders (the first shared with my daughter and her opinion completely coincides with mine) that my experience to date does not approximate much less match those that represent the cumulative rating of 4.7. The portions I received were definitively on small side for the prices ( I wasn’t looking for large or jumbo size here!) including the kabobs. Soup portions were minuscule (on my first order) and I doubt even cup sized. More importantly the main entrees were acceptable in taste and preparation but not achieving 4 star level presentation, preparation and uniqueness of taste. I note I hardiy ever use 5 rating because I don’t have the professional training needed to understand and determine a valid 5 rating. My last order was especially revealing: a whole fish Branzino that - shockingly to me-arrived with so much residual oil that it was glistening and the same oil overwhelmed the delicate texture and taste of the fish. Not to mention how often was the oil used prior and for what? I called and was told the only method of preparation was by frying BUT WHY would a delicate fish like Branzino be cooked in the same way as if it’s fried flounder from a pizza shoppe or to resemble an order of English fish and chips? When I expressed disappointment at having to dispose of the fish in its entirety, I was not offered something - ANYTHING- to make up for the loss except the trite “I’m sorry.” Granted it was MY oversight not to carefully read “FRIED” but INTERACTIONS between a customer and ALL businesses is NOT a level playing field; a good will gesture as in offering a free much less expensive entree for sure goes a long way at least for me who always remembers and informs others almost indefinitely. Seems like a pretty good long term investment. The alternative also applies. Saving that $20 or less seems like an unwise commercial decision because it may be interpreted by the customer as manifestation of an insensitive bottom line business response and this too will likely...