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Vancouver Tibet Kitchen
Categories: Restaurants Indian Restaurants Himalayan/Nepalese Restaurants Chinese Indian, Himalayan/Nepalese, Chinese [Edit]
6591 Fraser StVancouver, BC V5X 3T4
Neighbourhood: Sunset
(604) 323-0404
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 10 am - 10 pm
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
13 reviews for Vancouver Tibet Kitchen
13 reviews in English
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Review from Matty M.
Vancouver, BC
4/21/2012
BEST MOMO EVERY, TIBETIAN kitchen is authentic
the resturant is cozy , with pictures of tibetian leaders.
Tibetian flags are flown outside and in The Owner is a very special man!!!
With a big heart and serves his food with love and kindness.
I had the vegatble moMO and they were steamed and wonderful.
my friends had the meat moMO , and eqaualy found them scrumpcious!!!!!!
We also had the soup and it was wonderful so tasteful and healthy feeling not greasy but of wonderful brothy vegtable
totally recommend this resturant
i just hope there will be room for me next time tell your friends!!! -
Review from Kenneth E.
Vancouver, BC
5/6/2012
I feel kinda bad posting this, but I stepped in and it smells like....incense...like a temple...nothing against it, just that when i'm sitting down to eat, i just don't want to smell all the stuff burning...i'm sure the food tastes good judging by the food on other ppl's tables....
Clean resto and all the yellow decor to handle. -
Review from Zee K.
Vancouver, BC
4/22/2012
Came here with my roommates after reading the good reviews on yelp - it wasn't super busy and the service was decent though the food was a bit slow to arrive. We had the momo, the Tibetan sliced (salty) beef, the chicken masala, broccoli with garlic, and the Manchurian chow mein. All the food was really good, a bit spicy, but a rich, full of flavor, The hot sauce that came with the momo was so good we bought some to take home.
Absolutely no complaints aside from how long we were there (two hours total). They did bring us a complimentary plate of oranges 'because the food was so late', which I thought was a nice touch. We stuffed our faces and ordered dessert anyway just to see what it was. We had the traditional Tibetan one (can't remember the name), which was sweet and buttery rice with raisins and coconut.
Will definitely be back, however it seems like the restaurant is for sale, so (possibly) get it while you can! -
Review from Larry L.
I have to agree with Stephen Y. Buddy you certainly know how to sniff out a good joint when you see one!
We really wanted to try this place out and came with the "fans' from Japan" so to speak.
The father loves to eat spicy stuff and he certainly got what he wanted here.
I think it was some of the better dumplings in town and that the noodle dishes were quite spectacular.
The owner was very accomadating and when we got there, we were the only ones. We'd just missed the dinner rush and came at around 8pm.
We ordered a couple of soups, noodle dishes, tea with butter and salt and all the while got a bit of an education on the food they prepared for us.
Funny thing, the owner would go to the back to where I think his wife was cooking and they'd jabber banter back and forth at each other, while we sat quietly up fron wondering if everything was ok.
Our momentary silenced hush would quickly convert back to idle chit chat when he came out of the kitchen bringing us a cart full of our next round of exotic dishes.
It was hard having the kids there. They wanted to run around and play when they weren't eating and I was trying to keep Ken well fed and spiced up.
The owner gave us two kinds of chili sauces. One that he said most people find too spicy already and was thinking that people from Japan couldn't tolerate it. Well, they did!!!
He was so surprised that he figured we must have been Korean!
The other sauce was his hottest and it did put them to the test. Ken was sweating up a storm, but he wouldn't give in and let the chili get the pepper of him.
In the end, we were given the remaining chili sauce to take home. It's always better fresh and I think he makes the batches fresh daily.
Everyone was impressed that this little place could offer such BANG for the buck and the tongue.
Best Surprise of the year. Especially when Asian food is so frequent in this town. It's nice to hear that the owners of this place take pride in their food. It certainly shows in their food and their belief.
**note that they have some Szechuan and Indian dishes.
I heart this place.Listed in: Taste Bud Tinglers
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Review from Grayce E.
10/21/2011 ROTD 1/2/2012
My dinner at Vancouver Tibet Kitchen was an example of a meal where you leave feeling satiated from wonderful dining experience and actual food is almost secondary to the entire night.
We spent the night getting to know our warm and friendly host, the owner, who he shared interesting tales of leaving Tibet at the age of 9 and cooking all over the world before coming to Vancouver.
The food was good too, we tried the dumplings, a noodle stir fry and another vegetable stir fry as well (enough for two people and a some for lunch the next day too!). -
Review from Ellen W.
4/15/2012
Been here and ting momo (from Seattle) and the food here was much better here. Owner is really nice and the momos were great. Soft skin and tasty innards. Highly recommend it.
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Review from Aaron L.
Vancouver, BC
Great food! We've never had Tibetan food so we asked our server for suggestions. She suggested the momo dumplings, which were fresh and delicious (esp the veggie ones). We had butter tea, which was interesting... Then the special fish with tingmo buns-- both were amazing!! The fish had a delicate delicious flavor and the buns weren't too sweet- just right. Only thing that we didn't like was the Tibetan Coffee.
I'm not sure if this is a regular occurrence, but we were treated to some Tibetan Theater on a TV in the dining room while we ate. The music and singing was provocative and beautiful, but the sound system had some issues, and popped and cracked a lot. The owner eventually turned the volume down which helped alleviate the problem. It was an interesting one time thing, but I'm not sure I'd want my dining experienced to always include this particular form of cultural immersion.
We'll definitely be going back. -
Review from Hemant S.
Vancouver, BC
Finally, Vancouver gets its own First ever Tibetan Restaurant !!!
!!TASHI DELEK!! :-)
Now that everyone knows what we're talking about, let me tell how i discovered this place last week. I was so happy to see a sign outside an old Indian restaurant which said Tibet Kitchen Coming soon (where Purewal sweets used to be), I said YESSS just what i had been waiting for. I had some Tibetan food 3 years agoo at the local Tibetan Community's LOSAR festivities and today I got the chance to really dig in when i found that this new place is open for business.
The main chef has 5* hotel experience from India and it shows in the food they served today. They offer a wide variety of food which makes me glad as this should increase their survival rate in the tough restaurant market of Vancouver. Being the 1st and currently only place to eat Tibetan food definitely helps. They serve Indian style Chinese food also which adds to the current competition from the likes of Green Lettuce/Chilli pepper house. Also on the menu are options from the Indian Cuisine.
So in an area like Fraser street, what a better Idea than having Chinese/Indian/Tibetan all mixed together to make a unique Exotic blend.
The restaurant is right opposite of Blockbuster Video, There are Tibetan Prayer Flags outside so finding it shouldnt be a problem and im guessing that a new Sign board should be installed pretty soon as well.
Now let me talk about the FOOD first as i guess that what you'll like me to talk about, so if you want me to be brief - Grab your forks and Dig IN !!
The best of what i had so far - Butter Paneer !! yes the famous Butter Chicken sauce can be had with Paneer too and it tastes DIVINE !!! I guess HH Dalai Lama's pic in the background might have some affect on the food :P
Indian food - CHECK awesome for Butter Paneer.
In Tibet Gyoza or Dumplings are called MOMOs and they have chicken, beef or vege options. We LOVED our Vegetarian Momos. I also tried the traditional steam bun from Tibet called Tigmo and it ws Fresh and nice.
We also tried the Tibetan noodle soup bowl which again was flavourfull and hearty. The 1 thing i was really looking forward to was Yak milk Tea from Tibet, But i guess getting Yak milk is close to impossible for a small restaurant all the way here, so they used normal milk & butter for the Boa-Cha (tea) and it was definitely worth every penny. For only 3$ we got a whole flask of Boa-Cha which was approximately 6+ cups !! It has Butter & salt in tea which im sure most people would never have tried before.
Tibetan food - CHECK Awesome for Momos & Tea
Indian style Chinese food includes the fan favorite Manchurian and chopsuey and wings etc and they all looked great, we couldnt try that today but other people seemed to have been loving it.
All Chinese restaurants in India have condiments i havnt seen in any Chinese restaurant i've been to in Vancouver - Green chillies in White vinegar and a uniqe spicy sauce. We find those in all small or big Chinese restaurants in India and Tibet Kitchen was the 1st for me to see the exact same taste for the 1st time.
It is Open 7 Days a week, 12 PM (noon) to 10 PM and being close to my home, I'll definitely be coming here a lot lot lot more.
need more Butter Paneer !! yum.
They also serve all kinds of beef & chicken dishes but there are enough Vegetarian and tofy options to keep herbivores like me happy too.
The Decor is simple yet true to Tibet with a big corner devoted to The Dalai Lama. I had some Dejavu moments with the decore and the food while i was there, Its the little part of India that was missing in the local Vancouver food scene. But its here now!! I wish them all the success and its always a good feeling to see Tibetans being Happy, I have a soft corner for them :)
But whether u have a soft corner or not, If you even have half a taste bud, come here and I bet you wont be disappointed.
Tibetan food isnt as flavorfull as its other neighborly cuisines like Chinese or Indian due to the lack of spice options but its the Hybrid of China/Tibet/India which makes this place special. -
Review from Spring B.
Vancouver, BC
12/15/2011
We like going to this place. Great food at a reasonable price. :-)
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Review from Stephen Y.
Richmond, BC
Came here with the wifey to try our first Tibetan cuisine and Vancouver's first Tibetan restaurant. They also have Indian cuisine with a twist of Chinese flavour, but we didn't try that yet.
We started with the Fish Pakoras. Nice crispy texture on the outside, soft fish on the inside. It's deep-fried so if you are avoiding this kind of food, you've been warned, but really, it's not oily at all! It came with a sweet, chili sauce to dip in and as a whole, it was pretty good. I'd rate the dish as a 7/10.
The next dish up was the Tibetan dumplings called Momos. It comes in Chicken, Beef, and Tofu/Vegetables. We chose the chicken version and it didn't dissapoint! The skin was not too thick, all handmade and the chicken meat was nicely done. Served with ginger, you should use the pickled chilies and chili paste that's on the table to dip with. So good!! 8.5/10!
Our two main dishes were the Vegetable Then-Thuk (Thick handmade noodles in rich soup) with waterchest nut, daikon, mushroom, and cilantro and the Beef Phing-Sha (vermicelli) served with Tingmo (steamed bun). The noodle soup broth was infused with intense flavours and the noodles had the perfect amount of chewiness to them. They weren't the long style noodles but rather the hand chopped variety.
The Phing-Sha Beef was also good, with a bit of a orange taste to it. It was served with the Tibetan steamed buns, which were huge, but you can also order it with rice, but come on! You're at a Tibetan restaurant...
I would rate the Then-Thuk as a 9/10 and the Phing-Sha as 8/10.
I hope to come back here with more people so we can try all the other dishes on the menu.
Highly recommended! -
Review from Annie M.
Vancouver, BC
After I read few reviews about this restaurant, I would like to try it. We passed by and they had 1 table on Sat around 7.30pm. That's why I gave up and went somewhere else.
I spoke to my gal friend about my experience, she wanted to try with me. So we went together. We were shocked when we went in the restaurant, it was empty at 7pm.
We looked at the menu, most of the items that we had no clue about.... so we asked the waitress to recommend us for Tibetan dishes. However, the sounds we might not like it, that's why we ordered more like Chinese dishes to share.
Jha-Sha Momo (Steamed Chicken dumpling) - The taste was ok, the wrap was quite hard and try after few mins.
Shapta (Marinated Tender Slices of Beef) - We didn't eat it at all coz the beef wasn't tender and sauce was weird.
Crispy Hot Spicy Tofu - It quite tasty and spicy.
Fried Crispy Green Beans - It's delicious but most of Chinese restaurant can make it.
Overall, the foods were ok and not expensive. The service was very good coz only have our table to serve? -
Review from Sophie C.
Gatineau, QC
4/15/2011
I visited Vancouver Tibet Kitchen with Earthsave Canada's Vancouver Meatless Meetup Group in April 2011, so my opinion might be a little different than others. I paid a really good price to go to this Meetup ($17) so I can't say anything about how things are priced. However, I can review the restaurant itself and the food I ate :)
I enjoyed most of the food, and appreciated getting regular water topups, as the grub was quite spicy & salty. I found this restaurant to be of a decent size, with clean washrooms, etc. The temperature in the restaurant was cozy but not too hot (which I was expecting for a group of 50 people!) The food was actually just what I needed after a LONG day, but to be honest, I would have to say that it was quite salty. Also, I can handle spice very well, but I can see how some folks could find some dishes too hot. There were a few items which tasted just like the others, probably because they use similar spices in most dishes. I would recommend those visiting the restaurant to get a variety of dishes so they can enjoy different flavours. I really liked the green beans and pulled noodle soup as well as the crispy potatoes... MMMmm! I'm giving this restaurant 3 stars because in all honesty, it wasn't anything too special, but it wasn't horrible either. Except for the cold, doughy & kind of slimy bun. That thing was yucky. If you have a craving for oily spicy "asian"-type food... go for it! :)
Here is what I got to try:
*Tibetan Crispy potatoes (flour coated potatoes)* - AWESOME! The owner actually cooked up an extra plate for me because I arrived to the Meetup late & that was the first dish they had served. Too cool.
*Tsel Then-Thuk (handmade pulled noodle soup)* - AWESOME. I can't believe that as a vegan I was tasting these "chicken broth" flavours! Really yummy soup!
*Tsel-Tofu Momo (steamed Tibetan dumplings)* - Although these were served cold, their flavour was very pronounced and quite good. I enjoyed these a lot, and wish I could have had more!
*Tsel-Tofu (mixed vegetables--bok choy, carrot, cauliflower, zucchini, celery, water chestnut, daikon, snow peas, red pepper, green pepper with tofu)* - Was good, but falls under the category of dishes that all taste pretty much the same. I have to say that the combination of these foods was good & nutritious!
*Hot and Spicy Eggplant (eggplant, onion, etc.)* - Again, one of the dishes that is like others. Really salty and oily... but I personally don't mind that ;)
*Gobi Manchurian (Crispy cauliflower)* - The texture of this dish was interesting because the cauliflower ended up feeling like chicken in my mouth. Weird. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. Maybe I was tired of eating brown salty & spicy food by then.
*Fried Crispy Green Beans* - I really enjoyed these.
*Tingmo (Tibetan steamed buns) served with the dishes.* - I have no idea where they were going with these... They are served cold, and kind of feel & taste like raw Pillsbury Dough. I nibbled on it to help cool down my mouth from the spicy foods on my plate.
*Steamed rice.* - Just plain 'ol steamed rice. -
Review from Crystal G.
West Vancouver, BC
4/28/2011
We visited this place with the second Earthsave dineout this month (the first one was sold out; there were 16 of us at the 2nd one). It was interesting and we were intrigued by the menu which had quite a few vegetarian options.
Our fixed menu was supposed to be the same as the one listed by Sophie C (earlier review) but I don't think we got the crispy cauliflower. The soup was nice, and the Tsel-Tofu was ok but, between a table of 4 people, there were only 5 fairly small triangles of tofu. That was the only protein for the whole meal!
Several of the dishes were more oily and garlicky than I would have liked and my husband, who usually likes things oilier than I, agreed. We both went home feeling uncomfortable. It may have been due to the volume of food but I don't think that was the only reason. I didn't find anything too spicy but I have a pretty good tolerance for that. The steamed buns were very plain -- just dough with nothing in them.
The service was fast and courteous, however, I can't comment how it usually is as this was a pre-arranged menu. The servers were very attentive in refilling water glasses, though. One strange twist was plates of food without any serving utensils -- as if we were supposed to either use our own spoons/forks to take it, or take the pieces by hand (would not work for oily eggplant!) After it was mentioned, they did provide a spoon with each dish.
I enjoyed the dumplings, pulled noodle soup, what appeared to be chickpea pakoras (not sure what they were), the tsel-tofu, and also the green beans and eggplant although the last two were the most oily and garlicky.
Overall I'm not sure I'd return here; certainly we couldn't deal with this kind of gut bomb more than once or twice a year (if that). However, I do appreciate the effort to include a decent variety of veg/vegan options.
We also liked the location -- fairly easy to park, especially after 6 pm; free on the street.
