If you can't find time in your busy schedule to take a trip on the Qinghai-Tibet railroad and venture to the Roof of the World, a Tibetan restaurant called Samdom hidden in a quiet alley in the Shida (師大) neighborhood offers home-cooked Tibetan meals.
Having lived in Taiwan for 10 years, Tibetan Kelsang Chodaic decided to try his luck and run a small business of his own. “There are a few thousand Tibetans living in Taiwan and most of them have made their home in Taipei. Sometimes we miss the food from home which can't be found anywhere in the city. So I opened this place to serve my fellow Tibetans and our cuisine to Taiwan,” Chodaic said.
According to Chodaic, typical Tibetan cuisine is light in taste and is usually boiled. Indian and Chinese influences are evident in many of the restaurant's dishes.
PHOTO: HO YI
Coming to a Tibetan restaurant, one simply can't pass up the regions' staple food pag, also called Tibetan parched barley cake. The scented dried paste should be broken into pieces using your hands, and is eaten as an accompaniment to main dishes.
If you opt for an authentic dinning experience, mutton and beef are the customary choices on a Tibetan family's dinning table, while chicken, seafood and vegetables are rarely served. The joint's light, fragrant stews are pleasantly familiar to local palates. And the plate of spicy fried beef lungs in tomato sauce (NT$100) is the eatery's specialty for more adventurous dinners.
Momo, the Tibetan steamed beef dumplings are another must-try on the menu. For people who prefer to mix the exotic with a tinge of familiarity, one of the popular dishes catering to local tastes is the chili chicken mixed with green bell pepper and onion (NT$80).
As for an after-meal drink, the well-known Tibetan butter beverage is definitely worth trying, even though the possibility is high that you will find the slightly salty and rich refreshment is not your cup of tea. A household beverage in Tibet, the tea is traditionally made with salt, goat's milk and butter and the concoction enjoys a novelty appeal among non-Tibetans. In Samdon however, goat's milk is replaced by cow's milk.
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