Nomad Tibetan Cuisine

Nomad highlights some Tibetan dishes unavailable elsewhere. It does not offer the Pakh (barley flour, dried cheese and Tibetan butter tea, rolled into small balls as snacks) that Café Tibet/​Berkeley does, but Nomad’s dishes show the same general pattern. It is halfway between the bargain-​basement EurAsia/​Richmond, with its heavy use of onions in everything, and the more refined cooking of Café Tibet.
Taro cake starter: Stiffly mashed taro, dusted with roasted barley flour and fried in 1-​inch high patties. Very traditional, very bland and heavy.
Mo-mo’s here are Chinese potstickers on steroids: solid little chewy meat bombs in thick dough wrappers, twice as big as normal and 8 to a serving. You can also get broth as a $ 2 side with any of the types of dumplings (beef, pork, 2 kinds of vegetarian). We have heard if you ask nicely, they will pan-​fry them, but they were heavy enough as it was. We love dumplings, but struggled with these.
Thaen Thuk soup. Very good with a decent meat broth. The «hand pulled noodles» are a dead ringer for spaetzle, LOL. We chose the lamb option, getting just a few slices of meat but it was very tasty, with a modest amount of veggies. There were some slices of the green end of green onions, but not too much.
Gyuma, the blood-​and-​beef sausage: Not quite the same as DH’s beloved French boudin noir, but a lot better than the noodle & blood Korean pork version. The roasted barley flour gives it a slight graininess. Generous serving of two thick, short sausages. Note this is a true homemade sausage: the meat is not ground but chopped, and many various parts go into it, so it’s chewy. This is not from the same world as Hormel or even Aidell, folks. This is old-​fashioned, use-​everything-​up farmer’s sausage!
The Sweet Ginger Chai tea was tasty, altho we had to ask for sugar as there was none at the table. Service was sweet and eager, so be patient if they get busy.

Awesome. My fourth time here and the food and service has been great! We had the Taro Delight (deep fried taro cake and mixed veggies), Ginger Tea, chicken & vegetarian momos dumplings, and the complimentary chile sauce on the table is amazing! Casual atomosphere, reasonable prices, fast and friendly service, and great food. Highly recommended.

I do not know how some places manage to obtain high reviews, when they are not really that great of places. This place is a case in point. The place is clean and nice, but they needed to turn on the heater, the three of us ate our meals in our coats never warming up even after ordering hot meals (we mentioned this to the server — no change). The server was very friendly, but lacked restaurant moxie, we had to ask for everything, refills, a missed hot tea order, togo containers, etc.
We were here to try something new — Tibetian cuisine. We had no idea what that means and accepted our meals as real Tibetian food. The garlic prawns with veges was very much like a chinese stir fry, the popular lamb shank was like mutton (very strong flavors) smothered in a mild tomato sauce, a beef potato, and glass noodle soup dish was very small (I asked if we could split this 3-​ways prior to ordering, she nodded yes — no extra bowls and definitely not enough for three). We also had some spring rolls — another chinese dish.
All and all, the food was barely okay, but nothing to write home about. We may have ordered the wrong items, unfortunely we live out of town and will not be back to figure it out.

This place is a bit bipolar. We had two dishes. The green beans and chicken was amazing (12 dollars). Then the huge beef momos (11 dollars) came out which the owner recommended but the flavorless beef was chewy and had big pieces of inedible sinew. Disgusting. There was no sauce for the momos and we were told to use the chili oil which was ineffective in giving the momos any flavor. The green tea was cheap for two dollars a pot but it had no flavor.
The atmosphere was really clean and cute. Too bad the food was just all over the place and inconsistent. With tip, 32 dollars for lunch is just too much for one inedible dish and one very good dish. Probably won’t come back.

Really, really yummy. Fresh momos, naan and eggplant made my day. The food is authentic and well prepared, service is friendly, ambiance is pleasant and evocative of the Tibet/​Nepal region.

I have bookmarked this restaurant for like a year, as the pics uploaded at Unilocal are really interesting and it has remained over 4 starts for a very long. Today I finally got a chance to reunion with three other friends and ended up here.
We have ordered four different dishes by each of us, with fried rice and Beef momo to be shared. It was actually a lot of food so that we have to throw away two pieces of dumplings. The four different dishes are Lamb Shank, Basil Chicken, Basa fish and a beef dish. Lots of meat. Maybe I have had too much expectation about this restaurant, I did not feel like the food is spectacular and I did have my preference among them. I really enjoyed the Basa fish, as the fish was very well-​cooked with a pan-​fried crispy skin and tasty sweet sauce. The Basil Chicken was also very good. Nothing special but just very standard and tasty. I am not a big fun of the Lamb and beef: the lamb is really sour while the beef is quite plain and lack of a flavor. The fried rice is fair with lots of vegetables and I personally dont like the momo. The momo is with no doubt of very big size but pretty dry. I cannot even afford to have a second one.
There are several good things about this restaurant. The atmosphere was really comfortable, well-​decorated and quiet. The waitresses are also very friendly and patient to explain the menu to us.

I went with a large group. Everyone else ordered a curry or stir-​fried noodles. The curries smelled amazing. The noodles were copious.
However, I ordered the pan-​fried basa fish with taro cake and kale. The taro cake was… fried and sweet on the outside, like it had been fried and coated with simply syrup, and was unfortunately bland on the inside. Other people sampled it and they agreed it was weirdly bland. The fish had a weird garlic sauce with slightly burnt garlic. The only good thing on my plate with the steamed kale.
The service was very attentive. It’s just unfortunate that they chose to put the taro cake and fish on their menu.

I came here for lunch with my co-​workers. We were the actually the only one here for lunch. At first we almost ran because we weren’t sure if they were even open!
Service:
The server was very friendly, professional, and attentive (except for when we came in — maybe he was busy in the back?) But he was very patient with us as we asked what some of the terms were on the menu.
Food:
Hand-​Pulled Noodle Soup — This really hit the spot! It’s total comfort food for me and it reminds of chicken noodle soup when I would get sick. The noodles were al dente (perfection!) and there were plenty of veggies and meat. I would absolutely order then again!
Chicken Sambala — This was a curry based dish. Spicy. But loved loved loved it! The consistency was perfect and the all the flavors were there.
Basil Chicken — This was one of be least favorite dish, but it was still pretty darn good! I think it was more on the sweet side, which I didn’t really like. But it went really well with the bread (timgo???).
Overall:
I would definitely reocmmend this place!

If you wanted a taste of Tibetan cuisine, and you love dumplings, you’ve got to try their Beef Momos! If you aren’t scared of spice, their spicy sauce hits the spot! The restaurant is clean with wood décor. Their service is attentive and I will definitely come back!

Veggie plates are a bit expensive. You can eat meat dishes with same price. Some veggie plates has to much salt because of soy sauce. Servers are nice.

A dream vacation of mine has always been to visit Tibet. It is still on my bucket list… someday! Never having tried Tibetan or Nepalese cuisine, I thought I’d give it a try. I convinced my mother to go have lunch with me at Nomad. The restaurant is quaint and very welcoming. It’s definitely a mom and pop shop. I liked that they had a theme going with a huge mural of Mt. Everest, Tibetan flags, a picture of the Dali Lama and little yak figures around the dining room. They also have a group table that has seating on the floor, similar to Japanese tatami style. The waitress and lady owner were very sweet. I think the owner gathered that it was our first time trying Tibetan cuisine and was very patient with my questions. She also checked on us during our meal twice to ask us if everything was OK.
For lunch we chose a few dishes, which were more than enough for two.
–Chu-​tse Momo (Steamed Pork and Chive Dumplings) $ 11: The dumplings were huge and had a lot of meat filling. The chili sauce was a very good compliment. I thought compared to Shanghai style dumplings, a bit different in the sense that the Momo had a thicker wrapper and the meat was more the consistency of a meatball (not juicy enough).
–Basil Chicken $ 11: A sauté with bell peppers, carrots, celery, baby corn, bamboo shoots and onions. They only used dark meat and there wasn’t that much of it. The portion was large though. Definitely had good basil flavor. This dish reminded me of a Thai sauté dish but the sauce was incredibly sweet. I would say it wasn’t exactly our cup of tea but still OK.
–Ting Mo (hand rolled steam buns) $ 2: We chose the buns as our carb in place of rice. It reminded me of the Chinese style man tau steamed buns, except the ting mo was more dense. The order came with 2 and we were only able to finish one together.
Total tab was $ 30 and some change. Not bad for two people and leftovers to take home. In general, I feel that Tibetan cuisine is like a hybrid of Chinese, Thai and Indian cuisines. The tastes are a bit different than what I’m used to, but certainly worth a try. I would return another time and order some different dishes.

I went here a few times and was unimpressed.
First, the pros:
The service is friendly and everyone smiles here. There’s a separate room to the side if you want to eat hippie style side by side with someone. You might have to share with another couple though but that’s what it’s meant for. The main room has wooden tables. There’s an interesting decoration where there are fake window shades with light bulbs behind them.
Now, the cons:
The potato and onion momos tasted like mashed potato mix inside. The skins were too thick to be enjoyed. The only upside is that it could easily serve 1 – 2 people as a complete meal they are so big. For a larger group, it would be a sufficient portion as an appetizer since it comes with 6 pieces. However, it’s nothing special for ten bucks.
The stir fry vegetable with noodles also costs ten bucks and serves two. With three or more people it becomes an appetizer. It has one main draw back and that is the noodles are way too salty. I don’t know if there is too much soy sauce being used or too much salt but it’s unpleasant to the palate and even my SO who likes salt more than I do kept drinking water an hour after we left.
If you come here, come for the service and the pleasant atmosphere, but don’t come for the food.

Food: Came during lunch and got the gya thuk and my friend got the cashew chicken. The gya thuk is a little plain in flavor but the beef cubes were surprisingly addicting. Their small proportions really soaked in the soup despite the soup being on the bland side. The cashew chicken on the other hand was very flavorful verging on excess.
Environment: We came at the end of the lunch session so the place was deserted. The decorations draw upon a cultural influence. Our waitress was pleasant.
Cost: On the expensive side for the quality and quantity of food.

Potato onion momo is amazing! I had the vegetarian curry with brown rice kinda spicy but super yummy! The service is really friendly!

I’m going to start with the most important part of this review, in the «inverted pyramid» tradition of journalism: the braised lamb leg should not be missed. You should go to Nomad Tibetan restaurant just for the braised lamb, and order one for everyone in your party. It’s tender, saucy, and a little bit spicy… just the way I like my women.
The other stuff we had was pretty OK. There was a shrimp and tofu stir fry thing that we enjoyed, although I felt it would have been improved by increasing the shrimp and decreasing the vegetables. We ordered two ginger teas, but the waitress brought one immediately and said they’d run out and were making another one fresh. Which implies that the first one wasn’t fresh… but the first one was way better, having a stronger ginger flavor than the second, which was heavier on the milk. We also ordered two bowls of rice, which unfortunately was pretty dry – in fairness, we did arrive about half an hour before closing time.
The service was prompt and attentive, despite the late hour. Overall, we enjoyed our visit – but the lamb is definitely pulling my rating up a star from where it would be otherwise.

This our first time at a Tibetan restaurant. We ordered the beef dumpling soup, veggie curry and some of those buns. Overall, good experience. I would like to try some of the other items on the menu.
My beef dumpling soup had a delicious broth that I could slurp down on its own. The dumplings were meaty and tasty though one of them was a bit chewy (it comes with at least 8).
Curry was spicy for me, but not too much. I have been working on my spice tolerance lately.
I got the bun to dip into the broth/​curry. It was pretty good at this. The buns are very doughy and soft. I’ve never had anything like them and I would get them again.
Thanks for the tasty lunch!

Nomad Tibetan is the best! I chose this place because of the excellent Unilocal reviews, and Unilocal did not disappoint! Dined here with two friends from Seattle who moved to SF within the past two years. We ordered the fried rice with chicken, the grilled salmon which comes with sweet chili sauce, the Thaen-​Thuk which is hand-​cut noodles with beef, and the momo which is steamed hand-​wrapped dumplings (8 pieces) half with beef and half with pork.
Our waiter who also happened to be the store manager/​owner Sangyal was the best. The restaurant the night we visited was mostly empty, which was unusual for since usually it’s hoppin’ busy. It was probably because it had been rainy all week, and that night was especially foggy and eerie out after dark. Sangyal was helpful when he took our order. We didn’t know what to order so we looked at what Unilocalers suggested. We tried to get the Thaen-​Thuk hand-​cut noodles with chicken, but he said, «Beef is better.» We also tried to get the momo (dumplings) with pork, but again he said, «Beef is better.»
It’s not because Sangyal was trying to upsell the menu items; beef was not more expensive than chicken or pork. He was simply giving us his recommendation, which we appreciated greatly, as did our tastebuds. He let us get half pork and half beef because he could tell that I really wanted pork. I ended up liking the pork momo more, but that’s just my taste preferences. My friends who betrayed Seattle for SF enjoyed them all.
Water was filled often and promptly. I asked Sangyal to take a photo of us and he did a great job as photographer.
Music was at just the right volume. They even played some Mandarin music, which I understood! Extra credit goes to Nomad Tibetan!
They take American Express, always a bonus. However, it didn’t matter for me because my friends refused to let me pay. I hope they tipped well!
I will be suggesting this place whenever my mom’s office needs catered lunches. The price was just right, the service was exceptionally superb, and I would definitely return again next time I’m in Berkeley.

Tasty food at a bargain price.
Perhaps it was our lucky strike, our group picked 6 items from their menu and most of them turned out more than wonderful. The momo was really good. We did half and half with beef and pork and loved every bite of both. Pan Fried Basa Fish was great as long as you don’t mind something sweet and sour. Fried Eggplant appetizer really hit the spot. I really like their vegetable sauce toppings. Do not miss the Shabbaley if you like Chinese style pancakes or pan fried dumplings. The filling was really juicy. The only thing that seemed a bit odd is the Tibetan tea. I really did not expect that to be so savory.
Service was friendly and attentive. They were a tad slow at settling our bill but other than that I have no complaints.

Amazing interior, service, and FOOD!
This is my first time trying ***Tibetan food, so I have no reference for the authenticity or how it compares, but I have had food from many amazing restaurants before, and I can say that Nomad has become one of my favorites after this visit.
Laphing to start. It had just a little bit of chili sauce on top, which at first I thought wasn’t enough. It turned out to be a perfect amount, though people who enjoy extremely spicy food may ask for more chili.
Ordered the braised lamb leg (I love lamb, this is one of the better lamb legs I have had), came in a stew of vegetables and kale. Very fulfilling dish, the lamb meat was so soft and falling off the bone.
Beef momo reminded me of the handmade dumplings of Chinese pop up restaurants. I love thick-​skinned, hand-​made dumplings. The filling was wonderful and it paired wonderfully with Nomad’s house chili sauce + soy sauce!

Wow! Best dumplings in the bay! I got the beef dumplings and they were so juicy! They are hand made and fresh. The dough is so chewy and delicious. They come with two hot sauces one is milder than the other one. The hotter one is habanero and I can taste a hint of chocolate in there too, almost like a spicy hot mole!
I also got the chicken curry– tasted similar to thai curry. Very spicy and tangy!
I also got the rolls which look sort of like crescent rolls but taste better and it’s so soft and chewy!
I can’t wait to come back again!