Cafe Tibet

Came here on a Tuesday around 6pm, the gate was down and it was closed. I’m upset because I traveled over an hour here from another borough, with company mind you. There was no sign either, so I couldn’t tell if the restaurant was closed for the day or closed indefinitely.

Intimate restaurant nearly hidden from sight right next to the Cortelyou subway. Good food and affordable. Had the curry noodles and the chili shrimp. Both were solid but I was hoping everything would be a little more spicy/​flavorful. Also had the ginger honey tea and I swear I could drink that by the gallon — the mugs were a cute touch. Cash only (ugh) so be prepared.

Tiny place, but with the best food! Love it! the beef chilli is superb! and the sha baklap are absolutely delicious!
**if its cold outside, you MUST try the hot sweet tea @_@

Generous portions. The rice or tingmo that comes with is NOT enough. The serving size here is practically 3x the size at a typical Indian restaurant. Small cozy establishment. I’d come back to try the other unique items on the menu. Peanut butter tea, anyone?

If you’ve never tried Tibetan food and live near a Q train, you won’t break a sweat getting to this hole in the wall adjacent to the Cortelyou subway stop. Narrow and cozy, Café Tibet was packed for a 5pm dinner on Sunday.
The cuisine reminded me of a blend between traditional Chinese and Indian foods. Momos are almost replicas of baos (beef is the way to go) and the variety of menu options were curry/​spice based. I enjoyed trying the la-​phing, a mung bean jello drenched in hot sauce that gives your taste buds that mini roller coaster tingle. The thukpa noodles provided a lighter and cleaner taste if you prefer something a tamer burst of flavor. Café Tibet was definitely welcoming on a chilly winter evening; no wonder it’s a must have before braving the Himalayas.

I have been here several times and really like it. This is the only place that I have ever tried Tibetan food, so I can’t say how it stacks up compared to other Tibetan restaurants. Everything that I have ordered has been good and the service is great as well. Another big plus is the BYOB policy. The main downside is that the restaurant is quite small. If you cone at a busy time you might not get a table.

Good food. Interesting menu. Friendly service. Unfortunately, a very small restaurant with very tight seating. No matter how much you try, it is very difficult to get comfortable. There is a small outdoor eating area with austere accommodations without heat. The restaurant is so small, instead of waiting to be seated inside, some customers will sit outside in the cold. That does say something about the food though. This place would be very good in a larger setting.

I love little sheltered crybabies who complain about the slow service. Hey dorks, virtually everywhere outside of NYC has laid-​back service. Sure it can be annoying at times but they’re very polite so if you just, you know… ASK, they’ll be accommodating. People are so used to having the service industry men and women wait on them like their royalty, they’re just spoiled. My fave is the one clown who says only «white hipsters» review this place meanwhile having a septum nose ring and a pretentious Marilyn Monroe piercings… lol Derp?
Food is great and varies wildly. You can get a good coconut curry, tofu vegetable stir fry, dumplings and my fave: the carrot soup. It’s BYOB, as well so take advantage if you want a refreshing beverage with your meal. The thali — basically a cafeteria dish with varying components — is dope if you want a little taste of everything.
Enjoy!

Came here with my friends and we decided to order off of the vegetarian menu… well, one did, the other friend couldn’t handle it and ended up stuffing his face with spicy pork. Anyways, I ordered the silky tofu noodle soup with tomato paste ($ 9.99), my friend ordered the garlic noodles, and the other friend ordered the spicy pork with rice. We started off with spicy chickpeas and boy was it amazing! I highly recommend that a starter! The garlic noodles were stir fried with shredded carrots and peas. This dish was good and I should’ve ordered it. I felt like my silky tofu noodle soup wasn’t worth $ 10, since I could’ve made it myself, there was nothing special about the dish…
The interior is cramped, but the decorations are oddly fascinating!

The place is very cute, and relaxing and run by slimy people. But I can’t be honest if I will say that the food was amazing. It was just OK. And honestly doesn’t worth a long drive. The place is next to my friends place, so we stopped here one evening, and we had a nice experience, but after reading the reviews here, I was expecting a lot more for this location.
It is just at the exit of the H train station, which for my opinion downgrade the place, but after all, if you come for a cool experience, you may find it here, if you are looking for amazing food, you may want to think again.

Note to self: don’t trust reviews left by a bunch of white hipster gentrifiers. The food here is undoubtedly overrated and I’m upset that I shelled out more than twenty dollars for it. I got the Tibetan beef patties and a soup for my bed ridden mother and she hated her soup and I was underwhelmed by the beef patties, honestly the bread was chewy and the meat wasn’t well seasoned. The salad that came with the beef patties was a lot more enjoyable and even that was pathetic as it had the lettuce head in it.
Tldr; go for food somewhere else as the food here is extremely underwhelming and appeals to people who don’t know good food.

Very disappointed with the subpar service. Have been loyal to this place for years, and yet I get my momo without sauce and have to wait FIFTEEN MINUTES for SAUCE.
When asking for wine bottle opener, that too took about FIFTEEN MINUTES to bring.
When asking for check… you already know how long that took. Now… that doesn’t even take into account that I had to wait for 10 minutes for someone to take my order, and 30 minutes for my food to be brought.
The total process of eating a simple dinner here took nearly THREE HOURS. I like the food, but the service is absolutely horrible.
I’ll come back in three or four months. If they’re as poorly staffed as they were last time I was here, I simply won’t come back.
That’d be a shame considering I ate here at least 15 times last year.
Consider your target market carefully, and consider if you’d like it to erode, management.

Totally random little restaurant tucked into the corner of the Q train Cortelyou stop. Maybe 8 tables tops. Wouldn’t recommend coming here with more than 4 people. Actually no more than 2 is my suggestion. And maybe come at an off time because it can get packed.
Food is what your Tibetan grandma would cook. Hearty and filling bowls of noodle soup is the cure for winter depression. Momos are good too but the Tsam-​Thuk is the bezzzzttttt! 2 bowls to my head please!
Food comes out on the slow side so don’t expect your growling stomach to be immediately satiated.

Total hole in the wall, and I love it! No one ever mentions it, but the to-​go offerings behind the glass counter at the register are a nice option if you can’t sit down or don’t want to wait too long. They change often, but usually you can find chick peas, some awesome green veggie (mustard greens? chinese broccoli?), potatoes, beets, and great curried meat and sometimes okra. It’s been a while, but you could pick 2 – 3 dishes for like, $ 7.99 or $ 8.99.
But if you’re dining in (or out!), the Sha-​baklap are amazing! Deliciously marinated and spiced ground beef in a wonderfully lightly pan fried chewy bun… it’s amazing! The light broth that spills out is just awesome. Also don’t forget a yummy chai tea or mango lassi! The Tsam-​Thuk soup is also delicious as well as their momo. But I admit, I’m partial to the Sha-​baklap.

Here I had the best curry in my life! It was so creamy and spicy and the meat was also nice.
Before we had some dumplings to share — also very good.
I love the atmosphere in there, it’s really authentic. A little bit small, but familiar.
I will come back, when I will be in NY again!

I’ve been to this place countless times. As a white dude who’s never been to Tibet, I can’t comment on the authenticity of this restaurant but as someone who loves to eat tasty-​ass food, I can testify to its delish-​icity. I’ve tried a variety of items on the menu and my faves would be the hot and spicy soup (winter time standard), fried beef momo (so much flavor), and the lamb curry. Although not as adventurous as other menu items, the lamb curry never disappoints. I never leave hungry after that curry. It’s basically a better version of whatever coconut milk-​based lamb curry you’ve had at an indian restaurant. The best way to approach eating here is to order a bunch of stuff and share. Also it’s byob and there’s a deli next door with a pretty good beer selection.
The waitstaff is helpful if you have questions and they don’t care if you can’t pronounce «tingmo» correctly. The only thing problematic about this place is its size. I like that it’s small and intimate, but if you come here with more than two people there’s a good chance you’ll have to wait for a table.
I’ll be eating here until I move or it goes out of business, which I hope it never does.

Well I want to enjoy this place. I would if the wait was not as bad as I had to endure. Some of the dishes are plain that I can easily make on my own.
We started our night aiming for a local and easy date night and this place provide something in the middle. No alcohol, no super fancy waiting, no fancy lighting. Here is what you should expect on a Saturday night dinner.
Wait is about 20 to 30 Minutes which you can leave a phone number and they might call you. We have to wander around which is expected. After being seat, DO order quickly because here comes the second waiting wave. Expect your food to be out around 25 to 30 minutes if the place is packed with people. We order a tea and that comes around 20 minutes after we order. I kept wondering why they cant just send the appetizer out first. The truth is their cook will make order by order. Please change that or at least layout some bread to fill us up a little.
Anyway, their momo? I am not impressed. $ 1 dumpling in chinatown is better. Only thing I really enjoy is their curry which they recommended. We added a tofu dish and that was a disappointment. Soup is definitely a plus after being starving for the past hour.
Do give this place a try but don’t come on weekend or Friday.

Totally new dining experience, never had this cuisine before. First and foremost, this is along the side of a small grocery so it’s easy to miss the first time walking by. This place is cash only.
I basically asked the girl working what they are best known for and her personal favorite dish. She suggested the lamb curry so I happily ordered that. The flavors were incredible! New to the curry world, I did not know what to expect but I was happily surprised with the dish. The spices and flavors were a combo unlike anything else, and they provide a mild and hot sauce to add to your dish to enhance the flavor.
Naturally as my eyes are always bigger than my stomach, I also ordered the tingmo which was steamed bread (dip it in your curry, you won’t regret it) and the dre thuk which was a rice soup with carrots, radishes and spinach. Each dish had a unique and nourishing flavor and if I wasn’t full I would totally have tried more. I easily got at least 2 entire meals and only broke a twenty.

I am a fan of this quaint eatery, everything about it rings authentic. I have eaten here before and can say the food is consistent. The curry is rich and I love the use of tomatoes in the dishes. I didn’t like the peanut inspired sauce that came as a condiment so I was happy that it was not infused into the food.
My two reasons for not giving five stars are portion size and they do not accept credit cards.

A small place that most people will probably oversee when walking by. The price for the food is decent. They do give a good amount of food that will fill you up. Unfortunately, they do not deliver.
Food was pretty good. Their Lamb Curry was not spicy, the potatoes were soft and side of peas was flavorful. Tibetan Iced Tea had a unique flavor to it, not too sure how to put it in words.