Lhasa Cafe

I will start by saying I am not an adventurous eater and adamantly refuse to try anything new particularly if it’s outside of standard american fare. I had a moment about 6 months ago and decided to try this place out. It is freaking amazing! Tried the combination dumplings the first time and recently went back and had the yaksha gyathuk ngopa (pan-​fried noodles with yak/​veggies). I would literally eat this dish every day it’s so good. Service was prompt and super friendly. I will not wait 6 months again to come back here. I don’t see how there’s anything that could have been improved upon.

Soooooooo good! I tried there dumplings at a food festival. i got the veggie ones and they where to die for.

I have been wanting to come in here for a long time. I am glad I finally made it. I had never had Tibetan food before and I am not aware of many or any Tibetan restaurants in the area. Lhasa offers really great service and all the help there seem like super nice people. The menu has a good variety and I felt like there was a good sampling of Tibetan food. I don’t know this cuisine though so I can not comment on how authentic it is. There were quite a few vegetarian options and I would like to go back and focus on vegetarian options the next time I visit. I had some yak in one of my dumplings and not sure I am a fan — so I think I will stay away from any of the yak entrees … but you might like it, and everything is worth a try! I am not sure what would make Lhasa a 5. I have to go with a 4 because while I liked the food — I didn’t love it, and 5 star ratings are for loving it. I would totally recommend this place however and where else are you going to get Tibetan food in Western Mass. Check it out — I am sure you will be satisfied.

This place is seriously delicious. I wouldn’t call myself an expert at Tibetan food, so I can’t comment on the overall authenticity, but the flavors are on the milder side. Very well balanced and soothing to the palette overall. I got the dumpling combination platter which had yak, chicken, beef and veggie along. The yak was my favorite. I would come here again. The only reason it doesn’t get five stars is because of the price. $ 16 for a portion of dumplings seems a little steep to me…

This place is amazing. Delicious AND the best customer service I think I’ve ever experienced, especially as someone with some pretty frustrating allergies/​food intolerance.
I’m severely lactose and soy intolerant (so, no diary products like butter, milk, cream, etc. or soy products: vegetable oil, soy sauce, tofu, you get it). I know very little about Tibetan food so I called ahead to ask if, with my food restrictions, I would be able to eat there. They were INCREDIBLY accommodating. They said that while the use soybean oil for all of their cooking, if I brought my own oil they could prepare my food with that instead. Problem solved. And it actually was.
I brought a fresh bottle of olive oil in with me and they took it in back, and I could order basically anything I wanted off the menu. Amazing, no? There was one mix-​up where they forgot that they always toss their noodles with the the soybean oil and so they comp’d me a bowl of chicken soup AND comp’d the soup with noodles (even though my boyfriend ate the whole bowl).
Never once did they make me feel like I was being annoying or inconveniencing them (even though I totally was). They asked me lots of questions to make sure I would be safe to eat everything they were making. SO awesome.
Food is delicious, staff is friendly and accommodating. I will definitely be back.

Food served lukewarm and devoid of any significant flavor. Noodles were characterless. Had dinner on ²⁄₁₅

I just had the best curry of my life, and I can’t remember the name of it. It was the special chicken curry in yogurt sauce, and it was delicious.
I’ve always kind of liked Lhasa Café. It has a very relaxing ambience and fairly good food. I bring my friends so. they can try yak. But today was extra special. Highly recommended.

if you’ve ever thought of Tibetan & Himalayan cuisine but worried traveling abroad due to that damn ISIS cretins you can do in Northampton & do this here. About everything is great & authentic as you can get & yes if you wonder there’s a meat called Yak which yes is an animal that can be eaten. Man these guys do good & also if there’s a problem will rectify your problems & such so you’re served correct.

Who would have thought you’d be able to find a Tibetan restaurant in the middle of Western Massachusetts. That being said, please take my review with a grain of salt as it is my first time trying Tibetan cuisine. I ordered the beef noodle soup, but it tasted gamey which I usually associate with lamb or yak. The potatoes dumplings were, at best, average. Everything seemed too oily for my liking – the broth had a ton of oil. On the bright side, there were a hefty amount of vegetables that came as a side though. I’m glad I gave it a try, but I was not the biggest fan. Calming yoga-​like music plays in the background. Clean restaurant with decent size servings, good prices and cash only for below $ 10.

Great, humble and authentic tibetan cuisine. Spicy chicken sautéed was amazing and flavorful. The dumplings were juicy and delicious. The service was quick and efficient. The staff was very polite and courteous. Would love to visit the place again soon.

Really enjoyed dinner here this past weekend. I’ve had Himalayan food elsewhere and was looking forward to trying it at another place.
The only reason that this review is not 5 stars is that I’ve had Mo Mo’s (dumplings) elsewhere and by comparison, these were decent… but just not as good/​juicy/​large as the others. That said, they still had very good flavor.
The sautéd potatoes were quite delicious (had it as an appetizer) — the homemade hot sauce that is served on the side is so absolutely amazingly flavorful that I just had to ask how on earth they made it. I literally could have made a meal out of the steamed bread (tingmo) and this hot sauce. The lovely young man that took our order explained that the chile peppers come from India… and he described the rest of the process but it really doesn’t matter… I could bathe in it. So delicious.
The pan fried noodles were also excellent — very flavorful.
I had an iced chai latte and it was great.
I wish there was a Himalayan/​Tibetan place closer to where I lived… I’d be there a LOT.
Total Lhasa Café fan.

Great authentic Tibetan food! I’ve never had yak meat before but it was really good and the curries and dumplings they make are so delicious. Their Tibet tea is definitely different, but it tasted like soup. Good service, very authentic atmosphere. Hope to come back soon

I’ve eaten here a number of times and always gotten superb food. The menu is different but the food is not so exotic as to be outside the normal American palette. The spicing is subtle and not overbearing. The service is pleasant and considerate. The yak is an interesting variation.
Highly recommended. When I’m in Northampton it’s the first place I go.

Our party of four was delighted with the customer service and quality of the food. Yak meat is hard to find so it makes sense it was pricier. It is so healthy and tasty and we were ate every bite. I loved my dish with jalapeños and yak and a side of the steamed bread tingmo. We all shared the momo combination plate and it was juicy and came with a perfectly spiced hot sauce. I enjoyed a butter tea also. My husband is Tibetan as well as a good cook, and is picky about his momos and noodle soups, and he gave it all a thumbs up. We left with a happy, homey, comforted feeling like we had been at an aunties kitchen.

A gem!
Love their dali (lentil soup), momos and alu khatsa!
Been here a few times now and the service and quality remains consistently great.

Lhasa Café is another long standing bookmark of my that I had the pleasure of putting a «been there done that» through this past weekend. And it was well worth the wait! They are very vegetarian friendly with many soups, salads, sauteed curry dishes and momos set in a warm respectful ambiance that played traditional music as we dined.
The L. and I were chilled and their special wintry Honey, Ginger, Lemon Tea hit the spot. It was sweet yet retained its black tea flavor. I only wished that when we needed more they could have added (even charged us for it) more than just hot water and the flavors had been spent. It became unpleasant.
We shared two orders of MoMos-​the Tsel Nezom Momos (a combo of vegetable dumplings and the potato dumplings) and the daily special Spinach and Mushroom variety (forgot to write the name down). They were of nice size and the fillings were tasty, but the dough was a little dry as if they had been sitting around rather than made to order. They were tasty but they could have been better after all MoMos are what most people love about Tibetan cuisine.
Our soups though were complete happiness. I had the vegetarian Ghutse Rithuk with their homemade broad pasta noodles and savory dark broth and The L. had the vegetarian Thenthuk with its crisp fresh vegetables and vermicelli noodles.
The service was spot on and friendly and of course helped to make the whole experience so lovely. The meal was a little pricey for what it was but for some reason I do not mind as it supports a community in exile I admire and wish I could do more to help.
I went to College nearby and would have loved to have had Lhasa Café be an option for us. But luckily Northampton gained them in 2004 (a couple of years or so after I graduated… ok a few) and I cannot imagine visiting my Alma Mater and not taking a little detour to experience the cuisine, environment and friendly hospitality again.
Love this band!

We stopped by this place on our way home from Niagara Falls. This is a gem! I am so glad we came here. I love everything and everything was tasted just right. Yaksha Thukpa was very interesting, the noodle was like a pearl and chewy, though the soup itself was a tad salty to me. I thought the dough of the momos was a little dried, but the yak meat was juicy and flavorful. NgoTsel Tofu was really great as well. The TingMo came along with NgoTsel tofu was my favorite. It’s plain, but you could taste the fragrance of the flour. So great! We also got Drey Sil for dessert. Basically, it’s a sweet rice dessert. Unlike rice pudding, you could cearly see the shape of white rice for Drey Sil. It’s flavored with rasin and crusted almond, intereting to try but too sweet to me. I wish I could live closer to try more and visit often.

Momos. Come for the Momos leave happy.
I’ve been here a few times and each time the place grows on me. It’s definitely a different taste palette than what I’m used to but it’s really good, really fresh, and it’s nice to my body.
Things I’d avoid:
the tea… buttery creamy tea just is too weird for me
the soups are bit small for the price
Things I’d get:
MOMOS, eat them all!
Ice Cream, good size, pretty tasty

This was a really neat experience. I’d recommend coming here just for the experience of eating yak, but there’s so much more to it as well!
Since it was a cold night, we started with two warm drinks: chai tea and bocha (described as being tea lightly buttered and salted). First off, the chai was absolutely wonderful. The bocha – to me, anyways – tasted like I was drinking straight hot melted butter. Nothing «lightly» about it. It was too strange of a taste for me to really enjoy it, so I would recommend the chai over the bocha.
For dinner I had the yaksha shaptak (pan fried yak with onions, tomatoes, and peppers) and my fiancé had the yaksha mo-​mo (yak dumplings). The yak in my dish was delicious. My only issue was that it wasn’t as piping hot as it could have been and I wasn’t too careful of the spicy jalapenos at first. The dumplings were fantastic – a «must order». They were nicely spiced and came with a refreshing side salad (lots of cilantro, so if you love cilantro, you will love this dish).
Finally, for dessert we had the bhatsa marhku, which was one of the most interesting desserts I’ve ever had. It was almost like a bread pudding but instead made out of pasta with brown sugar and cheese (very subtle flavor). Turns out, sweet pasta is amazing.
Service was friendly and prompt, and while some prices were a little high compared to the portion sizes (probably due to the yak), there were lots of daily specials listed that were good deals. It was definitely worth it for a unique dining experience.

First time having Tibetan food. It was wonderful. The waitress we had is the daughter of the owners. She was extremely friendly and helpful. The whole atmosphere of the restaurant is peaceful and relaxing.
I had the veggie dish with noodles. They make their noodles in house and they were great. My husband had the yaksha shmakta. This had a perfect complement of flavors including fresh ginger and garlic. My brother had one meal and liked it so much, he had to try something else so he had the special Yaksha Mo-​Mo (yak dumplings) as his second meal and was raving about it.
The waitress said the recipes are her family’s so out thought that we felt like we were eating at someone’s home was confirmed when she told us that after the meal.
I will most definitely be back when I’m back in Northampton.