Tibet on Houston
136 W. Houston St. (212) 995-5884
Rating: Three stars
A chalkboard on the street promises ‘Tibetan Home-style Cooking,” a prospect intriguing enough to entice a steady stream of passers-by to crouch down and peer inside the handsome sub-street-level restaurant, Tibet on Houston.
Beyond a small dining patio, through the open French doors, they see candles flickering atop tables in a room filled with everyone from romancing couples to small groups of foodies to young longhairs with backpacks.
If the owners seem picture-perfect, too, maybe it’s because husband and wife Tencho and Losang Gyatso previously acted in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Kundun,” in which she played the Dalai Lama’s mother.
It could be an oasis of calm, but for one thing: Tibet on Houston is smack on one of the city’s noisiest thoroughfares. Buses zooming, sirens wailing and motorcycle ‘hogs” ripping down Houston Street shred all hopes of a Zen-like dining womb. Our visits also coincided with an Italian festival just across the way, complete with a flashing Ferris wheel and marching band.
Even so, the Asian comfort food here is soothing enough to help you tune out the din. The menu offers a Tibetan crepe called phing alla, momo (dumplings), meaty stews and even ‘pasta dishes from the high plateau.” The only way to whittle down the interesting choices to a precious few selections is to vow to return and try the rest.
Many of the appetizers we tried were surprisingly subtle. Steamed dumplings filled with beef get a little bite from basil, while those filled with tofu and mushrooms have a welcome bit of cilantro in the otherwise sedate mix. Phing alla is also mostly soft textures, with the pancake wrapping up bean thread, vegetables and mushrooms to be dipped in a creamy cilantro sauce. The little steamed bread called ting mo is especially unusual and curiously satisfying. This fenugreek-spiked spiral seems almost like raw dough.
The hearty flavors of delicious shogok shabril, however, recall a shepherd’s pie, only here minced beef and onions fill a potato patty which is crisply fried and served with a chili sauce.
Entrees, which range in price from $8 to $13, are more highly seasoned, such as meaty pork ribs glazed in a sweet, hot chili sauce, and a not-too-incendiary lamb curry with potatoes. Amdo thukpa winningly combines thick noodles with slices of beef, crunchy vegetables and a zingy garlic and chive sauce. The food isn’t greasy in the least.
For dessert, there’s sticky rice pudding with dates, and to wash it all down, salty Tibetan tea or spicy chai. The place is cash only for the moment, and guaranteed to be even more peaceful once the front doors are closed in the fall.