Walking into Little Tibet is like entering another world: the atmosphere is just that serene. With its blue and orange décor, its soft soundtrack and its paintings of monks, one can’t help but be enchanted. Little Tibet is the only restaurant of its kind in town, and it presents itself accordingly.
The menu is divided into sections, including a large vegetarian section, perfect for the Wesleyan crowd. When I inquired about the flavors particular to Tibetan food, I was told that the prime ingredients are ginger, garlic, pepper, onions and sesame oil. Dumplings and wheat dough are also traditional, as well as cilantro and pepper. Like Indian food, Tibetan cuisine relies substantially on pepper, although its use of hot instead of sweet pepper creates a different taste entirely. In some ways the food is more delicate than Indian food.
The menu includes many appetizers, including a fine variety of soups and salads. The Tibetan salad, which includes sliced cucumber, red onion, sesame oil and Tibetan pepper, is simply delicious. Each ingredient stands out in this large, tangy salad. The pepper, in particular, stands out the closer you get to the bottom.
The selection of main dish noodle soups resembles those you’d find in a Vietnamese restaurant. A light garlic and ginger broth is the base for most of the soups. I sampled two of the noodle soups, and preferred the hand-pulled noodle soup to the shrimp flavored noodles, which were not particularly interesting. The hand-pulled noodles were thick and slightly chewy, similar to the Italian papardelle. They were soft yet al dente, and had the taste and consistency of fresh pasta. I was unable to detect the shrimp in the shrimp flavored noodles.
Although my friend and I were impressed with the selection of vegetarian dishes, we were disappointed to learn that the kitchen had run out of tofu that night. As the restaurant wasn’t especially crowded, it seemed odd that there was no tofu (or lamb, as we later learned). But the vegetarian dishes that were available were quite good. I really liked the potatoes with bean thread noodles, served in a mild sauce. This dish surprised me when it arrived, for it turns out that “mild sauce” meant broth and the dish was actually a noodle soup. Not that I was disappointed, though. The buttery potatoes complemented the broth, adding weight to the mixture with their starch. The flavorful broth was well seasoned, allowing the transparent bean thread noodles to soak up the flavor.
The dish was served with steamed bread, another Tibetan specialty. Many people opt for this bread over rice when choosing side dishes. The bread was too plain for my taste, although I enjoyed its doughy texture and felt its blandness paired well with the more flavorful soup. The Shesha-Tse, a vegetable stir-fry, was well cooked. The mélange of mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini and broccoli was crisp and served in a garlicky scallion sauce called “dengy.”
The section of the menu marked non-vegetarian included some of the best dishes on the menu. There are a several dumpling options, including chicken, beef, steamed, and semi- fried. I tried the steamed chicken dumplings and found them excellent. Served on an elegant square platter, the soft dumplings enveloped a broth-flavored patty composed of minced chicken and scallions. The dumplings were served with a hot tomato sauce, an interesting contrast to the sweet and tender taste of the dumplings. The dish also came with Tangtse salad, which was composed of shredded cabbage and carrots. The crispy salad was a great complement to the soft dumplings.
The chicken curry was delicious. It was not creamy like Thai curries but more like an Indian curry, deep brown and served in a soup bowl with broth, potatoes and peas. Unfortunately, my fellow diner found a piece of beef in the chicken curry. The pan-fried rice with vegetables and meat was too mild, and needed soy sauce. The dish came with a choice of beef, chicken or pork. Shesha, stir-fried vegetables with a choice of chicken or shrimp, was mild but tasty, which seemed to characterize all of the Tibetan food that I sampled.
I found the food delicate and interesting and enjoyed it despite the fact that I usually prefer stronger flavors. The food is different enough to be appealing, yet satisfying and strangely familiar. After the meal we were given Hershey kisses along with the check. A sweet end to a delicious meal, the chocolate kiss was a reminder that we were back on Main Street.
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