Linda Falkenstein
Little Tibet's Himalayan bean bowl, left, and chicken dumplings in jhol.
Himalayan bean bowl, left, and chicken dumplings in jhol both benefit from cooling off to let their flavors emerge.
I first encountered Little Tibet a decade ago during its first summer as a food cart, serving a few varieties of momo and some traditional beef jerky dishes. The cart hadn’t even made it onto the Mall-Concourse roster yet. It struck me that this was Tibetan food not especially geared to the American palate. It felt like what I might get if I were ordering from a food cart in Tibet. (Full disclosure: I have never been to Tibet.)
In the years since, Little Tibet has graduated to a Mall-Concourse spot, a brick and mortar restaurant on East Johnson Street, and now a second brick and mortar cafe location in Northgate Shopping Center. While the menu has changed, that homey feeling remains.
Little Tibet Market and Cafe offers slightly different dishes from the East Johnson Street location, concentrating on momos (dumplings), with some snacks and a few entrees.
You would be missing out if you left without a samosa, a very flaky rich dough pyramid filled with spicy mashed potatoes. These are fried up to order and are my favorite item on the menu, possibly my favorite samosa in Madison.
Momos come in a variety of fillings (beef, chicken, chicken cheese, mushroom and paneer, and vegetable) and are served steamed or fried or in several sauces — jhol (a tomato base that manages to be both mild and carry a slight burn), sambar (lentil base), or the Bhutanese ema datshi (a spicy hot chili and cheese). These eat more like stews than soups.
The vegetable momo were disappointing — too much bland cabbage — and especially overshadowed if ordered in the soups. If sticking with plain steamed or fried, beef or chicken are the most flavorful and come with a fresh chutney. I liked both the jhol and the sambar; note, the ema datshi is extremely spicy. The sambar and the ema datshi can also be ordered on their own.
The chicken curry, served on white rice, has deep, earthy, spicy notes — like a very dusky garam masala heavy on the cloves and coriander. There’s plenty of chicken, too. It comes, as do most dishes, with a neutral cabbage slaw.
A potential comfort food star is the Himalayan bean bowl, which carries pleasing but subtle spicing. Let this dish cool down to let the flavors emerge. Familiar chickpeas and a smaller, dark brown chickpea, like a kala chana, carry the dish, along with soft stewed red bell peppers.
Chicken stir-fried noodles show a Chinese influence. Chewy lo mein noodles, chicken, and fresh carrots, broccoli and bell pepper in a pleasantly spicy sauce are a solid if unflashy rendition of this familiar dish.
Be sure to check the white board near the counter for daily specials like the recent shabaklep, a dough pocket shaped like an empanada, filled with saucy ground beef, onions and garlic. It delivers a deeply savory flavor.
There’s a market area with Tibetan staples — lots of types of beans — and a small, pleasant dine-in area. The soundtrack might range from chanting melodies to contemporary Tibetan pop. It’s an upbeat yet peaceful place to have a meal — and as the sign by the pickup window says, “If this food and space brought you comfort today, may that comfort ripple outward.”
Little Tibet Market and Cafe
1113 N. Sherman Ave.
608-230-5062
10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Sat.
$3-$14
