It might have something to do with the freezing January rain outside, but when I arrive at Taste Tibet in East Oxford it seems a lot like paradise. The décor is stripped-back but welcoming: a blackboard with the weekly-changing menu written on it, a counter from which hot food is served, and several long benches designed for communal eating. Julie Kleeman, who, alongside her husband, is the lifeblood of the restaurant, welcomes me in from the rain and suggests we sit down with a cup of chai. This is precisely what the drenched-to-the-skin, cold-to-the-bone me needs, but it is also lovely in its own right, warmly spiced without being overly sweet.
The restaurant, Julie tells me, began over a decade ago as a market stall in Gloucester Green, where her husband – who grew up in the mountains of Tibet – would cook the food of his childhood. At the same time, they organised takeaways out of their own kitchen, eventually opening this restaurant in the middle of a COVID lockdown. During the summer months they still take their food stall to festivals, partly – Julie explains – so that they can share the desperately underrepresented wonders of Tibetan culture and cuisine with a larger audience.
Time and again during our talk she returns to the idea of community, which is central to the restaurant’s ethos and practices. Julie seems genuinely pleased to see everyone who walks in, many of whom are regulars. There are those who linger over a meal, but also those who have braved the biblical storm outside to pick up a takeaway, or one of the meals from the freezer. The latter of these is a revelation to me. Julie explains how they freeze all of their leftovers, meaning that the restaurant creates nearly no food waste and that it is possible to try their food at an even more affordable price.
If you’ve never had Tibetan food before, it is built around hearty, comforting dishes or, as Julie phrases it, food to warm your hands and your stomach. Their menu has an impressive balance of vegan and meat options, so I begin with the dal, which is everything a dal should be – rich, almost creamy, with a subtle complexity of flavour. The two chicken curries I try are just as delicious, although my personal favourite is the wonderfully fresh sesame chicken. Having resigned myself to the wilted, soulless greens served in Hall, the vegetable dishes bring me the most surprising joy. This is how broccoli was born to be served. The real stars of the meal, however, – and there is tough competition – are the momos, the generously sized dumplings which seem to be Tibet’s unofficial national dish. The menu has two varieties, so, since this is not the time for following New Year’s resolutions, I sample both. The beef feels like proper mountain fare – rich and wholesome enough to help you weather a snowstorm –, but it is the ‘Heavenly Vegan’ momos that live up to their name. I can’t exactly describe the flavour, because it tasted like nothing I’d ever eaten before, but I can only urge you with every single inch of my being to try them yourself.
When I eventually – and very reluctantly – leave the restaurant, it is still pouring with rain, but my faith in humanity and in friendly, high-quality neighbourhood restaurants has been restored.
I ate:
- Meat Feast for One (two dishes + dal + rice + momo) – £17.00
- Side of Stir-Fried Broccoli with Garlic – £2.50
- Tibetan Chai Tea – £3.50
- Vegan momo – £2.50
