Best Halal Food in Tibet: Lhasa Muslim Restaurants, Noodles and Local Hui Food
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Tibet halal food map focuses on Lhasa and other Muslim-friendly food stops, including Hui Muslim restaurants, noodles, beef dishes, and practical travel notes from the source.
1. Yiberi Steamed Bun Shop
I put this shop first because it is a halal restaurant run by local Tibetan Hui Muslims serving authentic Tibetan food. The number 786 represents halal in Tibet, which comes from the Arabic letter counting method of the Basmala. This shop is quite popular with locals. Almost everyone eating here is Tibetan, and it is usually full at meal times. However, they only serve food until about 2:00 PM, so there is no dinner service.
This is the sweet tea (tiancha) that Tibetans drink often. It is sold by the pot for 8 yuan.
The customers are all nearby residents. They seem to know each other well and speak Tibetan together. An elderly woman ordered a rice and stir-fry set meal. Since rice is rare here, rice and stir-fry dishes are very popular in Tibet.
These are Tibetan-style pan-fried buns (jianbao) with lamb filling. They taste pretty good dipped in chili sauce.
This is the legendary Tibetan noodles (zangmian). The texture is firmer than Lanzhou beef noodles, and they are served for breakfast.
Address: No. 18, No. 36 Linkuo East Road, Chengguan District, Lhasa. (I found this shop thanks to a worker at Chen Pangzi Potato Shop. The worker is a local Tibetan Hui Muslim, and Yiberi Steamed Bun Shop is in the alley next to Chen Pangzi Potato Shop.)
2. Chen Pangzi Potato Shop
Although it has a Han Chinese name, this is also a halal snack shop run by local Tibetan Hui Muslims. They mainly sell fried potatoes and cold noodles. I chatted with a worker here who has a four-character name. He said his ancestors were Muslims from Kashmir, India, and have lived in Lhasa for several generations. You can find Yiberi Steamed Bun Shop in the alley next to this store.
These fried potatoes are a local snack. They cost 5 yuan per serving and are mildly spicy.
Address: Near Jiangsu Road, Chengguan District (opposite Manzhai Restaurant).
3. Taohua Tea House
This is a halal tea house run by local Tibetan Hui Muslims, but they only sell one kind of sweet tea that tastes a lot like milk tea.
This is the tea. You can drink one pot for the whole afternoon. This tea house also closes after the afternoon. The local lifestyle is to sit in a tea house, drink tea, chat, and enjoy the sun.
Address: North of Jiangsu Road, Chengguan District, right next to Chen Pangzi Potato Shop.
4. Huaying Firecracker Noodle Bowl
Firecracker noodles (paozhuangmian) are a type of noodle invented by people from Qinghai that combines the methods of pulled noodles and stir-fried noodles.
This is one of the few restaurants I have seen that offers free extra noodles.
Address: Next to the riverside restaurant on Jiangsu Road, Chengguan District.
5. Yilong Hand-Grabbed Meat
I did not eat their hand-grabbed meat (shouzhuarou).
Instead, I had a bowl of riverside noodles (heyanmian), and they gave me plenty of lamb.
Address: Opposite the archway of Lhasa Mosque Street.
6. Hao Zailai Snack Shop
This small shop specializes in hot-pot style vegetables (tangcai), which is similar to spicy hot pot (malatang) served in soup. After you pick your vegetables, the owner will ask if you want to add glass noodles (fensi).
Address: In the alley behind the Lhasa Great Mosque.
7. Yipinxiang Restaurant
This was the most satisfying meal I had after staying in Lhasa for four days. Maybe my appetite returned because my altitude sickness was getting better.
The fragrant spicy chicken (xiangmaji) is delicious. You dip it in chili powder, but it does not taste spicy at all.
Address: In the alley opposite the Lhasa Great Mosque.
8. Tibet Taicheng Tea Restaurant
It is not easy to find halal Cantonese food in Lhasa.
The environment here is excellent, and you can see the Potala Palace from the window.
The menu focuses on light Cantonese dishes, along with desserts and some Northwest Chinese food.
Address: Section 5, Building 8, Zhonghe Plaza, Taiyangdao First Road.
9. Linxia Restaurant
Now moving to the Shigatse area, this place is called Linxia Restaurant, though it is actually a small eatery.
It is not easy to find stir-fried dishes in Shigatse because local supplies are limited.
There is no rice, only flour-based foods like steamed flower rolls (huajuan).
I ordered a bowl of lamb soup (yangtang) to soak the flower rolls in. There are quite a few halal restaurants in Shigatse, but most are like this one with a limited menu. I am grateful just to be full.
Address: No. 15 Xueqiang Road, near the Shigatse Mosque.
Other parts of Tibet are the same; you can see hand-pulled noodle shops (lamian guan) everywhere, so I will not list them all.
You can find these plateau noodle shops along the roads in many small towns, so you do not need to pack too much dry food when traveling in Tibet.
Because of the high altitude, water boils at a lower temperature, so these plateau noodles must be cooked in a steam pot. The taste is actually fine; just do not be too picky when you are traveling.
Summary: This Tibet halal food map focuses on Lhasa and other Muslim-friendly food stops, including Hui Muslim restaurants, noodles, beef dishes, and practical travel notes from the source.
1. Yiberi Steamed Bun Shop
I put this shop first because it is a halal restaurant run by local Tibetan Hui Muslims serving authentic Tibetan food. The number 786 represents halal in Tibet, which comes from the Arabic letter counting method of the Basmala. This shop is quite popular with locals. Almost everyone eating here is Tibetan, and it is usually full at meal times. However, they only serve food until about 2:00 PM, so there is no dinner service.
This is the sweet tea (tiancha) that Tibetans drink often. It is sold by the pot for 8 yuan.
The customers are all nearby residents. They seem to know each other well and speak Tibetan together. An elderly woman ordered a rice and stir-fry set meal. Since rice is rare here, rice and stir-fry dishes are very popular in Tibet.
These are Tibetan-style pan-fried buns (jianbao) with lamb filling. They taste pretty good dipped in chili sauce.
This is the legendary Tibetan noodles (zangmian). The texture is firmer than Lanzhou beef noodles, and they are served for breakfast.
Address: No. 18, No. 36 Linkuo East Road, Chengguan District, Lhasa. (I found this shop thanks to a worker at Chen Pangzi Potato Shop. The worker is a local Tibetan Hui Muslim, and Yiberi Steamed Bun Shop is in the alley next to Chen Pangzi Potato Shop.)
2. Chen Pangzi Potato Shop
Although it has a Han Chinese name, this is also a halal snack shop run by local Tibetan Hui Muslims. They mainly sell fried potatoes and cold noodles. I chatted with a worker here who has a four-character name. He said his ancestors were Muslims from Kashmir, India, and have lived in Lhasa for several generations. You can find Yiberi Steamed Bun Shop in the alley next to this store.
These fried potatoes are a local snack. They cost 5 yuan per serving and are mildly spicy.
Address: Near Jiangsu Road, Chengguan District (opposite Manzhai Restaurant).
3. Taohua Tea House
This is a halal tea house run by local Tibetan Hui Muslims, but they only sell one kind of sweet tea that tastes a lot like milk tea.
This is the tea. You can drink one pot for the whole afternoon. This tea house also closes after the afternoon. The local lifestyle is to sit in a tea house, drink tea, chat, and enjoy the sun.
Address: North of Jiangsu Road, Chengguan District, right next to Chen Pangzi Potato Shop.
4. Huaying Firecracker Noodle Bowl
Firecracker noodles (paozhuangmian) are a type of noodle invented by people from Qinghai that combines the methods of pulled noodles and stir-fried noodles.
This is one of the few restaurants I have seen that offers free extra noodles.
Address: Next to the riverside restaurant on Jiangsu Road, Chengguan District.
5. Yilong Hand-Grabbed Meat
I did not eat their hand-grabbed meat (shouzhuarou).
Instead, I had a bowl of riverside noodles (heyanmian), and they gave me plenty of lamb.
Address: Opposite the archway of Lhasa Mosque Street.
6. Hao Zailai Snack Shop
This small shop specializes in hot-pot style vegetables (tangcai), which is similar to spicy hot pot (malatang) served in soup. After you pick your vegetables, the owner will ask if you want to add glass noodles (fensi).
Address: In the alley behind the Lhasa Great Mosque.
7. Yipinxiang Restaurant
This was the most satisfying meal I had after staying in Lhasa for four days. Maybe my appetite returned because my altitude sickness was getting better.
The fragrant spicy chicken (xiangmaji) is delicious. You dip it in chili powder, but it does not taste spicy at all.
Address: In the alley opposite the Lhasa Great Mosque.
8. Tibet Taicheng Tea Restaurant
It is not easy to find halal Cantonese food in Lhasa.
The environment here is excellent, and you can see the Potala Palace from the window.
The menu focuses on light Cantonese dishes, along with desserts and some Northwest Chinese food.
Address: Section 5, Building 8, Zhonghe Plaza, Taiyangdao First Road.
9. Linxia Restaurant
Now moving to the Shigatse area, this place is called Linxia Restaurant, though it is actually a small eatery.
It is not easy to find stir-fried dishes in Shigatse because local supplies are limited.
There is no rice, only flour-based foods like steamed flower rolls (huajuan).
I ordered a bowl of lamb soup (yangtang) to soak the flower rolls in. There are quite a few halal restaurants in Shigatse, but most are like this one with a limited menu. I am grateful just to be full.
Address: No. 15 Xueqiang Road, near the Shigatse Mosque.
Other parts of Tibet are the same; you can see hand-pulled noodle shops (lamian guan) everywhere, so I will not list them all.
You can find these plateau noodle shops along the roads in many small towns, so you do not need to pack too much dry food when traveling in Tibet.
Because of the high altitude, water boils at a lower temperature, so these plateau noodles must be cooked in a steam pot. The taste is actually fine; just do not be too picky when you are traveling.
