Tibet Corner, a restaurant serving Tibetan food, opened over Labor Day weekend in Walden. Its owners, Kalsang Tsering and Tashi Palmo, moved to Walden from New York City in 2017, and they run another business called Zam selling handicrafts in the city.
The menu at Tibet House focuses on dumplings and noodle soup bowls. The dumplings, called momos, are thicker and more rustic than similar dumplings served in many Chinese restaurants. They’re offered with a choice of fillings—beef, chicken, or vegetable—and Tashi makes them by hand. “It’s home cooking. We don’t use too many spices, and we don’t use artificial things. I cook everything myself and with my nephew, our chef Khando Wangchuk.”
The soup bowls are called thukpa, pronounced took-pa. Similar in concept to Vietnamese pho or Japanese ramen, thukpa is a heartier version containing thick handmade noodles. Another popular item is a savory fried treat called sha-baley, which the owners describe as “Tibetan empanadas.”
Tashi and Kalsang, both Tibetan, lived in India for many years before moving to New York, and they have plans to add Indian dishes to the menu. “We know Indian food really well because we lived there. We might try serving thalis,” Tashi says. Thalis are full Indian meals, popular on lunch menus, containing curries and sides.
Tashi’s husband Kalsang is a former Buddhist monk. He decided to leave the monastery at age 18 when he met Tashi and they fell in love. Today, he wears his hair long rather than shaved and sports an earring. If you didn’t know he was a businessman, you might guess he was an artist. In fact, he’s both. He spent several years traveling South Asia as a sculptor’s apprentice producing commissioned pieces, and he still enjoys working with clay.
Tashi and Kalsang came to the United States in 2006, and Kalsang drove a taxi in the city for ten years before they settled in Walden.
Tibet Corner Taste of Himalaya is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. They are located in the plaza next to Stewart’s at 75 East Main Street, Suite 3, and the phone number is (718) 316-2139. Cash and cards are both accepted.