The sweet and sour braised food in Lhasa is not the taste of first love, but the taste of freedom!

Pictures and Texts | Zhang Qi

To live in a big city, it is not enough to have a strong heart. You must have a soul that can withstand pressure and be able to enjoy hardships. body.

But even so, you still want to escape. So I escaped, from Shanghai to Tibet, which took 48 hours.

During the month in Lhasa, I volunteered for more than 4 hours a day, and I was free when I was done. So I went to play, wander around Lhasa, and eat those legendary delicacies.

What a wonderful time, so free. Whether it was to fill our stomachs or to relax, my friends and I had a great time eating anyway.

I have tried all the sour, sweet, and braised flavors. Several of them are internet celebrity restaurants. One of them was eaten by a friend and he found it delicious and recommended me to go there.

01 Sour flavor - ancient tree yogurt

Many people may know about ancient tree yogurt. Inside Barkhor Street, on the road to the Jokhang Temple, there is an ancient tree. Next to the ancient tree is the Gushu Yogurt Shop, which is easy to find.

When I went to Barkhor Street for the first time, I had no idea that there was such a famous specialty yogurt shop next to an ancient tree.

I just remember that tree, under which an old Tibetan man always sat. They were basking in the sun, chanting sutras, meditating...

Later, Chen Chen and I went to find the store and followed the map and found out that this was it. Then the two people giggled and complained, "Why are we so stupid?"

This place is so easy to find. Because we didn’t know, we followed the map. Although we could get there, we took a lot of remote roads.

Two people ordered two bowls of yogurt. I ordered the osmanthus yogurt and Chen Chen ordered the Namtso yogurt. (PS: The Namtso yogurt was stirred before I remembered to take a photo, so it looked a bit ugly).

The yogurt here must have more sugar, more sugar, more sugar! Because it is much more sour than the yogurt we eat in the Mainland, there is less sugar, so it is really sour.

A bowl of this yogurt costs about 15 to 20 yuan. It is quite expensive in Lhasa. It's okay to try it occasionally.

My favorite is osmanthus yogurt (well, I ate two flavors in one ***), and many people on the Internet also recommend it. It tastes like osmanthus and tastes better. As for the Namtso yogurt, both Chen Chen and I didn’t think it tasted good.

I had nothing to eat, and my funds were limited. After all, I was relatively poor during that month in Lhasa.

02 Sweetness - Xiquege Kitchen, Guangminggang Qiongtian Tea House

Xiquege Kitchen

On May 4th Youth Day, it was my fifth visit to Lhasa Oh my god, this is also my first time to go out. I had a bit of a high fever before, so I was recuperating in the inn.

The first time I went out, I wandered around Barkhor Street and had afternoon tea. This store was recommended to Chen Chen by a young lady who stayed at the inn, and Chen Chen and I went there together.

I didn’t know it was a famous store at first, but later I found out. Go in there and you'll find Big Ice's hut. Many of my friends like Da Bing’s books. If you like, you can stop by and read a book.

Chen Chen and I found a place by the window. Can see the scenery outside. The decoration in the store is very simple and the things are simple. It seems like a past life.

I ordered a pot of sweet tea for 10 yuan, which was a real bargain. A small hot water bottle is enough for us to drink.

I ordered two vegetarian buns, a plate of beef dumplings, and sweet tea. It was a very enjoyable meal. I forgot how much it cost, but it wasn’t expensive anyway.

The vegetarian buns are really good, the dumplings are okay, but they are a bit too much after eating, but for afternoon tea, eat slowly.

The chili sauce is a bit weird, I don’t like it personally.

Now I am a bit belatedly realizing that there is Gushu Yogurt diagonally opposite the window.

It’s nice to sit by the window and drink afternoon tea, watching people coming and going, watching the devout worshipers kowtow all the way...

Guangming Gang Qiongtian Teahouse

Because classmate Zhao is too homely and lives in the inn, I decided to help her out and go out to enjoy the air and bask in the sun. How nice it would be.

I tempted her with food, and she agreed. I really ate with her that day. I drank sweet tea, ate braised pork rice, and went to Xueyu Restaurant (I will write about Xueyu Restaurant later when I have time).

This sweet tea is really a local sweet tea, a favorite place for Tibetans. As soon as you enter, you will see Tibetans wearing Tibetan clothes everywhere. Classmate Zhao and I were like aliens, breaking into their world.

I originally thought that Magpie Pavilion was simple and simple enough, but I didn’t expect that it would be even worse here.

There were only Tibetan noodles and the like. When we went there, we didn’t even have fried potato chips. We didn’t know if we had finished buying them or not. Reading other people’s previous travel notes, they said there were fried potato chips.

I had nothing to eat at that time, so I ordered two cups of sweet tea. One dollar a drink, as many drinks as you want, cash only.

You have to get the cup by yourself, then find a seat by yourself, sit and wait. Wait for the Tibetan aunt to come over with a sweet teapot. You hand over the money and she pours the sweet tea.

Many Tibetans drink sweet tea here, and some drink one cup after another. They don't necessarily do anything, unlike people in cafes, reading books and drinking tea, or something else.

They just drink tea, and at most they do a meditation. Or he might be mumbling words, probably reciting scriptures.

Although I don’t understand it, I feel that this is good for some reason.

Because we were really out of place, classmate Zhao and I quietly left after drinking sweet tea.

03 Braised meat - Tuotuo braised pork rice

This braised pork rice was recommended to us by Junjun. She had eaten there and thought the environment was unique and the taste was good, so we Go eat once.

So at noon that day, classmate Zhao and I had lunch here. As Junjun said, except that it is difficult to find, everything else is good.

I called the store twice and found it with her guidance. It turns out to be on the right side of Maggie Ami, about 100 meters away. There happened to be a checkpoint for entering Barkhor Street, but I forgot the entrance number.

Tuotuo Braised Pork Rice is opened in an inn. I don’t know if they are operated separately or together. Just find this Barkoyin Cultural Hotel, it's right inside.

This is the room where we ate at that time. Some of the decorations inside, I can’t tell you, they should be Tibetan elements, they look quite unique. But it may not be acceptable to everyone, but it doesn’t matter, taste is the king.

A portion of braised rice costs 20-30 yuan. What you choose depends on the individual. Reviews on the website said the braised pork rice was the best, but we didn't order it. I chose wings and braised pork rice, and classmate Zhao chose chicken legs and braised pork rice.

The chicken drumstick is so big that even those with a small appetite may not be able to finish it. To be honest, their marinade is really delicious and very fragrant. When eaten with rice, one word: praise!

When eating, pair it with a box of iced black tea, it’s great! After all, there is a lot of meat, and the marinade is a little greasy. It is just right when you drink tea.

Finally, I want to say that their kimchi is pretty good and goes well with rice. The most important thing about kimchi is the texture, it must be crispy, and they have achieved that.

The kimchi is all made in-house and tastes authentic. People who like to eat kimchi will fall in love with their kimchi. Anyway, we asked the boss to add kimchi for us.

This is the extra kimchi the boss gave us in a bowl later. In Sichuan dialect, it is really Bashi (meaning delicious).

In Lhasa, I tasted the sweet, sour, braised and spicy flavors. In fact, no matter what the taste is, no matter how delicious it is, what I like most is the taste of freedom.