Ganglamedo Tibetan Restaurant

Ganglamedo, which means snow lotus in English, is a gorgeous restaurant. Elegant elephant and lotus murals grace the walls in this large two-level space, the soft lighting provides a romantic ambiance and the two-seater tables by the windows are secluded and intimate. Unfortunately, the food doesn’t come close to matching the decor. Browsing through the menu, which has a lot of photographs, one finds both intriguing contemporary and traditional Tibetan dishes such as yak steak with red wine sauce (68RMB), garlic bread with saffron (18RMB), chicken with snow lotus soup (75RMB), yak meat pie (18RMB) and Tsering yard, a stir-fried pickled turnip with beef strips. The Triple Gems set special for 288RMB includes roasted yak, roasted lamb and baked pork served with nice barley wheat pancakes, cucumber, moon sliced lemons and condiments for dipping. The dish is presented in a beautiful large wooden tray with small Tibetan knife to cut the meat with. Neither the roasted yak or lamb are roasted in the traditional Tibetan way but are braised in a concoction of soy sauce, sugar, and wine, which gives both meats a similar taste. Both yak and lamb are overdosed with either soy sauce or salt and the baked pork is very oily and its expected crispy skin is soggy. The highland barley noodle soup (15RMB) is the only redeeming dish, having an excellent chewy texture but, again, the broth is too salty. Traditional tsampa (28RMB), a mixture of toasted barley flour with milk tea, a little sugar and cheese curd, does not taste fresh like highland barley should. While the romantic aura of the restaurant is welcoming, the music in the background is a bit too loud, and the sight and sound of Tibet shown on a huge screen is entertaining but a little too clichéd. This is another example of a Tibetan restaurant that is trying harder to sell its culture than its food.