Le Tibet

The best Himalayan food i’ve ever tried… How often do you get to say that?!?
The chili chicken is fantastic and spicy. Corn soup (sounds so simple…) is exceptional, especially on a cold day, because the soup is scalding and takes at least 10 minutes to become edible from the bowl (i.e. HOT). Great Parkdale spot.

After seeing the fantasic rating this restaurant received here on Unilocal,I wanted to give it a try. Partner and I made the journey on a Sunday evening, expecting great things. The location is cute and cozy, the type of place for a single, couple or small group. When we arrived, we were the only ones there.
After looking through the menu, I ordered tofu momos with tingmo.
«That’s no good, it’s like the same texture. Don’t get the tingmo.»
Okay, just the tofu momos then.
«That will take a long time… There are cheese momos ready.»
So I had the cheese momos. Partner ordered channa masala and saag paneer with tingmo, and a butter tea. Saag paneer never arrived, but everything else was delicious and service was prompt. Dinner for two came to ~$ 20! Amazing bargain!
On the way home, I noticed Partner had a much quicker step than normal. As soon as we got in, Partner disappeared for a short while, as I put away groceries. Then whatever had hit him hit me, and I retreated to the bathroom myself. Partner had already lit incense in there. Cracking the door, I shouted to him to make me a ginger tea.
The rest of our evening was spent on the couch, him wiping the sweat from my brow.
…Partner would like to eat here again some time.

On a chilly winter day or after a long day at work or when I am not feeling great, I crave soup. That’s when Le Tibet comes in — their Thenthuk (Tibetan pasta/​noodle soup) is über tasty.
Think of your grandmother kneading dough, making pasta, chopping vegetables, adding meat and stirring all those ingredients in a spicy broth. The result is extremely comfort homemade soup. I don’t imagine the restaurant has grandmas in their kitchen (wait, I checked, they don’t) but nevertheless their soup tastes excellent.
If you want to try other items from their simple menu, may I suggest momos (steamed or fried, but fried is always better for obvious reasons) which are Tibetan dumplings.
Since many Tibetans escaped Chinese occupation and settled in India, and since Toronto has the largest Tibetan population outside India (and, well, Tibet), don’t be surprised to see Indian food on their menu. I have tried it on multiple occasions and it is good, but I don’t eat Indian food in restaurants (I make it at home, duh).
The restaurant setup is pretty basic and unpretentious. Tables are usually filled with Tibetan patrons which speaks to the authenticity of the restaurant’s food. Occasionally the owner (very friendly guy and has lived in various cities in India) will show sports match on a big screen TV or host karaōke… yes, its Bollywood karaōke!!!
Enjoy Tibetan and Indian food!

Five stars for charm, tastiness, and price!
I was brought here by a friend who had been raving about the place. I had Tibetan once before a couple of years ago, but apart from the delicious steamed bread I couldn’t remember how the food was. Le Tibet was much more memorable! Very tasty.
I got the curry chicken with rice. The chicken was very tender and flavourful. It wasn’t as spicy as expected but perfect for my taste. They can cook it spicier if you ask them, and there is a jar of home made hot sauce at the table. I was stuffed! The next time I will get a dish with meat and vegetables though, I missed the veggies in this dish but was totally satisfied nonetheless.
My friend got the curry chicken and vegetables, she said it was delicious. She also ordered the Tibetan tea, which is savoury and buttery. She loved it – the waiter seemed a little surprised and said that people either love the tea or hate it. It doesn’t sound like my ‘cup of tea’ so I doubt I will ever try it!
The waiter was the chef’s son and was warm and friendly. When we inquired about the dessert menu, he gave us each a fresh honeyball with yoghurt (I forget the Tibetan word for this) on the house. It was delicious.
Our bill for two entrees and a specialty tea was only $ 24 including tax and the free dessert (not sure if he always gives dessert for free, but he must have liked us). I’ll be back and wouldn’t mind trying the buffet one day.

Had an excellent chicken curry special there for lunch today and was impressed! Everything was cooked well and flavorful. The service was friendly and great. The chicken curry was better than the chicken chilli that my friend tried. The bread was perfect! Great for the price.

I had a really great experience eating here last Saturday.
I went with my parents for the weekend lunch buffet ($ 8.99!).
I live in the neighbourhood and I’ve always been curious about Le Tibet but somehow never tried it till now. I was a bit worried about how cheap the food is, considering that you often get what you pay for. I’ve concluded that Le Tibet is a very honest, generous restaurant and its obvious that a lot of care goes into making the comfort-​style food.
When we arrived, the woman working there was finishing up cooking the buffet dishes. When she seated us at the table in the window, we took her up on her suggestion of having the sliding window open. It felt really great to eat hot, yummy curry in front of a breezy window. Otherwise the restaurant would have felt stuffy in the summer mugginess.
When the buffet table was full, I could imagine being at a family dinner. The food definitely seems home style, although probably way blander than it might be if not prepared for the typical palette of the walk-​in buffet customer. The buffet spread was a similar lay-​out to what Patrick M describes:
Two soups– dahl and egg drop
Two veg curries– chickpea and potato and eggplant and pea
Two meat curries– chicken and mutton
Garlicky stir-​fried baby bok choy
Stir-​fried noodles, rice, and super light and delicious poppadoms that are the best I’ve ever had.
Plus, those fantastic cardamom-​laced donuty guys in syrup for dessert.
And then the woman brought us house-​made fried pita/​naan-​type bread (not sure what it’d be called, forgot to ask) with our meal that was piping hot and let out steam as we tore into the supple, flavourful dough. Seriously, yowza.
I loved the dahl. I noticed the lentils were sprouted, which is really wholesome and great. Everything was very comforting and mild tasting but definitely delicious. I really enjoyed the mutton, eggplant, and chickpea and potato for their fantastic flavours and textures. The bok choi was tender and garlicky to an addictive level. The noodles were a bit too oily and bland tasting for me but they were a good vector for the curry sauce :)
Oh yea– and the house made hot sauce made everything about 5x better for me. it’s incredibly delicous. very spicy on a few different levels and lemongrass-​y. My mom and I asked about what was in it and how it was made and the woman brought us each little containers of it to take home with us when she brought the bill. So lovely. I left feeling full, content, and cared for.
Simply great.
I’m holding out for their momos to update and give them a 5 star review (sadly they weren’t being served at the buffet and we were too full to order them!).

Very good food, great prices. Nice family run, cozy place to eat.

I ordered take out from there a week ago… I usually order from The Tibet Kitchen but they were closed that night so I walked into Le Tibet.
It’s small and cozy and the staff are very friendly. They didn’t have the buffet that night, but there were plenty of people at the tables, having big steaming dishes brought out to their tables.
The service was good, the food was good too. I really enjoy their Momo’s, and chili chicken (dry) with mixed fried noodles.
Inexpensive, tasty and different from the usual Chinese or Thai that I usually go for.
Stop by and give them a try, oh and make sure you get the hot sauce if you like heat. It’s a wicked little treat in your mouth!
Enjoy!

I’ve been curious about Le Tibet for awhile now, mainly due to the «$ 7.99 Lunch Buffet» sign hanging prominently above their façade. I used to love hitting up AYCE joints, but the general dismal nature of the food has led me to greener, less gut-​stuffing pastures.
Still, Le Tibet was calling me and I, like the dutiful diner I am, answered the call. Fellow Unilocalers can now breathe a sigh of relief, as another un-​reviewed restaurant has now been tried, tested, and found to be true!
The place is quite small, though cozy and welcoming, with maybe eight tables in all. A bar separates the open kitchen from the dining area, and the little buffet takes up a portion of the space. You can watch as a lady quietly cooks up lunch, which I found reassuring. No factory produced buffet from a can, oh no!
The offerings were pretty simple: two soups, a daal-​style (thin, and nice as a starter) and a hot ‘n’ sour soup-​looking sort that I didn’t try; curried potatoes, a mixed vegetable dish, white basmati, some stir fried noodles, and two types of meat (curried chicken, bbq pork). Finally, the best of the lot was a simple braised bok choy that I ate entirely too much of.
The food is mostly mild, basic fare, with a kind of inoffensive blandness that is easily punched up by their hot sauce (ask for it, it’s very good!). Without the added hot sauce, I think I would have been rather disappointed; with it, however, I was quite pleased.
To round out the hot foods they served two different types of dumpling: beef, and plain. I tried both. The beef was alright, nothing special; the plain dumpling, while good, was very, very dense, and I didn’t finish it as I’d already loaded up on too many carbs what with the potato and rice.
As a dessert, the ubiquitous gulab jamun makes me a happy camper; I could eat one hundred or more of those syrupy, doughy little buggers and die a bloated, satiated, sweet-​toothed man. As it was I ate three, and that was probably two too many.
Finally, I’ll mention that the man — presumably an owner — who was managing the restaurant was friendly, albeit understated. I found his demeanour fit the vibe very nicely: courteous, attentive, but happy to let me enjoy a leisurely meal while reading my book (I stayed an hour and a half, ate a couple plates of food, and he seemed pleased to have me do so).
All in all a very nice experience, especially at the price. It’s hard to argue with $ 7.99. The food is basic, yes, but I’d rather well-​made basics for $ 7.99 than poorly made everything-​and-​the-​kitchen-​sink for $ 20.99 (I’m lookin’ at you, Mandarin, Mongolian Grill, etc, etc ad infinitum crapulus maximus!).
I am guessing their menu items boast more character than the buffet, and I am inclined to return and try them!