Lhasa is a Tibetan city with a substantial Chinese population, and a large share of its restaurants are Sichuanese. The province next door supplies much of the food, the labour and the restaurant culture, and the result is that a visitor walking the streets of the old town will pass, in equal numbers, yak-meat kitchens with momos and thukpa, and Sichuan noodle shops, hotpot restaurants, cold-dish counters and stir-fry places. Both are ordinary parts of the city rather than separate scenes, and eating across both is the honest way to eat in Lhasa.
What the Sichuan kitchens serve
The repertoire is the standard migrant-restaurant one, adapted to the altitude and to what can be grown or trucked in: cold dressed vegetables and noodles, mapo tofu, twice-cooked pork, braised fish, dry-fried green beans, chicken with chilli and Sichuan pepper, and hotpot in the evening with a choice of spicy or clear broth. Noodle shops serve small bowls of dan dan or beef noodle soup, cheap and quick, at almost any hour. Because Lhasa is cold for much of the year, the heavier braised and hotpot dishes are what people actually order, and tea and beer are drunk in quantity with them.
Eating well in the city
The best value is generally in the plain neighbourhood restaurants rather than in the places near the main sights, which price for visitors. Look for a room with laminated menus and photographs, plastic stools, and a mix of Tibetan and Chinese customers; that combination is the reliable sign that the kitchen is cooking for residents. Menus are usually in Chinese with some Tibetan dishes listed, and photographs make ordering straightforward. Portions are large and intended to be shared, so order fewer dishes than you would at home and add later.
Practical notes
Sichuan food in Lhasa is mild by Chengdu standards, partly because chilli is harder to source fresh and partly because the customers are a mixed population, but you should still ask for less heat if you need it. Vegetarians can eat well in the Sichuan kitchens - tofu, green vegetables, potato, mushroom and noodle dishes are everywhere - though they should check whether a broth is meat-based. Most restaurants are cashless; a few of the smallest still take cash only. Alcohol at altitude is worth treating with caution for the first few days.
