Vegan Eats: Cafe Tibet

We've given Cafe Tibet several chances to impress us with their limited vegan offerings. There is so much to like about the place. It's as close to the subway as you can get without sitting on MTA property, it serves Tibetan food, which is pretty unique, and they just re-did their menu to answer all the annoying "is it vegan?" questions we have been asking since they opened. But we've never been impressed with the food, which outweighs all issues of atmosphere and location.

Katie says . . . I ordered number 24, Tenchur Logo Patsel, which the menu described as "Spicy tofu stir-fried with cabbage and carrot. Seasoned with garlic, ginger, cilantro and other spices." Just like number 26, which I had a week or two ago (Tofu Mix Veg "Freshly cut vegetables stir-fried with ginger, garlic and hot spices") it was not spicy and was actually pretty bland. The tofu had no flavor at all, and there were only about 5 small cubes of it anyway. I would recommend both of these dishes to someone who is just getting over a stomach virus and wants something plain and basic. For those seeking a tasty dinner that they could not prepare in their own kitchen, however, I would try a different restaurant.

Patrick here. I tried #27 (Shogo Ngopa), "spicy curried potatoes with spinach, stir-fried with onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes". The dish wasn't bad but it also wasn't worth the 8 bucks. Maybe they were out of fresh spinach when I ordered, because I basically got a few leaves and a ton of potatoes. The curry sauce was good, but the whole thing didn't feel like a balanced meal. Spinach and chickpeas would be nice, but that's not an option.

I also ordered an appetizer, #2 (La-Phing), "a popular street snack; extracted from mung beans. Drizzled with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic with Tibetan hot sauce." This was just a horrible mistake. This "street snack" turned out to be a bowl of jello-like blobs that had been tossed around in chili sauce. Very spicy. Really gross texture. No good.

The service is normally great. There's a really nice girl who is very helpful and patient when explaining what each dish contains. She wasn't there last night, though. Instead, we were waited on by two young girls with not-so-great English. We were the only table in the restaurant, but we still had to flag our waitress down to get more water after our cups had been sitting empty for at least 5 minutes or so.

We had such high hopes for this place, but we're finally giving up.

Food: C-

Service: C-

Value: D

Atmosphere: B+

Cafe Tibet || 1510 Cortelyou Road || 718-941-2725