Years ago I had a Chinese boyfriend (sorry Yeshi). The relationship – which was mercifully brief – ended when I found him in bed with someone else. This wasn’t a good look for him, so after the fact he did what people in sticky situations often do: he found ways to make it my fault.
“I’ve noticed that when we eat dumplings,” he said, “you reach for those on the far side of the plate. Don’t you know that you’re only supposed to take the ones closest to you?”
In China, and it’s the same in Tibet, there are a lot of rules around food. As an outsider you don’t necessarily clock them at first. What you do notice is that bowls are raised to the mouth, soup is slurped, burps are commonplace. Bones, whole spices and other inedibles are spat out and stacked up next to the plate.
To the untrained eye, it can look as if anything goes. Spend a bit more time, however, and you realise that rules are plentiful, just different.
Greed is particularly frowned upon. In Tibet, as in China, the table is often piled thick with heavenly-looking sharing dishes (in China, there can be so many that sometimes they’re stacked one on top of the other). But don’t go poking around. It’s rude to beeline for the dish you like best or to stab about in it for the pinkest piece of pork.
Pick from the plates closest to you, and when your favourite food comes within reach, be restrained. Take care not to splash or drip, and make sure to place food into your mouth, rather than stretching out your tongue to catch it.
In Tibet younger members of the family prepare meals for their elders, and food is presented to the elderly and very little first. In Yeshi’s home, and this is typical of households in the region in general, there’s a nightly tradition in which the kitchen hands serve out noodles in very small portions at a time. They might refill bowls five or more times before the recipient is done. Only then do they tuck in themselves.
I doubt that it was my poor table manners that cost me my relationship (and if so how lucky that they did). But that unfortunate episode definitely made me more mindful of how I eat.
Tibetan food is designed to be enjoyed in big groups, and at the restaurant we always love to serve out a tableful of dishes. Don’t let me put you off eating in this way! (but the Feast For One is always an option if I do).
We’re open all the usual hours this week, as follows:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm (dinner only)
Saturday: 12-3 / 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3 / 5-9pm
This week’s menu is up on the website – check it! Come by for take-away, dine-in or you can order home delivery through Deliveroo.
Our freezers are also packed with all the nutritious meals you don’t have time to make yourselves. Newsletter subscribers often get a good deal on these, but during last week’s cold snap we enjoyed gallons of our chai, so we thought that this time we’d offer everyone a free cup of Yeshi’s famous brew instead. Subscribe to our weekly Substack to make sure you bag this and all the freebies of your future!
Looking forward to seeing you all soon,
Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Saturday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9pm
☏ 01865 499318
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