by SARAH MUSGRAVE

The first thing you should know about Tibetan food is that spicy, it ain’t—at least not the way it’s done at a recently opened restaurant called Shambala. In fact, while not uninteresting, Tibet’s is a fairly mild cuisine that traditionally uses only a few seasonings such as salt, garlic and green onions, with a hotter dish thrown in every once in a while. While it won’t exactly tickle your tastebuds silly, it can make for a hearty and healthy meal that’s more about texture than taste.

Occupying the second floor of an old Victorian building on St-Denis, Shambala provides an extremely appealing setting. At each end of the double room are upholstered benches scattered with pillows, and a handful of tables in between. The cozy and airy space was very quiet on a rainy mid-week evening, but maybe business will pick up with the onset of winter—especially as the prices here are reasonable for rustic, rib-sticking fare.

We started with a couple of soups, the most remarkable of which was the churue ($3.50) made with blue cheese—a stand in for the even more traditional yak cheese. It has the tangy tones you’d expect, delicately blended to create a smooth, slightly creamy liquid. The soup of the day was said to be beef broth. Never have the words “Where’s the beef?” meant so much, however, as I looked into a bowl of thin, pale soup. The watery taste didn’t answer my question either.

We got a dish of doughy pockets called momos as a shared appetizer, although it’s designed as a meal, including soup and salad ($6.99–$7.99 for eight, steamed or fried). These delicious al dente dumplings come stuffed with beef or cheese, potato and tofu. They’re accompanied by three kinds of dipping sauce: an herbed mayonnaise mix, olive oil with garlic, and a bright red liquid that the waitress warned was very hot. Given how bland everything else was, I didn’t really believe her, but thankfully it was a fiery concoction after all.

Next up, we tried shamdey ($7.99), described as curry made with your choice of boneless chicken, beef or lamb marinated in aromatic herbs and yogurt. I’m glad we opted for the lamb, because the meat had a strong flavour to it, set off nicely against the chunks of potato, bokchoy, red pepper and rice. Just don’t expect anything close to Indian-style curry from this muted recipe.

I went for a vegetable stir-fry called tse sesha ($5.99), also offered with tofu. It contained a generous amount of sliced Chinese mushrooms, with that dense chewy texture and distinctively nutty flavour, along with very fresh broccoli florets, zucchini and red peppers, in a light sauce. To go with it, I got a steamed doughy bun called tingmo ($1.25).

Shambala has several vegetarian options, such as gyathuk ngoepa ($5.99), pan-fried egg noodles topped with vegetables and tofu, and side dishes like shogo khatsa, “spicy” potatoes with spinach, red pepper and garlic. There’s also fried rice, vermicelli and meal-in-a-bowl soups that can be had with veggies, beef or chicken.

For dessert, there are more mild and milky things to try, like deysee, steamed sweet rice with raisins and yogurt. To finish off, warm your hands around a cup of sweet Tibetan tea, infinitely more palatable than the thick and (deliberately) greasy butter tea. They also sell Chang, a home-brewed Tibetan rice beer.

While this place is charming enough to warrant a visit, eating here left me feeling almost as neutral as the taste of the food itself. :

Shambala
Address: 3439 St-Denis (@ Cherrier)
Phone: 842-2242
Hours: Mon–Fri 11am–10pm; Sat–Sun 3–11pm
Best features: décor, dumplings
Alcohol: Yes
Vegetarian friendly: Yes
Credit cards: Visa
Wheelchair access: No
Price: $12/person without tax, drinks or tip
Rating: ** out of ****