Food & Drinks

1. བོད་ཇ་གཅིག་གནང་རོགས།

   Bö-ja chig nang-rok

   Please give me one butter tea

   Usage

   Ordering the traditional Tibetan butter tea. Essential for warmth at high altitude.

   Grammar Note

   "Nang" is the honorific of "to give" (ordinary: "ter"). "Rok" adds a polite "please" nuance. Tibetan cuisine is calorie-rich for high altitude; butter tea is served everywhere.

2. ཐུག་པ་གཅིག་གནང་རོགས།

   Thuk-pa chig nang-rok

   Please give me one thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup)

   Usage

   Ordering thukpa, a hearty Tibetan noodle soup, popular in the cold highlands.

   Grammar Note

   Food orders follow the pattern "dish + quantity + nang-rok." Thukpa has spread to India and Nepal as well, being one of the most well-known Tibetan dishes.

3. མོག་མོག་གཅིག་གནང་རོགས།

   Mok-mok chig nang-rok

   Please give me one momo (Tibetan dumplings)

   Usage

   Ordering momo, the popular Tibetan steamed dumplings with meat or vegetable fillings.

   Grammar Note

   "Mok-mok" uses reduplication. It is the most internationally known Tibetan dish, recognized as "momo" in Nepal and India as well.

4. རྩམ་པ་ཡོད་དམ།

   Tsam-pa yö-dam?

   Do you have tsampa (roasted barley flour)?

   Usage

   Asking for tsampa, the staple roasted barley flour of Tibet, traditionally mixed with butter tea.

   Grammar Note

   The question "yö-dam?" (do you have?) is essential for travelers. "Yö" is the existential/possessive verb; "dam" marks the question. Tsampa is also used in Buddhist rituals.

5. ཤ་མེད་པར་བཟོ་རོགས།

   Sha me-par zo-rok

   Please make it without meat (vegetarian)

   Usage

   Used by vegetarian travelers. Attitudes toward meat vary by region due to Tibetan Buddhist influences.

   Grammar Note

   "Me-par" is a postposition meaning "without." "Zo" is the imperative of "to make." In Tibetan Buddhism, large animals like yak are often acceptable, while smaller animals are avoided.

6. གདོང་ལེན་ཇི་ཡིན་ནམ།

   Dong-len ji yin-nam?

   How much does it cost?

   Usage

   Asking the price of food. Useful in restaurants and markets.

   Grammar Note

   Price-inquiry phrase. In Tibet, Indian rupees or Chinese yuan may be used depending on the region. In Lhasa and major cities, Chinese is also widely understood in restaurants.

7. ཞིམ་པོ་འདུག

   Zhim-po dug

   It is delicious

   Usage

   Telling the cook or host that the food is delicious. Always appreciated.

   Grammar Note

   "Dug" is the experiential copula for things directly perceived. Perfect for food reactions. Add "shin-tu" before "zhim-po" to say "very delicious."

8. ཆང་གཅིག་གནང་རོགས།

   Chang chig nang-rok

   Please give me one chang (barley beer)

   Usage

   Ordering chang, the traditional Tibetan barley beer, drunk at festivals and celebrations.

   Grammar Note

   Chang is a traditional fermented barley beverage, milky white in appearance. Essential at festivals and celebrations, and offered to guests. Flavor varies by region across Tibet.

9. གྲང་མོ་མ་ཡིན་པར་དྲོ་བོ་གནང་རོགས།

   Drang-mo ma-yin-par dro-wo nang-rok

   Please give me something warm, not cold

   Usage

   At high altitude in cold conditions, warm food and drink are essential. Use when ordering.

   Grammar Note

   "Ma-yin-par" creates a contrastive negation "not X but Y." At high altitude on the Tibetan plateau, warm food is a health priority.

10. མར་ཇ་མ་གཏོགས་ཏུ་ཇ་དྭངས་གནང་རོགས།

    Mar-ja ma-tok-tu ja-dang nang-rok

    Please give me plain tea instead of butter tea

    Usage

    For travelers who would rather not drink butter tea. In "ja dang", dang means "clear", i.e. tea without butter (also called ja kha or ja nak).

    Grammar Note

    "Ma-tok-tu" is a postpositional phrase meaning "except for / instead of." Tibetan tea culture is varied: the sweet milk tea o ja is a fixture of Lhasa teahouses, and tea leaves brought from inland China are called gya ja.

11. ཟ་ཁང་ག་པར་ཡོད་དམ།

    Za-khang ga-par yö-dam?

    Where is the restaurant?

    Usage

    Used when looking for a place to eat.

    Grammar Note

    The question structure "X ga-par yö-dam?" asks where X is. "Ga-par" is the interrogative for "where", and "za-khang" means restaurant or eating place.

12. ཐག་ལེགས་སྐྱེས།

    Thak-lek kye

    I am full / That was satisfying

    Usage

    Said when finishing a meal or when full. Also used to decline more food.

    Grammar Note

    In Tibetan hospitality culture, hosts frequently offer more food. Using this phrase politely indicates you are satisfied and no more is needed.

13. འབྲས།

    Dre

    Cooked rice

    Usage

    Refers to cooked rice, which is a different word from raw rice

14. བག་ལེབ།

    Bag leb

    Bread

    Usage

    Point at it when ordering breakfast or a snack

15. ཚྭ།

    Tsha

    Salt

    Usage

    Point at it at a market or a table

16. ཀ་ར།

    Ka ra

    Sugar

    Usage

    Point at it at a market or a table

17. སྣུམ།

    Num

    Oil

    Usage

    Point at cooking oil, also useful when asking for less of it

18. མར།

    Mar

    Butter

    Usage

    Point at it at a market or at breakfast

19. ཆུར་བ།

    Chur wa

    Cheese

    Usage

    Point at it at a market or at breakfast

20. སྦྲང་རྩི།

    Drang tsi

    Honey

    Usage

    Point at it at a market or at breakfast

21. ཞོ།

    Zho

    Yoghurt

    Usage

    Point at it at a market or at breakfast

22. སྒོག་པ།

    Gog pa

    Garlic

    Usage

    Point at it to ask for a dish without it

23. བཙོང་།

    Tsong

    Onion

    Usage

    Point at it to ask for a dish without it

24. སྒ།

    Ga

    Ginger

    Usage

    Point at it at a market

25. ཤིང་ཏོག

    Shing tog

    Fruit

    Usage

    Point at it at a market

26. ཁུ་བ།

    Khu wa

    Soup

    Usage

    Point at it when ordering

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