You can not anxious about the dinning problems in Tibet. The high altitude makes this area prefer light taste rather than those spicy foods. It is also a good diet custom to release the High Altitude Sickness.
Tibetans have rice, wheat and barley as staple foods, and usually they eat food made of barley, such as Tsamba. The so-called tsamba is actually stir-fried barley. Different from the process of dealing with wheat among the Han people, barley is first stir-fried, and then milled into powder without being peeled. Tsamba is often accompanied with yak butter tea. Pour out half a bowl of yak butter tea, then add tsamba into the tea, stir it with your fingers, crush it up and it is ready to eat. During festivals, Tibetans throw tsamba into the air to pray for a good luck.
Tibetans like eating meat to fight the cold. The meat of yaks and sheep is the most favored. The meat of goats is disliked, while that of dogs, horses, and donkeys is taboo. In some areas, people do not eat fish for they regard fish as the incarnation of the god of water. Other people do not eat chicken or even eggs. Food Taboos differ from area to area. Just keep it in mind and do as Romes do. Tibetans are used to eating raw meat. In winter, they cut the meat into slices and hang them high up. The meat will keep fresh in the coldness and gradually dry. In the next spring they can either eat the air-dried meat as it is or cook it.
Yak butter tea is a daily drink in Tibet and a drink to greet guests as well. Almost every Tibetan family keeps a lot of yak butter in storage. When they make yak butter tea, they put yak butter into a bowl of tea, and after it is thawed, heat it up in the cooking pot. It is very convenient and rich in calories.
Chang is a kind of low-alcohol liquor that is brewed using fermented barley. It is enjoyed by all Tibetans, men and women, children and elders. It is also a necessity for festivals and religious ceremonies. These days, Tibetans dance freely and drink sweet chang to their content on the grasslands.
Sweet tea and yogurt are the other two common drinks. Sweet tea is what you get when you add milk and sugar to boiling tea. It is very popular to propose a toast of tea when seeing somebody off. Yogurt is more popular in pastoral areas.
If you are a vegetarian, you may spend more money than others because the prices of vegetables and fruits may be higher in this place. And you may still have little choice in short seasons however
With the development of the Tourism in Tibet, the restaurants serve more and more cuisines to meet needs of visitors. Lhasa for example, Tibetan food is supplemented by Chinese food, mostly Sichuan food. Restaurants serving Tibetan food, Chinese food and even western food mushroom in the streets to accommodate tourists.
As the tourism develops, many Tibetan restaurants are beginning to translate their menus into Chinese, English and some other languages.
You can ask your travel advisors to arrange your Tibet meals when you plan your Tibet travels.
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