With a long overdue, it’s finally time for another travel food post with some unique dishes from around the world. I also made time to select some of the more finer things in life… like eating a Chinese grade Snickers bar at Everest Base Camp and taking yak tea shots in the middle of Tibet. You just never know what’s going to be on the menu for the day and you have to make the best of it. It’s all part of the travel experience. Most of these dishes cover my travels through China, Tibet, Nepal and India. Enjoy…
Blocks of Yak Butter being sold in Lhasa, Tibet
What better way to use Yak butter than to fry it up into this yak fried rice dish in Tibet
Street vendors in Lhasa, Tibet selling all types of grains and rice and curious other stuff…
An excellent dish of chicken, rice (the staple) and curry in Nepal… and yes, it was spicy
My travels in India just wouldn’t be complete without a bag of Lay’s Magic Masala potato chips. Don’t say I didn’t branch out in trying new foods:)
Your traditional Chinese noodle dish, complete with chicken, egg and random green vegetables you may not find in other regions of the globe.
Ahh yes, authentic Yak Chai tea in a small town in Tibet… 16 of us tried it and I seemed to be the only one that loved it. Its heavy on milk and spices. I had thirds…
Ok, so this dish was too funny not to take a picture of since I didn’t order it. The food at the hut I was staying in at Nepal’s Chitwan National Forest had a pre-planned set of meals. This consisted of pasta shells, some type of egg roll and fries. I guess the aim was to fulfill a traditional Western appetite which surprisingly was quite good.
An Indian street vendor sharing his menu with us. Everything from ordering to eating was an experience in and of itself… Definitely not a sanitation “Grade A” restaurant but it was $2 USD so I wasn’t complaining.
Another random Chinese dish. I say random because, as you can see from the menu in the background, we couldn’t do anything but point to an item on the menu and hope for the best….
Anyone ever tried a Tibetan pancake? Well, there you have it…
Sometimes you just want a Nepali pizza and brownie… at the same time… believe it or not, it was really tasty.
So I didn’t only order pizza and brownies while in Kathmandu. This was very traditional, complete with some very spicy curries, all for less than $2.50 USD. I could barely fit it all in the picture.
A trip to Everest Base Camp just isn’t complete without enjoying a Snickers at 18,192 feet. Could Snickers use this for local advertising?
Chinese Dumplings on the left, another random noodle dish on the right. After so many months traveling in Asia, you’ll just have to get used to eating rice and noodles three times a day…
One of the craziest hole in the wall restaurants I ate in while in Kathmandu, Nepal. The picture doesn’t give it justice but this lady, sitting on the floor in the middle of the restaurant, was cooking all the meals. You’d just walk up to put in your order….
This was one of the dishes she served up above. A potato pancake of sorts…
These were more items off the cooking floor… some type of meat on the right, two other dishes I can’t identify and a tall glass of rice beer to wash it down.
My Nepali lunch is served… sandwich halves with egg on top, potatoes and fried onion rings with soup. Yum
Stay tuned for more unique, fun and random food dishes from around the world as I continue to look like the typical tourist and take pictures of my food in front of curious locals. As long as it brings a smile to their faces, I’ll keep right on snapping pictures…
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Great blog. I love foods from around the world and will try just about anything once. Ecuador, which I recently visited has some very intriguing foods like Cuy (guinea pig), guanabana juice and Langostinos that come seven to the pound. Thanks for sharing!
Mike
Thanks Mike, I agree with that philosophy… try just about anything once. However, I avoided the snakes and insects in China. I’d say they were more there for the tourists than anything but did see quite a lot of locals taking part. Ecuador sounds interesting… what is Langostinos?
Ooooh I want to try the lays!
And the pancake!
And the pizza!
And, and, and …:)
OK Sofie… I’ll send you some Magic Masala chips… but I’m not sure the pizza will make it from Nepal! What’s been your craziest food on the travel road so far???
Hold on, I’m SO expecting that package right now!
I’m afraid I haven’t gone completely crazy foodwise just yet.
I always eat… a lot, but something really crazy… Hmmm…
I thought chocolate tagliatelli was pretty special (super with baked apple slices); or chocolate-tomato pesto.
Yup, there’s often chocolate involved.
Hmmm…Chocolate-tomato pesto… now where was that made??
Germany!
Still have to find a recipe to make it taste good with though…
But you forgot to ask my address for the chips:p
Germany!
Still have to look for a recipe to make it taste good with, though…
But you forgot to ask my address to send me the chips:p
How random… I’d say Germany would have been my last guess!
I know!
My brother got it for me from this great chocolate shop in Dusseldorf where I’d been a couple of months before him. Of all the chocolate options he had, he went for chocolate-tomato pesto:)
It’s funny how touristic places tend to make up meal combinations to appeal to the touristic or western palate… like macaroni with fries!..
No matter how much one likes to experience the local cuisine, it’s also true that many times you just feeling like eating something more “regular”, something your palate with familiar with.. so I guess the macaroni with fries is there for those days! 😛
PS: I love Lays Magic Masala too! *yum*
Hi Zara! So true on that… I’ve seen some amazing (yet creative) ‘western’ dishes across the globe. I think the best can be found in Nepal and SE Asia so far along my travels. Either way, how can you go wrong with macaroni and fries?:) Glad to see another Magic Masala fan on here too. Way better than some of the Lay’s variety you’ll find in China!!
Nice shots. It seems you really immersed yourself in the food culture while in Asia!
Thanks Francis, its the only way to travel in my opinion… Well, that plus the fact that in some places, you’d don’t have much choice. Either you starve or you adapt and order the local dishes:)