03 April 2011

Cafe Shambala

The Place: Cafe Shambala

What we expected: Like Vito's, we know what we're getting into.  Tibetan food, which we can best describe as a slightly lighter Chinese, heavier on veggies, and much much tastier.

What we got: Thanks to our language barriers and our adventurous spirits, we've ended up with most everything here at one point or another.  There's one or two things to get every time.  Otherwise, whatever you want.

The pros: It's truly fabulous.  If you get take out or take home leftovers, the smell lingers in your car for a couple days, reminding you of the joy you experienced previously.  It's right next door to Hatch's so you can get an ice cream after.  It's not all that busy, so getting a table isn't hard.  The food always tastes a little different, so you don't get sick of it.  Saying "Shambala" is fun.  The staff is very friendly.

The cons: It's hard to decide what to order.  If you're picky, you may be in trouble because they get your order wrong sometimes since they don't speak great English.  If you like an adventure, that's a pro.  It's cheap, but not super cheap.

What to get: Veggie fried mo-mos.  Make sure not to order the meat ones or the non-fried ones.  They're good, but what you want is the veggie fried mo-mos.  7 come on a plate, and you want at least 3 1/2, so order a plate for two of you.  And then another plate to take home.  We can't say enough about veggie fried mo-mos.  We rate all other food in comparison to mo-mos.

Chicken chow mein is probably the next best thing.  Beef and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, chili chicken, fingsha, etc. etc.  They're legit.  There are many vegan and vegetarian options as well, which have been good. But we eat more meat.


(Half eaten chicken chow mein) 

(Veggie fried mo-mos and sauce from the outside)

(Veggie fried mo-mos from the inside)

(Sweet and sour chicken and rice)

Urban Spoon users: Are basically right.  But it's better than they say.

Ratings (1-5 mo-mos (see, mo-mos!), 5 is the best):
Price: 3 mo mos. It's a good deal, but like a lot of this kind of food, it's not as cheap as a sandwich or a burrito.  The bigger issue is that we end up ordering enough for a couple days of leftovers.
Atmosphere: 3.5 mo mos. It's pretty okay.  Clean and friendly, and nice to get to the aves from time to time.  Being next door to Hatch's doesn't hurt their rating.
Food: 5 mo mos. This is only the second 5 we have on here, and we don't have another one in mind.  If we weren't opposed to people giving ratings higher than the scale, we'd give this a 5.5.  But we are opposed to that.

Will we be back:
Seriously?  Of course.  This is one of the most elite members of the already elite SLC Shawsome Spots club.

Cafe Shambala on Urbanspoon

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