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The restaurant industry in Seda is relatively underdeveloped, and most tourists dine directly at the Seda Buddhist Academy, where there are two or three small restaurants serving mostly vegetarian and pasta dishes. If a few days of vegetarian meals are unbearable, consider strolling through the county town, where you'll find several small restaurants offering traditional Tibetan cuisine, as well as Sichuan dishes like hot pot and maocai (stir-fried vegetables), to satisfy your carnivorous cravings. Tibetan dishes include yak beef and tuotuo meat, served with butter tea and barley cakes. Dining in this setting offers a unique and captivating experience.
Tsampa is a staple food of Tibetans, similar in shape to fried noodles in mainland China. It's portable and easy to eat once cooked. Made from ingredients like highland barley, peas, and oats, tsampa is typically formed into balls and eaten directly. Besides the main ingredients, tsampa is often seasoned with ghee, sugar, highland barley wine, and other ingredients. While it might not appeal to mainland Chinese palates, if you're interested, try it.
Yogurt juice, milk cakes, milk curds, and "three-in-one pastries" are also common foods. "Three-in-one pastries" are usually used as the best food to entertain guests during the New Year and other festivals.
Butter tea is a specialty beverage in Tibet. Its main ingredients are butter and milk, with walnuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, eggs, and salt added. Enjoying a bowl of butter tea during your visit to Seda is perfect for warding off the cold, relieving greasy food, and satisfying hunger.
Blood sausage is a top-notch food in the Tibetan diet. It is an honor to treat distinguished guests with blood sausage. Made from sausage casings, blood juice, spices, and yak meat (or pork), blood sausage is nutritious and delicious.
Yak meat is a very common food in Tibet. It can be found in dried and braised yak meat, as well as in various dishes made with fresh yak meat. In Seda, the most popular dish is Tuotuo meat, sold by the pound. It is mainly made of beef or mutton, but it is served in larger chunks. After cooking, it can be eaten with a knife.
The restaurant's dishes are all vegetarian and taste good. You can decide the portion yourself, but you must finish it. The potatoes are the best. The set meal costs about ten yuan per person, and you can also order your own dishes, which is slightly more expensive than the set meal.
Address: Inside the Five Sciences Buddhist College, Seda County
Opening hours: Closed on Sundays
Transportation: Within walking distance of the Buddhist Academy
Reference price: 15 yuan per person
The small restaurant offers fried rice, stir-fried vegetables, and soup, priced between 6 and 12 yuan. Egg fried rice is 5 yuan. The vegetables are quite oily, and the rice can be hard. Because it's located on a plateau, the food may occasionally be undercooked.
Address: Opposite to the Lama Sutra Hall, Wuming Buddhist College, Seda County
Transportation: Within walking distance of the Buddhist Academy
Reference price: 10 yuan per person
This Tibetan-style restaurant isn't very large, but is decorated in a Tibetan style, filled with thangkas and paintings. The owner is down-to-earth and the service is friendly. The Tuotuo beef is delicious, 40 yuan per pound, and the Tibetan steamed buns are also quite good, large and substantial.
Address: Jixiang South Street, Seda County
Contact: 18783652096
Transportation: Enter Jixiang South Street from the west section of Jinma Avenue and walk 10 meters to the destination
Reference price: 45 yuan per person
Located not far from the Jinma Hotel, it's easy to find. The food is good, though not as authentic as the chuanchuanxiang in Chengdu. Meat skewers are 1 yuan each, while vegetarian skewers are 0.5 yuan each. The local specialty, yak beef, is highly recommended.
Address: Middle section of Jianshe Road, Seda County
Contact: 13568681726
Getting there: Go into the alley on the right side of the main entrance of Jinma Hotel and walk about 150 meters. It is on the first floor of the post office building.
Reference price: 40 yuan per person
There is a pretty good Sichuan hotpot restaurant in Seda County. It is a rare feast to enjoy a hearty hotpot in the hardship of Seda.
Address: No. 2, East Jinma Avenue, Seda County (near Jinma Square)
Contact: 0836-8522598
Transportation: Walk from Jinma Avenue to East Street