Punda’s rustic Tibetan fare a capital idea
In a town full of dumplings, it’s not easy to stand out.
But Tenzing Tsering’s delicious, thin-skinned momos definitely do. They so impressed the president of Kalmykia — an autonomous republic inside Russia — that he once made the Tibetan his personal chef. Tsering also cut his teeth at restaurants in Siberia, Moscow, Kathmandu and Manhattan before opening his own place in western Queens.
The new spot in Sunnyside has a clean, spare décor: dark saffron walls with Tibetan touches like little statues of mountain goats and musical monks, and a pic of the Dalai Lama above the bar next to a line of tongba (the wooden vessels used for the Nepalese booze jaand).
Tsering’s menu is reminiscent of a Greek diner in its attempt to touch a lot of bases: It nods toward India with dishes like vegetable pakora, paneer masala and aloo gobi. The mapu tofu appetizer ($6) — puffy pillows of bean curd and peanut, deep fried and served with a pungent chili sauce — is innocuous but addictive. Blink and it’s gone.
His crispy half-moon shabalay ($7) are the Tibetan version of empanadas, with a range of fillings and a fiery side sauce. They also tend not to loiter at the table.
Tsering also includes Chinese dishes and a roster of “Western” soups like cream of tomato and cream of mushroom, but such offerings are beside the point, which is Tibetan fare.
Start with a Tibetan soup, like thenthuk ($7), a bowl of comfort filled with hand-pulled noodles, spinach, beef and hearty clear broth. The mothuk ($7) arrives loaded with more spinach, bok choy and juicy dumplings, while phing sha ($9) is an earthy stew of tender beef, potato, wood ear mushrooms and cellophane noodles.
Most of Tsering’s dishes are similarly homey and satisfying, but some approach rustic perfection: Momos ($7) are a must — the fillings (beef, pork, chicken, vegetable, tofu, potato) are blended with onion and cilantro, and served with tart pickled veggies and chili sauce. Shabtak ($9) mixes spicy sliced beef in a savory sauce of tomato, chili and onion, that goes well with the hearty steamed bread called tingmo. Ditto for the jhasa sonam ($8), chicken slices simmered in tomato and onion and scented with cilantro.
Desserts are more than an afterthought so try one of Tsering’s homemade ice creams ($3). The pistachio is creamy, smooth and faintly nutty. The frothy tsampa shake whirs together milk, mango, watermelon, honey, vanilla and a touch of roasted barley flour. But the bhatsa margue ($4) is the restaurant’s sweet secret: little football-shaped pasta are tossed with melted butter and finely grated dried cheese and then drizzled with honey. A visit to Tibet may be a stretch, but Punda makes it easy as a ride on the 7 train.