Café Shambala

One of my favorite restaurants in Salt Lake City. Their prices are excellent and the food is very unique. Very large menu with lots of variety. The lunch buffet is one of the best parts.

My brother-in-law’s fave place. He introduced us years ago to the all you can eat Saturday lunch buffet. Best taste and bang for buck in Utah in my opinion. They catered a conference at the University of Utah and it was some of the best conference food I’ve ever had.
Flavors remind me of both Nepalese (traveled there when I was a kid) and Chinese (lived in Taiwan). Love the atmosphere with paintings and large photos from Tibet (including one of the Dhalai Lama). Humble and warm service ties it all together wonderfully. Trying out their dinner menu next!

I’ve been going here since I was a baby and it’s my favorite restaurant in salt lake. The tofu stir fry and beef momos are my go to meal along with the Tibetan salad. I love the spicy potatoes as well. They have a great lunch time buffet that is affordable. Overall a great place that I highly recommend.

Tibetan owned and operated. This is our go to meal if we need a quick healthy meal. The lunch buffet is good, but dinner items are all prepared to order with fresh ingredients. When our kids are sick and don’t want to eat anything, they will always eat from Shambala. We love the chicken chow mein, chicken phinshaw, veggie/​tofu curry, spicy spinach/​potatoes and steamed momos (dumplings). Bön appetit.

Always come for the lunch buffet. Chicken is moist and flavorful, momos are very good. Spicy potatoes are excellent. Owner never lets your drink get empty. Ginger sauce is perfect on everything. Highly recommend.

What a cute little Tibetan restaurant! Lots of options. We started with the Tibetan tea which is made with salt and butter. It’s as delicious as it sounds and perfect on a cold Salt Lake day. Don’t be scared. YOLO. The lentil soup was flavorful and perfectly hot. I was served a very generous portion of veggies and noodles, enough for another meal. Our friendly server was knowledgable and kept water glasses full. Happy eater, thanks Café Shambala.

I have many Nepali friends and honestly I’ve had better momos with them and have realized the palate of this region. To compare from my previous experiences, the momo meat here was bland, spices for the spicy potato didn’t seep through so it tasted like plain potato. The sauce was good but the taste isn’t in the potato. The most enjoyable thing was the phingsha. garlicky tasty goodness. Also if you want to get Tibetan tea, it’s actually salty so just a precaution. It was definitely interesting. service is ok. i guess it could be better. i was rather disappointed seeing so many great reviews. More for being cultural n at no means of being racist, it just wasn’t as spicy as it should be. But i guess it’s ok since their customers are mostly Americans n spiciness level is reduced to fit most customers tongues.

Momos and spicy potatoes. That is all.
but seriously, this place has completely ruined me. i’ve become an addict, and search for tibetan restaurants wherever i go now. nothing compares. i’ve even lived in nepal, and the food here is better.
if i could eat here every day for the rest of my life, i would do so happily.

Food is hit and miss. Service is generally poor. Still, the Momos are delightful and they’ve got a reasonably priced lunch buffet. The location keeps me coming back simply because it’s a quick walk from mi casa.
For the buffet, the chicken and two kinds of fried Momos are very good. Chicken is moist and has a subtle but well-​developed flavor. Momos are fried crisp with a savory interior of vege or beef. Dipped in their sweet ginger sauce these are worth the price of admission on their own. The rice and noodles are both really oily and not very flavorful, but not a terrible way to round out your plate. Beyond that there’s a scant few dishes and none are too memorable.
The interior is right on the borderline between divey cute and divey gross. It’s a family run place, and sometimes this means getting a little too comfortable letting cleanliness, atmosphere and service slide downhill. During certain times they clearly need another server, but since it’s all in the family whoever they got is who they got. No hiring of outside help… Especially challenging when English is a far distant second language.
Not a great place, but they do have some bright spots. Certainly worth a visit.

Calling shenanigans on you Shambala!
Stopped by for a to-​go of steamed vege momos. They are supposed to come with a ginger sauce which is frickin’ awesome and ½ the reason I crave them so much. My order was bagged with a little sauce cup inside, then tied in a knot fit to hold a battleship to port. Hmmm… I get home and they’ve substituted the delectable and craveworthy ginger sauce for a cup of straight red chili sauce! Ow! I am convinced the knot was meant to foil any quick inspection, just to get me home so I wouldn’t bother raising a stink.
A small matter perhaps, but nothing works my nerves like unexpected and unexplained substitutions. Makes me feel like a dick for having such big emotions about ginger sauce, but there it is. Nothing worse than watching a fat man weep.

I had the day off and was just walking about salt lake city. Ran into this place and was intrigued. It was pretty late, 3pm, and the lunch buffet was still open. Everything was delicious. I don’t’ know what it was, maybe loading up on the spice condiment provided on the table but I was really euphoric afterwards.

I have only had the lunch buffet here but I really liked it. It’s a small buffet with really good fried momos. You can eat your fill for under 10 dollars here

Good, homey, simple food. LOTS of it. Extremely cheap and tasty. Not fancy at all. Starchy. The noodle dishes come with rice. This would be a good post-​sports eatery. Very kind and personable servers and staff. The hot sauce is good. Momos are very, very temperature hot inside, be careful eating.

Living in the Aves, we go here all the time. Always fast and delicious! I have to agree with previous reviews, momos and fhingsha are incredible! Sauce with the momos is legit– spicy enough for all fans of flavor. The veggie options are really nice — we always order the Peas w/​Tofu.
The staff is also really nice and helpful. If you’re in the area, definitely need to visit and enjoy!

This is my favorite place for vegetarian meals in the aves. They have amazing hours and a rad lunch buffet that’s very affordable. They were voted best vegetarian buffet by city weekly and as a vegetarian I can say they have lots of amazing and delicious options. My non veggie friends also love the food they ordered too!

This place is a glorious hidden gem. Love the décor and staff and the food is stellar. The sauce for dipping is glorious too! I love all of the vegetarian and vegan options :)

I love this place! The portions are generous and filling for a good price, and the owners are super sweet. The dumplings are delightful.

Momos. Come here for the momos! Fried or steamed, doesn’t matter. They’re both delicious! And they’ll let you do half and half, or even just get a half order. Service is super accommodating and friendly.
I’ve also had their stir fry noodles and their tofu curries. I’ve never been disappointed, but never blown away. And they like to put a lot of celery in most of their dishes, which I’m not personally a fan of.
Their hot sauce is also amazeballs. It’s this concoction of chili oil, vinegar, and soy sauce (probably totally wrong, but tastes and looks like it) that they make themselves! I always ask for extra… they should really sell that stuff by the bottle.
I know they have a lunch buffet, but I’ve never tried it. Must go one day… but only if it includes momos :)

Never fails to impress! Great, friendly service. High quality ingredients, great variety on the menu. Shared 5 different dishes with some friends last night and every one was amazing! Definitely not a place to miss!

Had the lunch buffet. There were around 12 options that included rice, noodles, potatoes, veggies, tofu, chicken, momos, soup, fruit, and rice pudding. A lot of spicy intense flavors. It was less than $ 20 for my husband and myself. Customer service was good.

I can’t believe I’ve never written a review for this place yet. I’ve been a few times and this place is honestly a vegetarian’s paradise. The First few times I ordered off the menu for dinner; however, today I went for lunch and got the buffet. They have an amazing variety of stuff in the buffet (mostly veggie friendly) but a couple of meat items. One thing you definitely can not beat is the price for lunch. $ 8.50 + tax will get you a choice of 6 – 8 items: drink not included. For the quality of food at this cute mom and pop ethnic restaurant that’s amazing! My favorite things here include the spicy tofu dish (the buffet version is not as spicy) as well as the veggie fried momos. This place is a wonderful blend of Chinese, Indian, and Nepali flavors. The staff is super attentive and helpful when trying to choose something off the extensive menu and are able to answer any questions you may have. I will definitely come back for more!
p. s. The spicy sauce that they have out on the tables is no joke… SUPER spicy!

I live just a few houses down from Shambala, so my boyfriend and I dine here all the time. The owners are always so friendly. The food comes out quickly, and is consistently delicious. The servings are large, so you can split a dish between two people if you get an appetizer. My ultimate fave is the Tofu fried noodle. We often order the veggie fried momos and beef steamed momos (they will do half orders of each) and hot & sour soup.
You can’t ask for much better for the price.

I’m glad I was able to try this place out on my last visit to Salt Lake. It was right next to a friends apartment, and he had only good things to say. We wanted an inexpensive dinner so we stopped in.
We ordered three things and split among the table. There were three of us, and although we finished it, it was definitely more than enough for the table (they are just very hungry boys– normal people couldn’t have finished it all). We had the vegetable tofu curry, the eggplant and a beef dish. The veggie curry didn’t have much curry flavor to me, but it was delicious none the less. The veggies tasted fresh and perfect. The beef was also good but a little bit chewy. The eggplant was by far everyone’s favorite– I’d definitely recommend it.
The best part about eating here was that it wasn’t too heavy. I left feeling like I ate a lot, but it was mostly vegetables, so I didn’t feel so bad about it :) this place is very vegetarian friendly also! Come give this little place a try.

Café Shambala never disappoints. One of my favorite places in town. This place is a must, especially if you’re vegetarian.
Everything on the menu is good, but I keep coming back to the eggplant sauté and of course those momos! Great location, service, and atmosphere too.

This place has a definitive quaint, home-​cooked feel to it. I ordered the Veggie Combo which was a mix of fried rice, potatoes, and 3 veggie momos. It’s a good deal and all the items in said combo were tasty. The momos have a lot of garlic and similar spices so be careful if that type of thing is not agreeable with your stomach. My companion had the sweet and sour tofu+veggie dish; it was OK, but certainly not something I would recommend or order in the future. The iced chai was similarly disappointing; watery and lacking taste. Service was excellent. The water was never empty and the server had a gentle demeanor. I was slightly reluctant given my last experience with Nepalese cuisine, but this place came through. I’ll be back.

Tucked away in the avenues, this authentic homestyle café was a pleasant surprise to stumble into for some late night munching! The low light from hanging lanterns gave the space a warm, intimate ambiance that matched the staff’s friendly and attentive demeanor. Our food came out quickly and stylistically looked very appetizing. Served with a warm, sweet ginger sauce for rice, I ordered sweet and sour tofu while my partner scored a delicious deal with the vegetarian plate that included potatoes, fried rice and the oh-​so famous Mo-​Mos!
If you don’t order the Mo-​Mos here, you’ve really missed an opportunity to taste a dish that has procured a Salt Lake City cult following. Similar to flakey dumplings, these Mo-Mo’s are served hot, stuffed with your choice of potatoes, veggies and meat. The usage of spice and seasoning is near heavenly perfection, and with seven on your plate, you’ll be thanking any and every deity you stopped in for dinner.
What I love more than anything about Café Shambala is the food has a very «at home» feel to it because it is family owned and ran. The vegetables are lightly prepared so that they keep a crispness that really accentuates a straight-​out-​of-​the-​garden flavor. Our rice was cooked perfectly and the ginger sauce was one of the highlights of our dinner. You can tell each dish is prepared carefully and served with love.
A must try for anyone seeking delicious, authentic Himalayan Food for a price that will keep you coming back for «Mo».

Like many others I found Café Shambala by reading about the food on Unilocal.Being that this place is literally blocks away from my house, I almost felt a little ashamed I hadn’t visited sooner.
Everything about this place is authentic: Food, atmosphere, and… Well, can I say food again? Because it’s amazing!
We tried the beef momos (fried and boiled) — they were awesome. The beef chow mein was also an amazing dish.
Forget leftovers: you’ll want it all. Food comas are only natural at Café Shambala.

Mo mo-​mos please! I can’t get enough of them. Or the fried noodles, or the mango lassi, or pretty much everything.
This is a cozy little out of the way spot in the avenues that is one of my favorite spots in the city. It isn’t hard to get a table, and I secretly hope that it stays that way. The first time I walked in, it definitely reminded me of many places I had dined in Singapore, China, Cambodia, etc. They have a variety of menu items with nods to many different Asian cuisines.
The family-​run atmosphere is great, and the workers are as nice as can be. It is one of those places where they will give me a sincere apology if I have to wait even 30 seconds for a refill or to pay my bill. Not to mention they are fast. I put in an order for two entrees, and it was sitting in front of me piping hot within five minutes. Not even Jimmy Johns could match that freaky fast service.
If you’re in the mood for something different that will put a lot on your plate and take little from your wallet, Café Shambala is worth a visit.