Jackson Heights, Queens is a melting pot. There’s a vast Indian, Tibetan and Nepali community with a lot of unique restaurants and shops. There is also a Hispanic community. In this post we’re going to focus on Indian and Tibetan restaurants in Jackson Heights. It’s easy to get to this neighborhood by taking the train to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Ave, or by taking one of the many buses that go there.

This area is so cool. By just walking around the neighborhood you can see such interesting shops that you don’t normally see on an everyday basis. There are shops that sell saris, a traditional South Asian female garment (I got to try one on!), and traditional Indian jewelry, which line each street:

There is also this giant Indian supermarket called Patel Brothers, which sells foods that you thought you could only find in India. I love chips, they’re my guilty pleasure, and so I was really excited to find these:

Masala is a mixture of spices commonly used in Indian and South Asian cuisine. And now it’s in chip form! And they’re magic, apparently. Magically delectable, that is.

I have a lot of friends of Indian and Bengali descent, who can easily tolerate spicy food because a lot of their countries’ traditional foods are spicy. They don’t understand when I tell them that I can’t. I can’t do spicy. I try but I fail. I’m just a little Hispanic girl who grew up eating rice and beans and sweet plantains.

Therefore, eating Indian and Tibetan food was a little difficult at first, but was worth it and DELICIOUS.

Here are some of my favorite Indian and Tibetan places in Jackson Heights, Queens:

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Dosa Delight

Located: 35-66 73rd St, Jackson Heights, NY, 11372.

This spot is known for its vegetarian and vegan cuisine. It’s also (obviously) known for their dosas. There are plenty to choose from.

I love dosas. They’re so tasty and fun to eat! A dosa is a fermented crepe made from rice batter and black lentils. Each comes with seasoned potatoes inside. You tear up the dosa, use your hands to pick up the filling with the dosa, dip it in the sauces, and then eat it. It’s fun! Utensils are overrated.

And so when my friend told me about a good dosa place in Jackson Heights, we had to pay a visit.

Each dosa at Dosa Delight comes with two sauces, sambar (lentil-based vegetable sauce) and coconut chutney.

My friend got a rave dosa, which is a crispy semolina crepe flavored with cumin seeds and curry leaves. It’s also served with sambar and coconut chutney. This particular dosa takes a little longer to make.

Each dosa is HUGE. So big it was hard for me to take a full picture. It was like a trumpet, with a horn and everything.

I really like the spinach masala dosa, which is a plain dosa with spinach and seasoned potatoes in it. It wasn’t spicy at all! And it was delicious. Almost tasted like creamed spinach. So good.

I definitely recommend checking out Dosa Delight! They serve all of their food on plates that look like mirrors. So cool.

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Amdo Kitchen

Located: 37-57 74th St, Jackson Heights, NY, 11372.

This food truck serves authentic Tibetan momos. A momo is a Tibetan steamed dumpling filled with meat or vegetables. These momos are known as the best momos in Jackson Heights, according to the locals. They. Are. So. Good. Even their name is fun. Momo momo momo.

What they don’t warn you about these momos is how juicy they are. They are like little sacks filled with steaming hot broth. Once you bite into one, it just explodes and scorching broth just comes at you. I was dodging the liquid by just letting it spill out onto the sidewalk. I started eating them closer to the ground, with my legs spread out. Its a safety hazard, literal lava. Still good though, totally worth it.

They’re reasonably priced too! You can get eight momos for $5.oo. And they are super filling.

They come with this spicy pickled side that apparently is REALLY spicy, so I didn’t try it. You can also ask for regular hot sauce on the side.

Other than momos, they have thentuk, which is a hand pulled noodle soup and very common in Tibetan households. They also have shapale, which are Tibetan meat or vegetable fried pies.

Speaking of momos, on Saturday, November 14th there was the Fourth Annual Momo Crawl 2015 in Jackson Heights from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. It took place in Diversity Plaza between 37th road and 73rd street. You could have gone from place to place trying out different momos in the Jackson Heights area. It was $1 for each momo you ate. For more information about next year’s Momo Crawl, visit the Momo Crawl Facebook page.

Come check out Amdo Kitchen for authentic Tibetan momos! There’s always a long line and it’s so close to the subway station. You won’t be disappointed.

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Maharaja Sweets

Located: 73-10 37th Ave, Jackson Heights, NY, 11372.

This is an Indian sweets paradise. They have everything! Absolutely everything. There are so many desserts to choose from. They have desserts from Bangladesh as well.

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Indian desserts are all really sweet. The sweetest desserts I’ve ever had. Maharaja doesn’t only sell sweets, they also serve savory foods such as tandoori breads like poori, which is a whole wheat bread that is deep fried and becomes puffy. They also have vegetarian specialties, which are served with roti or nan, such as dum aloo, which is a stuffed potato cooked in a sauce with fennel and cumin seeds.

This place has a lot of different types of burfi, which is a dense milk based sweet. They have really good coconut burfi. Burfi kind of has the consistency of raw cookie dough, it’s really thick. It’s very interesting and different. And there is a silver edible film on top of each.

Kaju katli is similar to burfi– they’re both dense milk based desserts. Kaju katli is made from cashews, and is also known as cashew fudge. They also have ras malai, which is so good and possibly the sweetest thing at this sweet shop. Ras malai is cottage or ricotta cheese soaked in condensed milk. It’s very juicy and creamy.

My favorite thing there is probably their kulfi. Kulfi is a frozen dairy dessert, basically Indian ice cream. It comes in a variety of flavors but my favorite is the original malai kulfi. I literally just sat there and happily hummed to myself while eating this. It tasted exactly like condensed milk!

You can view their full menu on their website.

Come check out Maharaja Sweets to discover and try out a unique variety of Indian sweets!

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Spicy Tibet

Located: 75-04 Roosevelt Ave, Jackson Heights, NY 11372.

It’s all in the name. When they called themselves Spicy Tibet they were not joking. So unbelievably spicy, but still pretty enjoyable.

I think the best thing on their menu is the beef chili. It is beef that is sautéed with bell peppers, onions and himalayan spices. It is served with a steamed Tibetan bread called tingmo. The beef itself is so soft and tender, and of course, super spicy. My mouth is still burning! And its only $8.50!

They also have pretty impressive momos here and dopa khatsa, which is traditional Tibetan fried tripe.

Check out Spicy Tibet for authentic and delicious Tibetan food!

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Thank you for reading my post about Indian and Tibetan places in Jackson Heights, Queens! I hope you’ll enjoy these restaurants as much as I do, and I hope you can tolerate the spice. Have fun and try on a sari while you’re there! There are plenty of shops you can choose from. You should also try to stop by Patel Brothers.

Jackson Heights natives: Did I leave out your favorite Indian or Tibetan place? Or any other kind of restaurant for that matter? Tell me in a comment below!

Until next time!