There is a fairly common trope online that Bhutanese cuisine is not all that good, but is this really a fair assessment? Well in part yes it is because the extremely remote nature of the Kingdom means that they are not exactly awash with culinary options.

The second problem is that due to the rather unique tourism situation in the country all meals tend to be buffet style that are aimed at being as simple and inoffensive as possible. Sadly the net result though is that meals tend to be boring.

Yes while you are unlikely to see Bhutanese restaurants taking over the planet soon there are at least a few decent foods, and a whole heap of drinks to keep you fed and watered when you visit Bhutan.

What the Bhutanese Cuisine?

Bhutanese food is heavily based on chilli, cheese, rice and the concept of simplicity. Due to the altitude and terrain, vegetables are seasonal, and meat is often dried or preserved. Red rice is the staple, and most meals include some version of cheese sauce and chilli. The local belief is that chilli is a vegetable, not a spice, so expect things to be spicy by default.

Yak meat is common in the highlands, with beef, chicken and pork used where available. Cheese made from cow or yak milk is added to most cooked dishes, giving things a creamy texture. People also ferment vegetables, dry meats and make pickles to deal with the long winters. You’ll see lots of potatoes, mushrooms and spinach-based dishes depending on what time of year you come.

Dishes are usually simple and cooked in one pot. While it lacks variety, what Bhutanese food does have is a unique, strong identity. If you can handle the chilli, it’s actually very good.

What do tourists eat in Bhutan?

OK, so there is a myth that Bhutan caps the number of tourists that come every year, but in fact this is far from the case, with the nation actually crying out for more tourism. What is true though is that by and large Bhutan follows the “North Korea Model” in that tours, including meals are organized.

What this tends to mean is that you get a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. These are often not just bland, but oft times aimed at a Chinese market. This is to such a degree that even when we went to a momo restaurant we got no momo, but the same standard buffet.

Usually it consists of chicken, rice, noodles, cheesy potatoes and one of a number of other dishes. This can partly be gotten around by talking to your guides and explaining you need something more “local”, or by simply arranging to go out and pay for your own dinner. For us at least we managed to arrange a lot of chilli cheese, which is not just awesome, but hell deserves its own article (to come).

Chilli Cheese you say?

Yes, and not just any chilli cheese. We’re talking Ema Datshi (ཨེ་མ་དར་ཚིལ་), the national dish of Bhutan. It literally means chilli and cheese. Thick sliced green chillies, fried and then cooked down in a creamy yak or cow cheese sauce, often with a bit of onion or garlic thrown in. It’s hot, thick and served with red rice. You will be eating it more than once.

There are variants too. Kewa Datshi (ཀེ་ཝ་དར་ཚིལ་) is potato and cheese, while Shamu Datshi (ཤ་མུ་དར་ཚིལ་) uses mushrooms. Add dried beef and you get Shakam Ema Datshi (ཤ་ཁམ་ཨེ་མ་དར་ཚིལ་). There’s even bitter gourd and fern varieties. Almost everything can be datshi’d.

People eat this every day and you’ll see it at every meal. If you like it, you’re set. If you don’t, you might struggle. But it’s worth trying properly, preferably not from a buffet.

Top 10 Must Try Dishes in Bhutanese Cuisine

So, with this in mind we have put together our 10 ultimate must try foods when you visit Bhutan. Some should be part of your regular buffet, others you can ask for while the balance you will have to search out yourself.

As always I have counted down from 10 to 1, with this very much being in order.

10 Red Rice – The staple food. Slightly nutty and chewy, grows well at high altitudes.

9 Kewa Datshi (ཀེ་ཝ་དར་ཚིལ་) – Potatoes and cheese. A mild alternative to Ema Datshi.

8 Shakam Paa (ཤ་ཁམ་པགས་) – Dried beef fried with chillies. Great with red rice.

7 Suja (བསུ་ཇ་) – Butter tea made with salt. Strange but popular in the colder regions, such as Tibet too.

6 Goep (གོད་) – Stir fried tripe with chilli. Not for everyone but very Bhutanese.

5 Shamu Datshi (ཤ་མུ་དར་ཚིལ་) – Mushrooms and cheese. Creamy, earthy and excellent when local mushrooms are in season.

4 Sikam Paa (སི་ཀམ་པགས་) – Sun dried pork belly, usually fried with chilli. Fatty and addictive.

3 Jasha Maru (བྱ་བཟང་མ་རུ་) – Spicy chicken stew with ginger, garlic and tomato.

2 Momo (མོ་མོ་) – Dumplings with pork or beef. Fried or steamed and almost always good.

1 Ema Datshi (ཨེ་མ་དར་ཚིལ་) – Chilli and cheese. The dish that defines Bhutanese food. You’ll eat it daily.

Street Food Bhutan?

Well it is not exactly Bangladesh lets say! Overall the street food scene here is very lacking with the only thing I even say to try was Pani Puri, which is a crispy puri ball filled with potato and onions. Alas despite us asking for the spiciest they had it was a bit lacking.

Apart from that I saw little else with what did exist being simple and of Indian origin. Still much like the years it took me in Nauru, I am sure I will eventually crack the Bhutanese street food scene.

What should you drink in Bhutan?

Now while Bhutanese cuisine is a bit hit and miss the drinks are actually really bloody good. Bhutan makes damned good beer, has decent bars – I am looking at you Alchemy Bar – as well as doing wine, some of which is frankly excellent.

And it does not stop there with them also making decent whiskey, vodka and even having (imported I assume) Bacardi Breezer. They also make extremely good beer, certainly compared with places like Korea, or indeed China.

Top 10 Drinks to try in Bhutan

Again I’ll eventually give the drinks of Bhutan its own article, particularly the alcohol, but for now I will just give my top ten drinks to try in Bhutan, both booze and soft alike.

Again the 10 to 1 rule applies, with the best at numero uno.

10 Bacardi Breezer – Imported, but surprisingly common. Often treated like a cocktail.

9 Local Red Wine – Often made from Himalayan grapes or berries. Variable quality, but not bad when chilled.

8 Local White Wine – Usually sweet. Served cold and goes well with spicy food.

7 Druk Beet 11000 (འབྲུག་འགྲོ་བ་བརྒྱ་སྟོང་) – Strong beer. Not subtle but it hits hard and gets the job done.

6 Red Panda (དམར་པོ་ལོ་ནེར་) – A wheat beer made by a Swiss monk in Bumthang. Unique and good when fresh.

5 Bhutan Glory – New craft beer showing up in better bars. Smooth and floral.

4 Local Apple Cider – Often homemade and very drinkable. Hard to find but worth a try.

3 Raven Vodka – Locally distilled and often available in bars. Not bad with soda.

2 Special Courier Whisky – Cheap, strong and everywhere. Tastes better after two.

1 Druk Lager (འབྲུག་སྐྱེས་མཚན་) – The go-to national beer. Cold, cheap and everywhere.

Conclusion on Bhutanese Cuisine

So, overall you will not go hungry in Bhutan and Bhutanese cuisine overall is not that bad. It is though also far from a place you will visit for culinary reasons. The key though if you do visit is to insist on not being fed the usual buffet crap that everyone else gets.

Also let’s be honest you do not come here for food, you come for all the other cool shit.

Click to try it all on a our Bhutan Tours.

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