Cafe Zambala

First time trying Himalayan food and it was amazingly delicious! I’d definitely come back when I have an extension class on a Saturday. Sooo sooo good! I finished my plate and wanted more :)

After since I read Andrea Nguyen’s Asian Dumplings, I’ve been a little nuts for momos. Any time a vegetable momo crosses my path I pounce on it. I am maybe exaggerating — but only a little.
The tsel momos at the Café Zambala stand are generously sized, tasty and mildly spiced. I got them without the yoghurt sauce (instant vegan momos!) and made a second breakfast of them (first breakfast: a vegan crumpet at Remedy!) along with the zesty salad.
The staff at the booth is very nice — maybe even too accommodating to rude customers! Yeah, dude in front of me asking if you can replace the rice on the veggie plate with (costlier, more labor intensive) momos, I’m talking to you. Are you for real?
The tsel momos are for real! You can get them, generously sized and with an accompanying zesty salad for $ 7 or $ 8.*
*I’m not sure which because my sweetheart bought them for me, but get them at either price!

i too had café zambala at the berkeley farmers market. it was SO good! i just looooved it and i will totally go to their restaurant. i had the himalayan meal and the chicken was moist and tender, the vegetables were delicious, i loooved the sauce they poured over the vegetables too. but you know what i REALLY loved? the chai. it was… oh, how do i describe it? i don’t know… sublime. it wasn’t super spicey… which i love… but it was good. it had backbone. i really don’t know how else to tell you. (maybe b/​c i have a cold at the moment and my antenna is having some interference.)
i can’t remember how much i paid but i felt it was reasonable. the food was delicious and there was a whole heap of it. and it made me feel all healthy and recharged too. oh yeah, and the people serving the food were so nice. i really saw nothing not to like.

Best farmers market booth! Ok, I guess I can’t really say that since I pretty much only go here if I’m at the grand lake farmers market. It’s so yummy, the «chicken dish» is what I always order– the chicken is very well seasoned, the lentils and rice very good and the dressing on the broccoli is yummy. I know the broccoli is al dente, probably otherwise would be overcooked and olive green. They do an excellent job for being an outdoor vendor. In fact, I found them on Unilocal cuz I was trying to find the restaurant, but I guess there isn’t one where you can sit inside and eat? My kids were grubbing off my plate, I felt stingy that I had to share it: P

café zambala sells «himalayan «food,.
it was difficult to visualize what the food looked like even with the ingredients listed,
–how big was the dumpling?
–how many per order? the vendor quickly grabbed a dumpling from the steamer and showed me. i was sold.
locale: berkeley farmers market, grand lake f.m.
menu: all $ 8
–himalayan meal
–pure vegeterian delite
–sha mo mo (meat dumpling)
–tsel mo mo (vegeterian dumpling)
–mt. everest sandwich
sampling: mo mo
–dumpling made of prather ranch beef, ginger, fresh garlic. cilantro-​yogurt sauce topping optional. side of spring mix salad.
*beef stuffing tasty with no hint of fat, slight spices tasted. dumpling not fried, a plus. pretty big sized.
leftovers:
–berkeley not busy, grand lake busy.
–quality food using quality ingredients.
–organic chicken and prather ranch beef used.

I had the pleasure of enjoying a meal from Café Zambala at the locale farmer’s market that happens in the early afternoon in the Downtown Berkeley area.
I ordered the Himalayan meal which included rice with a lentil topping Chicken Tandoori, and mixed vegetables with dressing on top. The total meal costs 8 dollars.
Overall,
Amount of food X the flavor did not equate the 8 dollars. It was at least a $ 1 too expensive.
That being said, the highlight of the dish was the Tandoori chicken, which tasted delicious! It was a little dry, but you could definitely taste the spices that were used to make the chicken. The lentil and rice mix was good, but nothing spectacular. The lentils were unexpectedly watery; I wish they were a little thicker. The veggies were a nice complement, but nothing special.
Overall, I was satisfied with my meal. It could have been cheaper given the amount of food and the quality of the food, but I was still a satisfied customer at the end. Is this what people really eat on the mountain of the Himalayas?

5 stars for flavor, minus one for not being more accessible.
This place rocks! The Veggie Momo is like a gyoza filled with SE Asian flavors. So yummy. The mixed greens that accompanies the Momo’s is tangy with a hint of citrus. I love coming to the farmers market just to eat here. It’s definitely worth a taste if you’re at the market.