On the foothills of Mount Kailash, in Tibet was born Rinchin Tashi. Thirty years later, life carried Tashi far away from the pleasant weathered hill town of Lhasa, all the way to the unforgiving heat of Chennai. But lucky for Chennaites, he built a 100-square feet Tibet in the city and named it ‘Kailash Kitchen’ or ‘Momo Sa-Khang’, the food joint which is now famed for its momo and chilly sauce. Inside the dingy, wooden cubicle where guests are seated is surprisingly clean.
A whiteboard placed on the table reads ‘Beef Momo available here. The Owner Rinchin Recalls of how he set up this joint in 2008 after graduating from Loyola College. He had added that he had met many northeastern and Tibetans who missed home food. He decided to partner up with his friend to open a shop for Tibetian food. Apart from popular additions like the chilly beef and bao, the four items have pretty much remained the Kailash Kitchen’s staple over the years.
Nearly 11 years old now, the joint was an instant hit in the city. Tashi was able to break even in the first nine months. Within four months of setting up Kailash Kitchen, a sizeable crowd of college kids and office goers thronged the tiny joint. The joint’s fame has also been entirely by word of mouth and this organic success helped Tashi and Lopsang set up another branch in Besant Nagar, which was opened in November 2018.
