These juicy momo are a top seller at the new Shangri-La Express Dumpling & Curry House.

Jackson Heights has long been known for Indian food, but in the past few years a half-dozen restaurants specializing in cuisine from the rooftop of the world have opened forming what I like to call Little Tibet. Two years ago the Shangri-La Express food cart set up shop on the corner of Broadway and 37th  Road not far from Sammy’s Halal. Finding a cart serving momo (beef dumplings) and dopa khatsa (spicy beef tripe) on a block better known for chicken and rice vendors was like discovering the mythical city of Shangri-La itself. And then, sometime last year, it vanished from its spot outside an Indian jewelry store.

Recently it resurfaced as Shangri-La Express Dumpling & Curry House, a tiny restaurant bedecked with Tibetan prayer flags and photos of the Dalai Lama. The menu lists two dozen items, including curries, but as at the cart the real draw is dumplings, specifically beef momo. Namgyal Ghongpa, a 33-year old former computer technician who lives in Elmhurst, says on a good day he sells 100 orders of what’s widely recognized as Tibet’s national dish.

Namgyal Ghongpa tucks into a plate of momo at his bustling restaurant.

“People tell me, ‘You guys have the biggest and most delicious momo,’” Ghongpa told me over a cup of steaming butter tea and some dumplings. The juicy crescents ($4.99 for an order of eight) are packed with ground beef seasoned with cilantro scallions ginger and garlic. Quite tasty on their own, they’re even better with a squirt of sepen, a fiery hot sauce made from chili, ginger, garlic, and garam masala. Who can blame the chicken and rice king Sammy for trying to copy Ghongpa’s hot sauce recipe? The stuff is wickedly good.

Back when Ghongpa was in Tibetan refugee school in China he watched  Jackie Chan’s “Wheels on Meals,” a film about two brothers who operate a food truck. That coupled with learning how to cook traditional Tibetan fare ignited a passion for the culinary arts and the dream of opening a restaurant.

These days Ghongpa eats the dumplings five times a week. “One thing about momo is no matter how many times you try it you never get sick of it,” he says. As for the cart, it didn’t actually vanish.  It’s got a new spot in Manhattan, just outside the American Museum of Natural History.

Keep on eating,

Joe DiStefano

Shangri-La Express Dumpling & Curry House, 72-24 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights, 347-951-6300

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