Little Tibet's Momo Crawl in Toronto Canada, and tips and tricks I learnt for next time
If you don't know what a momo is you aren't alone, according to the Momo Crawl T.O page "Momos are delicious Tibetan (and Himalayan) dumplings (meat or veg) mixed with a balanced blend of herbs and spices, hand-wrapped in dough and steamed to perfection."
I am going to preface this blog post by saying that I had never had a momo before I went to Little Tibet's momo crawl in Toronto. A friend of mine sent me a link to a post about the event and I was immediately SOLD. If I was going to be categorized as a friend I would definitely be the "foodie" friend, so seeing an event where I could try 10 different momos for the very first time was an extremely inviting idea. I like to think that getting to try 10 versions of a food will give you a good insight into whether you actually like something or not, and it was also an excellent opportunity to try 10 different Tibetan & Nepalese restaurants as well and see which one was best.
The event is hosted by Students For a Free Tibet Canada ( https://www.sftcanada.org/ )
Was it worth the cost:
Yes,
The ticket to the Momo Crawl cost $25 and you get to try 10 momos, but what makes the ticket price worth it is getting the opportunity to try all the different restaurants versus a plate of momos from one place, which might cost you approx $8 for 7 pieces. In my opinion it was a very cool event and well worth the $25 - plus its nice to support local event run by students. Not only that but it's fun to be part of the crowd that walks down the street to try all the places and get stamps in your passport.
(also note you wont need the full 3 hour time slot to go to all 10 places, 1.5 is just fine)
What you should know:
- Bring your own plate and cutlery ! They offer paper plates and plastic cutlery but my friend and I brought our own dishes, it's eco friendly but also your plate doesn't get soggy and you can wipe out your dish here and there.
- Don't come starving !!! Momos are a great way to fill up if you have a lot at once, but one momo at a time will be slow torture!
- only try ONE momo from each stall, most stalls offer at least one meat and one vegetarian options, with some offering up to 5 ! What is important to note is that the momo passport gives you 10 spots to tick off but if you try 3 momos at one spot that counts as 3 ticks, my friend accidentally tried 2 at our first stop only to realise she couldn't go to all the spots !
-Try a variety of Vegetarian & Meat, the best tip I can give you is to ask the people handing out the momos is to ask them which is their favourite, I eat meat but the vegetable momos were amazing and ended up being my favourite.
- Always add sauce ---- unless it's super dark red!!! The sauces that go on the momo really add a lot of flavour so I recommend always adding the sauce they provide, the lighter orange sauces tend to be very mild and taste like a cold currey (sometimes with coconut undertones!!) BUT be very CAREFUL of the dark red sauces, I enjoyed the mild sauces too much and ended up putting a heaping spoon full of chili paste on one of my momos thinking it was mild when it wasn't and it was HOTTTT, always ask if you don't know, but my rule of thumb was, orange = safe red = fir.
- Fill up at your favourite momo place after you try them all. Momos are relatively inexpensive and a good way to fill up afterwards is to share an order of the best ones you can find!
my personal favourite was The Himalayan Kitchen located at 1526 Queen Street W Toronto. I had their green vegetarian momo and it really stood out to me, I will definitely be returning very soon !!!!
Have you ever had a momo? Where is your favourite momo place? Comment Below and thanks for reading !!!