The Snow Lion is IMO the most elegant restaurant in Bloomington. Walk in and with some luck you'll be placed in a room nearly all to yourself, in a low-lit area surrounded by mirrors creating a terrific illusion that the restaurant, which is in fact rather tiny, is quite spacious. There are two or three Snow Lions in America but certainly Tibetan food is extremely rare. The items that are offered are excellent.    [03 Apr 2000 18:59:15]

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Recommended Dishes: Curries, Mango Sho (Tibetan milkshake)

     ­Ben Fulton   

Are you kidding me?
Most elegant restaurant? Feels like a cheap truck stop with nice art. The food is always fair, never great, and the service is just ok. I've found hair in my food before! Who knows why I keep getting taken back there?    [09 Nov 2002 17:35:40]

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Recommended Dishes: none

     ­Jonny   

I'm going to have to disagree with both of these reviews. Although it has a slightly elegant atmosphere, it certainly isn't a suit and tie restaurant. The layout of the building is very unique, and you'll be tempted to get up and explore while waiting for your food. It is the only place I know of to get tibetan food - and the food will blow you away. It certainly isn't a cheap truck stop.    [11 Jun 2003 20:25:31]

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Recommended Dishes: sweet and sour chicken, curry chicken.

     ­Anonymous   

Simply the most delicious food I've ever tasted! The Jasha Thukpa is by far my favorite entree. The fried pita bread with hummus is a wonderful start to a meal. The homemade salad dressing is perhaps the best dressing I've ever tasted....completely unique.    [26 Aug 2003 10:44:14]

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Recommended Dishes: Jasha Thukpa

     ­Maryn   

It is good with super hot meal!!
Why yes. Here you can taste best (so close to worst though) most hot meal in the Indiana. Just try cook challenge on fried rice or lo mein and feel the pain in every bite.... although this might sounds bad, if you like hot food, you gonna like it. At least I like it. Really.    [03 Sep 2003 02:07:44]

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     ­Yeong   

Not Even CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've eaten at Snow Lion 3 times. I've been disappointed 3 times. When I asked for NO SPICES, the food was so spicey I threw up. When I asked for Thukpa, I got Lo Mein. And it's not so clean...

It is certainly not the best food in Bloomington... and in Indiana? Are you nuts?

There is another Tibetan restaurant in Bloomington: It's just around the corner from Snow Lion and it is TRADITIONAL TIBETAN FOOD, made by Tibetans from Tibet. Thukpa is thukpa, not lo mein. The atmosphere is much better, the food is head-and-shoulders above the Lion's...

I wanted to like Snow Lion, I reallllly did. But it's just not possible! Those of you who like it, stroll around the corner and give the other Tibetan place a try.

I'm just passionate about Tibetan food! ...and once you eat real Tibetan food, you will be too!)    [02 Sep 2004 17:12:47]

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Recommended Dishes: nothing

     ­memphis   

All reputation with nothing to back it up.
My friends and I went to Snow Lion for a good lunch. We were extremely disappointed. The food was unimaginative and generic with no specific Tibetan quality. I ordered kimchee and a Cajun vegetable dish. The small dish of kimchee cost $3.95 and tasted like the bland kimchee you can buy from the grocery store for $2 a jar. The Cajun vegetable dish was a joke. A large pile of noodles with a few peas and cabbage hiding in the pile coated in a watered-down sauce that didn’t taste Cajun. My friend’s dishes were equally disappointing being mostly white rice with a few nuggets of tofu or veggies. We left hungry. The Dalai Lama’s celebrity is the main reason the restaurant is still alive.    [29 May 2007 19:04:07]

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Recommended Dishes: Other Restaurants on International Street

     ­Anonymous   

Not impressed
It's possible that I am just not temperamentally suited to Tibetan food; or maybe this is not a very good restaurant. I took a visiting friend to lunch there and was pretty disappointed. There were spicy potatoes that were pretty good, but the rest of the meal was lackluster; not bad, per se, but dull and on the greasy side. At noon on a weekday, when other lunch places in B'town are bustling, this place was eerily silent. There seems to be a reason this restaurant is never crowded...    [12 Sep 2007 21:03:05]

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     ­Anonymous   

Here's my review with cons first.

Every meal is nearly identical.
Salad is frequently served warm.
Meals are frequently served cold.
Service is often mediocre.
Glasses often look dirty and dusty.
Very very likely that the kitchen isn't clean.
One time we were there, they ran out of rice. Rice. They didn't tell us until 45 minutes after we ordered.

The place is kind of cute.
The one meal they have is tasty.
House dressing is one of my favorites.
The tea is really good (and free), when the server remembers to bring it.
Bathroom is clean.

It's an okay place to go when you don't want to spend much and if you're in the mood for the food, but I really question how sanitary their kitchen is (not that that's a unique concern in Bloomington).
The tea is good.    [09 Aug 2008 00:30:53]

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     ­Anonymous, Bloomington (IU student)