Experiencing the ‘Big Market’ in Bhutan with Pro Restaurateur

Experiencing the ‘Big Market’ with Pro Restaurateur, Yangki Tshering: Yesterday I jumped at the chance to hit up the biggest farmers market in Bhutan (my favorite) with a pro. Yangki Tshering owns ZaSa, a rare, upscale local restaurant that tends to have a dignitary-ish type clientele, that is willing to get creative with local dishes, and that doesn’t have a sign in front of their place. People just know where it is…

Though they have an ample selection of food here in Bhutan as you’ll see from the photos, most people tend to make the same dishes over and over and over again. Yangki is wiling to mix it up and that is one of the reasons her place is so successful.

In true Yangki-style, she downplayed our mission when she picked me up, “We’re just going to pick up a few things.” 

My response: “Then how come there is a big guy in the back seat who is coming along with lots of huge bags at his feet…”

Yangki is particular about the way her food is cooked and her restaurant is run, and when selecting her produce she was the same, digging for the best of everything and kindly bargaining for it all. She told me that she likes to change up who she buys from to give more venders a chance to make some money. That is also so Yangki of her. 

Just as it is the world over, the market is a hub of activity and I’ve spent many hours hanging out while trying to decipher some of the food items.

See captions of images on Facebook for more info on what I learned from hanging with Yangki…