The Wild Yak Tibetan restaurant has been a Melbourne icon for more than 20 years. Australia’s first Tibetan restaurant, it moved from the original Smith street location to our current premises in High St Northcote in 2005.
What has never changed is the desire to offer our guests a genuine and authentic taste of Tibet. From the décor to the music to the menu and the hospitality, a meal at The Wild Yak is like experiencing an evening in Tibet.
Ngawang Tobchen Gophe, owner, chef and your host, was born in Tibet to a farming family. After spending some years as a monk he made his way to Australia to start a new life with his family. This restaurant is a dream made real, a chance to keep an aspect of Tibetan culture alive and vibrant, and share it with the people of Melbourne.
When not busy with his restaurant, Ngawang Tobchen is an active and supportive member of the growing Tibetan community of Melbourne. He has a passion for Tibetan history, often teaching it when he can spare the time; and is a gifted and highly regarded practitioner of the art of Tibetan calligraphy.