A steaming bowl of Tibetan noodles, a bubbling yak meat hotpot, and a cup of salty butter tea or sweet tea — these are all ways to get to know the flavours of Tibet. Tsampa has a nutty, toasted aroma, while Tibetan dumplings come with fillings such as meat or cheese curd, each offering a different taste. If your route passes through Sichuan, Yunnan or Xinjiang, you can also try local hotpot, rice noodles, grilled meat and naan. On a self-drive or motorcycle tour to Tibet, these different tastes are worth making a little time for.

Start with a bowl of hot noodles

The first hot meal of a road trip is often a bowl of noodles. If you want to try local noodles, start with Tibetan noodles. The noodles are fairly thick and have a good chew, and the broth is usually hot and savoury, often topped with diced beef and spring onion, with a small dish of pickled radiseh and a spoonful of Tibetan chilli sauce on the side. The texture of the noodles and the broth vary from shop to shop. In Lhasa’s sweet tea houses, Tibetan noodles and sweet tea are a common combination.

If you enter Tibet from Yunnan, rice noodles may well be your first breakfast memory. Small-pot rice noodles are cooked to order and arrive at the table still steaming, usually with minced meat sauce and vegetables — a good meal before setting off. If you set off from Yecheng in Xinjiang, it is worth sitting down first for a plate of noodles with stir-fried meat and vegetables. The hand-pulled noodles are coated in a savoury sauce with meat and vegetables, with a satisfying chewy texture. In the small towns along the Sichuan–Tibet route, handmade noodles, noodle soups and wontons are also common, and make a good breakfast before setting off.

Yak meat, grilled skewers and hotpot

Once you reach Tibetan areas, yak meat is a common sight in restaurants along the road. Highland yak meat is firm with a slight chew, and common ways of serving it include stewing, stir-frying and hotpot. In a stew, large pieces of yak meat are cooked until tender, in a light broth that lets the flavour of the meat come through. Stir-fried yak is often cooked over high heat with potato and celery, and the slices have a good chew. Yak hotpot is good for a group: thin slices are cooked in the broth, served with vegetables and rice or noodles, and the broth varies from place to place — both clear and mildly spicy versions are common. These dishes are easier to find in towns in Tibetan areas and in restaurants along the highway, but not every restaurant along the whole route will serve them.

Other meat options along the way are also worth noting. Coming from Xinjiang, you will often see grilled meat skewers in bazaars and restaurants along the route: the meat is charred outside and tender inside, seasoned with cumin and salt. Coming from Sichuan, you can also try Sichuan hotpot in towns along the way. The spicy broth comes with meat and vegetables, and is often shared by a group around the table.

Sit down for a cup of tea

In Tibet, drinking tea is never just about quenching thirst. Butter tea is salty, made by churning brick tea with butter and salt; it tastes savoury and salty, with a distinct butter flavour and a rich, buttery texture. In pastoral areas or on cold days, you will often see people drinking it. Sweet tea is black tea with milk and sugar: sweet and fragrant, with a pronounced milky flavour and a smooth texture.

Sweet tea houses are among the liveliest places on this road. Lift the heavy door curtain and you will find locals sitting on long benches, Tibetan noodles and meat pies on the tables, the air filled with the milky scent of sweet tea and low conversation. In some traditional tea houses in Lhasa, you sit down and put small change on the table; staff carrying pots come round to refill your cup. When there is no rush, a pot of sweet tea and a bowl of Tibetan noodles, sitting and drinking slowly while the sunlight moves across half the table — that is when a meal starts to take on the rhythm of the plateau.

Try some local specialities

If you are interested in traditional Tibetan food, you can also try tsampa. The barley is roasted and ground into flour. To eat it, put some in a bowl, add butter tea, and use your fingers to mix it around the edge of the bowl and press it into a ball. It sounds simple, but first-timers may find it falls apart: too much liquid and it sticks to your fingers, too little and it crumbles. Add the tea gradually until the mixture holds together. Tsampa has a nutty, toasted aroma; mixed with butter tea, it becomes moister and gains an extra savoury, salty note.

Tibetan dumplings are also worth looking out for in restaurants or tea houses along the way. The meat filling is wrapped in dough, and they are often eaten with hot tea as a simple meal. Another snack to look out for is cheese-curd dumplings. The filling is made with dairy curds and has a slightly tangy, milky flavour, and is not often found elsewhere. Grilled erkuai (rice cakes) along the Yunnan–Tibet route and naan carried from the start of the Xinjiang–Tibet route are also handy snacks for a rest stop: you do not necessarily sit at a table to eat them; breaking off a piece or sharing one is part of the journey itself.

Beyond local flavours, what else is there?

Besides local specialities, you can also change things up according to your own taste. Chinese restaurants in towns along the way serve stir-fried vegetables, tomato and egg soup, egg fried rice and noodles; if you fancy Western food, in cities such as Lhasa you can also look out for restaurants and cafés offering pizza, pasta, burgers or Western breakfasts. The dishes vary from place to place, and options in remote small towns and on long stretches of road are more limited.

Whether you want to try local flavours or have a meal you are familiar with, you can choose according to where you stop. If you do not eat spicy food, are vegetarian, or have food allergies, you can ask your guide to help explain this to the restaurant. A meal on a Tibet road trip is, in the end, part of the rhythm of the day — noodles, meat or tea, once you sit down, the road feels a little shorter.

• Two travellers celebrated their birthdays during our Tibet self-drive tour, and we all came together to mark the occasion.