Buddhist vegetarian canteen restaurant within Po Lin Monastery. Fixed menu in the canteen. Seats 300+. Meal ticket includes admission to the Tian Tan Buddha museum inside the big Buddha. Access via 25 min cable car trip from Tung Chung or much cheaper bus trip from Mui Wo ferry terminal or Tung Chung station. Warning: some non-vegan desserts may use beef tallow. Open Mon-Sun 11:30am-4:30pm.
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Ngong Ping, Lantau Island, Outlying Islands, Hong Kong, China
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Last update on 04 Nov 2024 by louis1977
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40 Reviews
First Review by Petesternz
Barney Big Ears
Points +397
Nice option far from the city - Edit
I liked the options from the cafe better than the sit down option. Sit down is a set menu with standard fare.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2024-10-23
Guest
KarenSuksabai
Points +4613
Cheap, filling and tasty - Edit
We eschewed the set meal for the cheap cafe next door. The selection of snacks was great! The noodles were filling but a little bland. Luckily, there were plenty of sauces to liven it up. The vegetarian delight was a mix of 3 mock meat dishes - sweet & sour, curry, and something else that was yummy! Two plates of food, 3 snacks & a mango drink came to 130$.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2024-10-14
Guest
Natbar
Points +1098
Such a great experience - Edit
You buy a meal ticket for 150$ and they bring you the food that they're cooking on the day. It was such a wholesome experience and the food was simple but tasty!
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2024-09-15
Guest
gracewainwright
Points +215
Set menu meal - Edit
Fresh food with quick service.
Read moreThey just offer the set menu so not much choice
Pros: Fresh food, Quick service , Friendly staff
Cons: Set menu so no choice , Some of the food is cold
Guest
nishaaa
Points +5691
wow! - Edit
so happy to try all these local snacks at this beautiful location!
Read moreGuest
lisamariaschreiber
Points +3879
Great and cheap - Edit
We were at the “coffee” outside and the prices were really low also was in love with the vegan matcha ice cream!
Read moreGuest
sivvyb
Points +1189
Food a little bland - Edit
I’d recommend eating at the cafe rather than the sit down restaurant. At the restaurant you get a set menu which is fully vegan but a little pricey & quite bland. Was still an interesting experience but not sure I’d go back!
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2024-04-16
Guest
RugbyNerd
Points +1503
Cheap but tasty - Edit
I don' know what exactly I eat, but was Kind of tasty and of course interesting. The Mango Soy Milk was great.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2024-04-10
Guest
KoenVanderhoydonk
Points +415
Truly local experience - Edit
Great food and nice environment. Above all blessed with excellent food. Simple but super tasty.
Read moreGuest
Nuria.L
Points +108
Tasty medium price - Edit
They have vegetarian meat with sauce, noodles with fungus, traditional desserts (a little greasy), mango cononut milk with sago. 3 people 240HKD
Read moreGuest
RiceT
Points +1213
Po Lin Monastery food kiosk - Edit
Food kiosk that sells traditional vegetarian snacks and light dishes
Read morePros: Cheap, Light snacks for a short break
Cons: Limited choices
Guest
TraslaHuellaOficial
Points +184
Good vegetarian food but little grassy - Edit
We got here in a guide your during a rainy day.
Read moreThe food was very good,they have a very different method to serve the food over the table.
The place was a little crowded,we stayed until late at night because it was a big storm outside,the employees were nice to us.
Updated from previous review on 2020-05-10
Pros: Great location, Decent food, Plenty of space
Cons: Little dirty, Some plates were little Grassy
Guest
mimi00
Points +244
Amazing Candies - Edit
I love their Hong Kong candies, I was starving to try one of these, it was all really delicious
Read morePros: Delicious , Hong Kong style, Close to the monastery
Guest
Juliaalb
Points +208
Not edible - Edit
We decided to get restaurant tickets, deluxe option. It was cheapish (around 200-250hkd for both of us as far as I can remember) but we couldn’t eat it. The soup was slimy, the tea was cold, the tofu and veggies were bland and weirdly sweet and the spring rolls were oil logged. The food at the deli outside looked much nicer and we’d recommend you go there instead.
Read moreCons: Bland food, Overly sweet, Inedible
Guest
viksins
Points +37
Very good vegetarian food - Edit
It's a very nice place to have vegetarian food in Ngong Ping. You could go for the set menu. Overall it's on the cheaper side. With the lunch ticket, you also get pass to enter the gallery beneath the Buddha.
Read moreGuest
VeraKho
Points +87
Yummy food, Reasonable Hongkong price - Edit
We buy a deluxe food ticket, 2 adults and 2 kids. The lady in the counter ask to pay just for 3, assuming the 2 kids count as 1 adult. The meal ticket can also use to enter the Buddha statue inside where the relic is kept.
Read moreThe food is fresh, delicious and enough for everybody. I really like the tofu skin with lemon sauce. They dont use mock meat as well. Many green vegetables include.
Guest
drlj
Points +628
Good value for HK, convenient - Edit
We planned ahead to get the set meal and entry into to the Buddha museum. We weren’t disappointed. The monastery itself is beautiful and quiet. The meal was good value, especially for HK, with large portions. We had the set meal for 2 which was silken tofu in black bean sauce, mushrooms with broccolini, vegan chickn and veg stir fry, rice, spring roll and soup. Flavours generally good if a little plain. Plenty of tea. Room itself large and canteen like. Not too busy in je day we were there and food came quickly. A good option if visiting the Buddha. Other option is smaller cafe doing fried noodles, dumplings etc. but we did not try this.
Read morePros: Large portions, good value, Nice vegetables , Convenient
Cons: Not big on flavours
Guest
muddles
Points +297
Decent selection. OK food. - Edit
Location is great and if you just finished a hike to get there, knowingly you can get a feed is a bonus. We went during Chinese New Year and the line for food can be a bit crazy (15-20min) in queue. There is a good selection of food options ranging from dim sum style to fried noodles, desserts and drinks. Staff were friendly enough and you can get by with pointing if you don't speak Cantonese since it's smorgasbord style service. It can be a bit on the pricy side though if you try a lot of different things. You could easily run up a bill of 100-200 hkd per person. In terms of taste, things were slightly on the bland side but they provide different sauces you can use to flavour to taste. Compared to some other monasteries I would say this is between average to slightly blander, but it was still pleasant enough. Just don't expect a Michelin star meal.
Read morePros: Lots of different food choices, Location
Cons: Long lines, Slightly costly, Slightly bland
Guest
JohnAndrew
Points +20
Ok but not the best - Edit
We expected to find healthy fresh food and we were disappointed.
Read moreYou get what you pay for and as this place is very busy the emphasis is feed you and get you out quick. We are pretty sure what we had was all vegan but it wasn't the tastiest but at least we didn't go hungry.
Pros: cheap
Cons: not the best quality
Guest
Soul2Soul Educare
Points +1102
Don't eat here - overpriced and bland - Edit
The monastery itself is a beautiful place but the set lunch that they offer at their restaurant is overpriced and very bland. I later saw a deli vegetarian café and if I had known about that we would not have pre-paid for this lunch. It is a set lunch made up for 5 dishes but every dish is really bland, no salt, no garlic, no onions, no taste. Luckily they have a condiment station where you can add your own soy sauce etc. But the food is very overpriced for what it is. Don't pre-buy the ticket for lunch. Eat at the Deli café instead. You will thank me.
Read moreCons: bland, overpriced
Guest
edwardbc
Points +1035
Light and filling - Edit
I had the “deluxe” menu which you can buy just at the bottom of the buddha statue, which allows you to enter the museum as well. The food was good for temple standards where usually no salt or garlic is used. I was eating alone so the portion was huge for myself. Good pumpkin soup, mushrooms with leafy greens, vegetables plate, bean curd rolls and normal fried rolls.
Read moreFair price considering it is HK, the only let down is neither of the three eating areas give you a temple experience or setting if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s pretty much like a normal restaurant (the deluxe option at least, the normal one didn’t look better at all).
Guest
SomethingVegan
Points +111
Quick canteen food - Edit
There was a choice of 2 set meals, we went for the cheaper option. The food came quickly and there was so much for the 2 of us! The food was ok, nothing special, but cheap and the meal ticket gave you access to inside the Buddha statue. The meal was vegan, as far as we could tell. We did ask, but due to the language barrier the lady selling the tokens didn't know what we were asking. As we went thinking it was 100% vegan, we decided to go ahead.
Read morePros: Cheap
Cons: Average food
Guest
Stevie
Points +11765
Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong - Edit
Their attention to vego detail seems poor. Outside the canteen they have a cafe named Deli Vegetarian Cafe. For an alleged vegetarian place its disappointing they sell ice cream that clearly isn't vegetarian. Namely the ice cream has beef tallow in the ingredients. Can the rest of the food they provide be trusted as vego?
Read moreUpdated from previous review on Friday April 17, 2015
Updated from previous review on Saturday October 31, 2015
Updated from previous review on 2015-11-02
Cons: Sells non vego ice cream (made with beef tallow)
Guest
TomBlacker
Points +200
Delicious! - Edit
After a stunning cable car ride I headed for the Pol Lin Monastery for the vegan lunch. I wasn’t disappointed, it was huge! Copious amounts of rice, spring rolls, lightly battered tofu, a gelatinous pumpkin soup with glass noodles, very interesting mushrooms on a bed of cabbage, asparagus with cashews, mushrooms and peppers and a huge pot of tea.
Read morePros: Awesome meal topping off a lovely afternoon
Cons: none
Guest
FlokiTheCat
Points +882
Dissapointing experience in the Po Lin Monastery - Edit
I went to the Po Lin monastery a couple of weeks ago and I was quite excited about the vegan cantine that there is inside the monastery.
Read moreUnfortunately, the experience didn't live up to my expectations. The food wasn't specially good and it had a lot of MSG. The only positive thing about the food is that the portions were quite big, so it is not so overpriced as one might expect in such a touristic location.
I would recommend anyone going to the Po Lin monastery to have lunch somewhere else before or after the visit, as this place is not really worth visiting.
Updated from previous review on 2017-07-18
Pros: Friendly staff
Cons: Mediocre food
Guest
shineonyou
Points +941
Fun touristy part of visiting the Big Buddha - Edit
We ordered from the ticket counter in monastery. If you buy a ticket for the Big Buddha museum at the bottom on the steps to the Big Buddha, you can also include your meal on that ticket. You show them your ticket when you enter and they deliver a set meal.
Read moreSince the Big Buddha is a tourist attraction, this is kind of a tourist trap I think. The food is so-so. It’s not very flavorful, but I admittedly coat most of my food with hot sauce, so maybe others would disagree. But it’s kind of cool to eat in a monastery, and if you see it as part of your visit to the Big Buddha, it’s a fun time.
Updated from previous review on 2016-09-09
Pros: Touristy (if you like that sort of thing), Accepts credit cards
Cons: Touristy (if you don't like that sort of thing)
Guest
Origamiwolf
Points +225
Great chinese food - Edit
We took the more expensive course and had a great experience with traditional chinese dishes. The orange tasting tofu was great and I just loved the mushrooms, great spring rools and a great soup with it.
Read moreI was a bit dissapointed on the setting since I was hoping it to be a more of a buddhist themed restaurant and not just the feeling of a cafeteria.
Well worth a day trip with the Ngong Ping 360 and a beautiful temple, dont miss the Grand Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas!!
Pros: Great location for tourstis, Great chinese food
Cons: Boring room, the place didnt have a "fresh" feeling
Guest
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