Buddha’s Vegetarian Foods

Food quality is ⁴⁄₅; service was super friendly and accommodating so that deserves an extra star.
This is a vegetarian chinese restaurant. I am not a vegetarian but like to come here once in a while for a change.
This restaurant has been around for many many years. I used to be a regular customer there when we lived in the area. We moved so we don’t get to eat here as frequently as I would like. The quality of food remains good after so many years.
The restaurant looks dodgy, but food is good and portions are large; great value.
Dinner for a group of 6 people cost us $ 50 with apps and entrees.
Appetizers:
— immitation duck: my all time favorite, delish
— spring rolls: my least favorite, too much cabbage. I would prefer soya rolls
— taro rolls: if you like taro (a type of yam), you will like this. Very rich and filling.
— soya rolls: yummy with bamboo shoots and chinese mushroom. I would recommend it
Entrees, we tried:
— Buddha mixed vegetables fried noodles: chow mein was crispy. One of my fav
— general tao chicken: I’m not a big fan, too doughy but my friends loved it
— mock beef with tofu BBQ sauce: delish, highly recommend it. The tofu was so flavourful
— stir fried green beans with soy: good flavour, I liked the beans
Overall, good reliable vegetarian chinese food with large portions at very reasonable price. If you’re looking for a fancy sit down place, this is not the place for you. The manager (or owner?) was super nice and friendly

A good friend recommended this place and even though I am no fan of meatless meat substitute… aka…highly processed tofu… meat vegetarian restaurants? Yeah, something like that. I never really understood the rationale behind making stuff taste like something that it’s not but hey all I care about is if it just tastes good. Now, only if something can make kale taste like butter I would gladly truckloads of this stuff: D
I really don’t know what I am eating to be honest even though I really know it’s just all tofu or soy protein and a lot of vegetables. However, whatever it was meant to be did not matter because this stuff is delicious. While I wouldn’t say this stuff has gotten me thinking about becoming a vegetarian anytime soon, it certainly has made tofu quite oddly delicious.
This stuff kinda tastes like the real thing (a bit frightening)…except it’s not. Shrimp is… kinda shrimpy. Chicken… is kinda chicken-​like and mystery meat is… well meaty. It’s the preparations that I am raving about. Everything seems to be cooked to perfection and tastes kinda like the real thing.
Price wise is fair but the portions are out of whacked! Way too big! So order less than what you would normally order.
Oh yeah, avoid the Lemon Chicken; a bunch of yellow, soggy, balls of flour.

The only thing I can compare this to is Greens and I have to say for value and portions this place wins hands down. Only one bad experience from here and it was a large order of cold bean curd sheets either than that can’t complain large portions and they’re very fast with take out orders

My partner and I ordered the green bean and olive leaves with a Buddha’s deluxe on rice noodles. She’s been here twice already this week! Our go-​to for home cooked Chinese vegetarian like your grandma made it. So good… Big servings and the price is always right.

Very good food
Perfect for Vegans, wide menu with a LOT of options
HUGE portions
Very Cheap!
It’s also very authentic.
Food ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Price ¹⁰⁄₁₀
I love it

Literally been coming here since I’ve been in the womb, nothing bad to say about this place ever ! The food is amazing and you get so much for an amazing price

When you only have $ 6 and you’re starving, this is the place to go. It’s certainly not fancy, some of the dishes are not my favourite, but the ones that are are definitely worth your money. Order the mock duck.

This is not your fancy white-​cloth restaurant. The moment you walk in, you will wonder where you will eat since there are only 2 – 3 small tables at the front. Then you are led through their kitchen/​prep area to the back, where there are more tables. This 2min journey kinda reminded me of going down narrow alleyways in Hong Kong to find a hidden eatery stall.
The food here is vegan/​vegetarian friendly. For 4 people, we ordered the imitation duck (small), fried rice, fried tofu with imitation pork, general tao chicken and fried taro.
I really liked the imitation duck and the tofu. However, as a omnivore, the imitation pork tasted really weird and unnatural. As for the general tao chicken, it was (as someone previously mentioned) basically your typical canadian-​chinese chicken ball and red sauce. I suggest they could change the name to reflect what it is. Finally the fried rice and taro were tasty!
There is limited parking in front of the restuarant (city parking). However, if you are frugal, there is free street side parking on the street one block east of the restuarant. Overall, this place has a great bang for your buck. $ 40 for 4 people and we were barely able to finish everything.

Great food in a «hole in the wall» type of place. The tables and chairs are nothing fancy and squeezed into a very small space that could use another coat of paint — it’s quite crowded if more than a few people are eating. But the food. That’s why you’re here, right? It’s largely very healthy, not too greasy or oily, and all vegetarian with many authentic Chinese dishes. Mm, yummy! And it’s very affordable too. A great selection, including fake «meats» and «seafoods», in addition to vegetables. For example, I had the soft boiled turnip with shiitake mushrooms and veggie-​beef, which was not quite a stew, not quite a «dry» dish, but delicious nonetheless.
If you’re looking for better ambiance (for a family gathering or other large group, or a date), then head to Greens Vegetarian, which is almost next door. But from the food perspective, both places are delicious — slightly different styles, so try them both!

The best about this restaurant is that they have HUGE portion dishes with that kind of price tags. However, the restaurant is a bit run down, and they have this weird seating. One table at this corner and 2 tables at that corners and some tables at the back of the corners.
The tasted weren’t bad but also weren’t that good that will give you a «WOW». I tried better ones. However, the prices were also a little bit higher of course.
So…for the sizes and price, I would just give them 3 stars…
If I ever come back to this restaurant again. I don’t think I will order their general tao chicken because each piece is just a blow up chicken ball. There is this ½ inch flour breaded the «special flour» inside. The general tao chicken sauce weren’t bad. It is sweet and sour and have this «punch» to the taste that bring out the flavor, as a vegetarian dish, I would say their sauce is quite good, consider there is no ginger and garlic in all their dishes.

In terms of portions, they’re definitely performing. We ordered four plates between three people and there was a LOT left over! Ok top of that we ordered three spring rolls and three small bowls of rice and it all came up to $ 50. Really decent. And if you’re going out with friends it’s great because you can share with the table.
I don’t know if I see the appeal in taste as much. It wasn’t bad but I didn’t find it to be very flavourful. I didn’t like the fact that the spring rolls we’re so oily — they could have let a paper towel soak some of it up before serving. The mock shrimp and the cashew fried veggie plate were what I enjoyed most.

Cheap eats, huge portions, and fast service when you’re not in the mood to go anywhere or pay for anything fancy. Under new management, things seem to be the same other than new menu items.
Food: I haven’t tried anything that I don’t like. The chow mein is classic, and the general tao chicken satisfies my cravings, but my favourite has got to be the sizzling fish for sure!
Service: they’re friendly and they speak English (perk when you’re in Chinatown area)
Ambiance: I wouldn’t go here for a first date but if it’s an easy going date I might go here for a second date.

Was promised the best vegetarian in the city and cheap. They were right about it being cheap.
Quantities are great if you can eat it. I, for one (and others at the table) could not. Maybe it was an off day in the kitchen or perhaps this is their style.
Will leave it to others to enjoy.

This is a Hong Kong Style Buddhist Vegetarian restaurant.
Buddhist vegetarian is more than just «vegetarian».
This is not a Seattle hippie café, and it is not Gordon Ramsay cooks greens.
It is superlatively cooked, simple, austere cuisine.
Every vegetable is tender but sings with flavor.
Saucing is minimal.
The menu is small and when you allow for the similar vegetable bases that go into most of the dishes — it is in fact smaller still.
(Vegetables. Vegetables in soup. Vegetables on Noodles. More Mushrooms in your vegetable mix. Vegetarian chicken and your vegetables. Vegetarian fish and your vegetables etc.)
But the vegetables speak for themselves and don’t need much saucing.
Celery is powerful. Cashews taste overwhelmingly of cashew. White mushrooms give an honest accounting of themselves without having to use the old mediterranean trick of sauteeing them in olive oil onions and garlic until they taste like olive oil onions and garlic and not like mushroom.
Seaweed soup is one of the seaweediest things you will ever eat. (This aint nori paper for your sushi. This is a drink of the China Sea.)
Two non food notes.
One. The decoration is minimal. This is a hole in the wall — albeit one with healthy food.
Two — The owner is a deeply deeply committed Buddhist filled with the wisdom that comes from a life of dedicated self purification.
He is gregarious, friendly and has tales to tell.
His conversation will cure you of even more karmic illnesses than the food will.
If you need to detox from your sordid evil life, this is a great place to do so.
The food will purify your body.
The owner will purify your mind.

My girlfriend and I came here on a recommendation. We just finished and wanted to write a review.
Wow, Wow, Wow!
We are astounded at the quality, quantity, and price, along with fantastic, friendly service!
We originally sat down and ordered a spring roll to share, which was HUGE, definitely the largest spring roll I have ever seen in my life. It was delicious
What really surprised us in a great way was seeing the first noodle dish — for 8 bucks there was enough to feed four of us at least!
The black bean eggplant was my favourite — who some warms and succulent. Their signature fried fish has a presentation that is remarkable — cast on a hot iron and then covered in a homemade seasons garlic that is to be dreamed of.
We are two adults and ordered 3 dishes — we have enough leftover to feed us for another 3 – 4 sittings.
It’s amazing.
Also the helpful customizations by the boss, Sammy, was really helpful. We didn’t want mushrooms and he automatically cleared it from all our dishes as well as the fungi, replacing it with tofu.
Best part? For vegans Sammy is really on top. Some places miss eggs in their chowmein noodles. This place doesn’t.
And the biggest question for many of us? Yes they speak fluent English.
I’m now gonna be a regular.

Hearty portions, vegan fake meats galore. Asian food that is quite alright.

Let’s debunk the notion of vegetarian food is healthier than its alternative today. Chinese vegetarian dishes are fried and soaked in oil. It not only acts as a preservation agent, but also as marinates.
Overall, it was a pleasant experience. but it was mostly because of the company! I really enjoyed our conversations. Some of the English translations on the menu was hilarious. I have a hard time envisioning a Caucasian ordering «black moss» or «bamboo fungus».
Hot and Sour Soup ($ 8.90)
The hot and sour soup is one of those things that was bastardized by the Western culture. It originated from Szechuan, China. Traditionally, it contains bamboo, mushroom, shredded pork, egg, wood-​ear mushroom, blood pudding, tofu, black vinegar, white pepper and chili. This was a «tamed» version flavored by condiments. It wasn’t particularly good or bad. Just little nutritional value.
Spring Roll ($ 1.30)
The spring roll was a little overprice in comparison to uptown standards. I actually felt my mom’s spring rolls triumph over Buddha’s Vegetarian Restaurant’s. It was very greasy! If you are craving giant greasy fried torpedo-​looking fried food, then this is for you! I have been avoiding fried things to avoid further weight gain! My brother said I had the look of death when the spring roll was staring at me in the eye! In reality, I was hoping to break my fried-​food fast with superior fried-​things! Haha!
The food at Buddha’s Vegetarian Restaurant was not extraordinary. It felt like a homemade meal. I was surprised by the exceedingly number of positive reviews online. Perhaps it was because we didn’t try some of Buddha’s Vegetarian Restaurant more famous dishes. Overall, I felt it was a relatively economic meal with ordinary unhealthy food. Now we know where Buddha got his belly :)

Went for dinner here after all the great reviews here last night. Well, actually ordered takeout but I will throw in my 2 cents.
What we ordered:
1) Singapore Noodles (curry style)
2) 3 Mushroom Chow Mein
3) Spring Rolls
4) Taro Roll
5) Small order of Imitation Duck (Bean Curd)
Thoughts on each of the dishes:
1) Least favourite of all. Didn’t really like the flavour this dish had whatsoever. Will not order again.
2) Much better than the 1^st dish. Noodles had some crispyness to them which I loved though many took on sauciness due to the car ride most likely. Mushrooms are plentiful and while I’m usually not a fan of some of the bigger chinese mushrooms found in these dishes, I didn’t mind the ones in this one. I felt the dish lacked a little in flavour though but would still order again.
3) I’m a fan… I liked the spring rolls. Rolls are massive in size!
4) Not something I’ve ever ordered before, but I liked them! Rolls are gigantic in size also and very filling. Have a nice sweet flavour to them and I could almost eat them as a dessert.
5) I really liked this and didn’t think I would going into it. The bean curd has a cool texture similar to duck. Will order again.
Total Price: $ 25!!! This place is CHEAP!!! The amount of food we have will easily last my girlfriend and I 4 meals. Each dish is a lot of food.
It is nowhere near the best chinese food I’ve ever had, but decent quality for a ridiculously good price.
Here are some pics of my food

Prepare to eat. Prepare to eat LOTS. I went with my former coworker and his friend on my last day of work, and BOY — we were SO FULL. Food came really quickly for us. We had the following:
1) HOT & SOUR SOUP (medium): absolutely delicious — and definitely bigger than a medium than we expected.
2) VEGETARIAN FRIED VERMICELLI SINGAPORE STYLE: Absolutely delicious — huge dish as well.
3) THREE KINDS MUSHROOM W/​GREEN VEGETABLES: It was okay — I think there would’ve been better choices.
I can definitely tell you — this place makes a LOT of food. Like, a LOT. We were there for about 4 hours to finish everything (you know, eat, digest, eat, digest). However, if you don’t plan to overstay — I would really suggest to just order one less plate than you usually would.

When meat lovers like me hear the word «vegetarian» our face cringes. Surprisingly, vegetarian food can be pretty good.
The restaurant is VERY small and quite hot in the back. We came in a group of 7 and were directed to a hidden part of their restaurant where we had to walk past dirty dishes =S.
The food was pretty good and the portions were large enough that we had to take a dish home. However, I thought everything was a bit on the greasy and oily side. We ended off dinner with spring rolls (I know it’s the other way around). The spring rolls were super hot so you know they just came out of the fryer. The rolls came with a sweet and sour sauce which complemented it.
Overall, the food is great here but the décor and size of the restaurant lowers my rating.