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loved it

5 Posted on 05 / 06 / 2013

This restaurant has a good location as it is close to West Street so it is convenient.

It plays relaxing music and has an amazing setting with dark wooden furniture and pretty orange lights.

They serve complementary edamame beans and watermelon.

Their menu is really extensive and while we were there we tried many dishes as we went back to this restaurant 4 times!

Our favourite dish was the fern noodles with spicy tofu and pak choi. I thought the vegetable rolls were average. The dumpling soup was gorgeous as was the Buddha's delight - a dish of fried vegetables and glass noodles.

The waiters were really friendly and english speaking. They were really helpful as I wanted to know the chinese for fern noodles and where I could get hold of them as well as some other things and they were happy to help us.

The only con is that it is pricey compared to other restaurants in Yangshuo, but we liked the food so much that we didn't mind.

August 2010

Pros: excellent food, friendly staff, beautiful decor
Cons: expensive

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Great presentation, ok food

3 Posted on 05 / 16 / 2012

The atmosphere of the restaurant is very nice. We went for lunch and ordered two entrees. Normally, we'd try more food, but the prices were pretty high, so we decided to economize. The taro cups with veggies came with some amazing garnishes! It's almost worth ordering just for that.

We were disappointed by how many of the items weren't vegan (there were some we were sure would be, but we asked and found out they contained egg - there's no clear indication on the menu). We also tried to order a few other things, and were told that they weren't available. Not sure if they weren't available for lunch or just not that day we were there.

All in all, it was ok. A little overpriced, but a solid restaurant, especially considering it's the only vegetarian restaurant in town. We ended up eating all the rest of our meals at our guest house (Fun Sam's), as the chef was happy to make us vegan food (at a much lower price).

Pros: Nice atmosphere, Beautifully presented food
Cons: Many nonvegan items, Expensive

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Worth the trip

5 Posted on 11 / 15 / 2011

Michelin used to explain that those restaurants awarded 3 stars were worth the trip to eat there. Yangshuo is not on the beaten path, but if you are near there and want a vegetarian meal, Pure Lotus is worth the trip. We ate there on two successive evening and both meals were outstanding, among the best vegetarian meals we have ever eaten. The staff is friendly, several of the waitresses speak reasonable English, the atmosphere is pleasant and the food is excellent. We did not find the prices high. 3 main dishes, with 2 small rices and a large bottle of beer cost 114 yuan.
Al Baumgarten

Pros: excellent food, friendly staff, english speaking
Cons: in Yangshuo, far from home

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Fantastic Hotel and good veggie restaurant

4 Posted on 10 / 04 / 2010

Great to visit a vegetarian hotel in China! A big variety of choices on the menu. Nice and tasty food.

Pros: Nice admosphere, A lot of choices on the menu, friendly staff

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Non-Veg owner, but pretty okay food

3 Posted on 08 / 03 / 2009

As others have mentioned, the decor of this restaurant is very serene and pleasant, and the menu is extensive with many veg options (though NOT VEGAN- be sure to ask about eggs in many dishes). However, we heard from a local business owner that the owner of Pure Lotus is Not Vegetarian and thinks that vegetarians are foolish-- he is only doing this for business. We travel a lot and make sure to always go to the vegetarian restaurant (even if there are veg options at other restaurants) so as to encourage and support vegetarian businesses, but this story about the owner left a bad taste in my mouth. If you're in Yangshuo, take a cab to the Outside Inn (about 5KM out of town) where the managers ARE vegetarian (and raising vegetarian kids) and the food delicious.

Pros: ALL veg menu, soothing atmosphere, tasty eats
Cons: pricey, not vegan, owner makes fun of vegetarians

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Good but room for improvement

5 Posted on 07 / 16 / 2009

The restaurant itself looks lovely and the food on the menu looks delightful. There is a good selection of food available so that you could come back several times to sample a bunch of delights on offer.

We ordered the Buddhist's Delight and the Gluten Steak (can't remember exactly what it was called!) along with the fried broccoli with garlic.

The Buddhist's Delight was really nice, though a little oily.

The Gluten Steak tasted great, but the texture wasn't so great - it was too rubbery. Took a lot of effort to chew threw it. But the flavour was really lovely.

The Broccoli was just a little bit too greasy but otherwise was pretty good.

It's a little pricey compared with other veggie options in Yangshuo. We didn't visit any other veggie restaurants in Yangshuo but found that we were able to find plenty of options in general Chinese and other restaurants around town.

I'd go back again, but would try some different dishes.

Pros: Atmosphere, Good Flavours, Friendly Staff
Cons: Too greasy, Pricey

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Not worth it

2 Posted on 06 / 18 / 2009

Pure Lotus was a disappointment for me and my two Chinese friends, one of whom paid the exorbitant bill. The service was slow and indifferent, the food was only okay, and it's very overpriced. Wouldn't go again.

There are great restaurants and street merchants all over Yangshuo, with delicious veg food and friendly people who want to serve you!

Pros: completely vegan AFAICT, ncie decor
Cons: lousy service, overpriced, food was meh

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Good, not great

3 Posted on 04 / 29 / 2009

This restaurant is actually in Yangshuo, which is about an hour away from Guilin. We ate here several times during our stay as there are not many veggie options.

The food was pretty good. Some of it was even excellent. Unfortunately, sometimes the tofu was definitely less than fresh. The first day we ordered the braised tofu with mushrooms. My first bite was okay, but my husband's was awful. He was almost sick and was afraid to eat anymore. I convinced him to try a bite of my piece and he said mine was okay. It all definitely had a distinctive taste that may or may not have been intended. We had another tofu dish the next day and noticed that the tofu was much fresher, but a few days after that had some funky tofu again, so it seems hit or miss. I felt better sticking to the mock meats and vegetables which were all great. Another minus is that the dumplings all come covered in corn milk which we did not enjoy. A plus is the nice wine list and atmosphere.

All in all, this place is okay, but nothing to write home about. There are some other veggie options as restaurants around town, especially if you eat eggs, so don't feel you're stuck here.

Pros: nice atmosphere, serves wine, quiet
Cons: icky tofu, milky dumplings

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Delicious

5 Posted on 04 / 27 / 2009

We went three times and everytime had a great meal. The decor is lovely, a huge menu, mainly veg items but a few mock 'meats'. Considering the quality it is reasonably priced with steamed rice for 1yen (about 10p). The waitresses are sweet and the braised aubergine is delicious. The only problem is deciding what to eat from the big menu, and then tring to eat it all once you have overordered.

Pros: Great food, Nice decor, Large menu

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great restaurant

5 Posted on 06 / 19 / 2007

i am in yangshou for four nights. have been to this place four times already, and can't wait to go back tonight.

a few mock meat dishes, but mainly tofu and veg. the food has been outstanding with the best mapo tofu i have ever had. the veg dishes have also been great especially the wild mushroom stir fry.

the decor is very nice and the place is spotless. the staff speak some english, and they have a picture book menu. a reasonable amount of vegan dishes are on offer, although you have to ask the staff.

i asked the waitress about guilin, and although i didn't find any, she insisted there were three of four veggie places there. so if in guilin, keep searching.

maind dishes start at about cny14.(about one pound sterling).

Pros: great food, great atmosphere