• 5
• A lotus in the mud

Let's face it, although South Wanchai is in the, somewhat controversial, process of being gentrified by the urban redevelopment council, it's not the nicest part of town. It does, however, contain one of the nicest restaurants in town, that being the very popular World Peace Cafe. The restaurant is in the ground floor of an old walk up style building, which affords it an unusually high ceiling by today's standards, and thus confers a very bright and airy feel to the proceedings. Even though the tables may be close together, it doesn't feel cramped. It's run by a Buddhist group who have a meditation centre above the restaurant. I believe all the people working there are volunteers from the group and, as has already been said, you couldn't wish to find more genuinely nice, helpful people to serve you. Once good thing about this restaurant is that, like Loving Hut down the road, this restaurant serves in part to provide vegetarian food to people as a sort of public service, as well as to promote Buddhist values - however, unlike Loving Hut, this second part is really subtle and not 'in your face'. The feel is one of a relaxing cafe where every time I leave, I feel significantly better than I did when I went in. The menu at lunch time is limited to a soup, a salad and a choice of three main courses (can't remember if there's dessert as I never have it). There are options for set lunches that involve various combinations of these as well as tea & coffee. As mentioned previously, the food is fresh and almost has a home-cooked feel to it, very wholesome and I daresay healthy (not being a nutrition expert). There is usually a choice of at least one western main dish and one Asian main dish. The soup seems to be always western style, and is always delicious. The portions aren't huge, but they're not frugal either and I actually like this. I can have a soup and a main course and be satisfied without feeling like I've pigged out. It's not the cheapest veggie restaurant in Wanchai, but in my experience it's the best and I don't mind paying for the food and experience. I don't think I'm alone in holding this opinion as it always seems to be busy, so generally I book before going now to ensure a seat.