• 3
• fills a gap

We combined a meal here with a visit to the Crazy House but, as others have said, I would not go out of my way to eat there again. It's worth visiting for the amazing sculpture garden as you enter. It's a small front yard inhabited by a life size Pegasus, a carved wood mermaid, a one eyed giant's head protruding from the ground, along with a bunch of other curiosities and potted plants. The decorative vibe continued inside with a carved wood theme - lots of Buddhist statues. Although I enjoyed the slightly kooky but still tasteful interior, the atmosphere was a little eery somehow. There was another large table eating when we visited but a very still, heavy silence hung over the room. Some tunes would've been nice. Unfortunately the food made far less of an impression than the decoration. The menu is quite huge. A lot of the mock meat options are fishy and I'm not a fan of mock fish. In their English translations, none of the dishes sounded particularly inspiring. I ordered fried beef noodles. The waitress came back to tell me they were out and pointed to something translated as "shell noodles" which turned out to be macaroni with quite a nice variety of crisp sautéed veggies, oyster mushrooms, and a few chunks of fake chicken in a plain, salty sauce, thickened with corn flour. It was fine with some chilli and soy added at the table. My partner ordered a simple spinach, garlic, and tofu which arrived without tofu but he enjoyed it anyway. We shared the crispy rice flour pancake which was also not the best I've had. It was crispy at the edges but soggy in the centre where it should've been chewy. Can't honestly recommend any of the dishes we tried. The tea they serve free is delicious - perhaps the highlight of the meal which is very telling, really.