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• reliably delish vegetarian food in yaumatei

i have had the opportunity of visiting ying vegetarian (瀛素食) on different days and at different times, either as an individual or in a group. always, the food is reliable. there's a wide variety spanning relatively cheaper individual dishes such as noodles and rice bowls, to food more suitable for sharing such as traditional chinese dishes, pizza, sushi and sashimi. i'm not a huge fan of mock meat but make an exception for those from ying - i sometimes even have cravings for their crispy cutlets! pace of service may vary depending on when you visit. today (3 september 2015) was a weekday public holiday and there was a long queue. i had to share a table despite arriving there after 3 pm. the person seated opposite me left after being told that he had to wait 40 minutes for his sushi order and the family next to me waited a long while for their dishes, which included sushi and pizza. sushi and sashimi seem to be extremely popular here. thankfully my "meatball" spaghetti dish (hkd68) (not authentic but still palatable, if a little on the sweet/salty side) somehow joined the express queue. the tempura "soft-shelled crab"(?) sushi at a neighbouring table looked very appetising and i overheard the family next to me discussing that the dried "beef" hor fun (乾炒牛河）was supposedly good. the pizzas also look delicious. today i was charged a tea fee of hkd5, plus 10% service charge, and my meal came up to hkd81. if you're on a budget, try its cheap and equally delicious set lunches (five options ranging from rice to spaghetti to sushi, starting from hkd38 onwards) on weekdays and (non-public-holiday?) saturdays; there's no tea and service charge added to that. portions are huge so bring a lunchbox if you're a smaller eater. ying vegetarian is along temple street, next to mido cafe (美都餐室), one of hong kong's iconic landmarks (worth a visit for its ambience, if you're a cinephile), and close to indie cinema broadway cinematheque.