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Chinese name 大兴善寺素香斋, address 雁塔区兴善西街55号大兴善寺内. Temple restaurant. After entering by the main gate on south of the temple, turn half right to the big building perpendicular to the second gate, few steps up through a door, you will find the restaurant. Open Mon-Sun 9:30am-8:00pm.
Category: Vegan, Chinese
Reviews (17)
First Review by flamekat
Contributions +103
Horrible Service - Edit
I am sadden to say that I received horrible service. I even speak pretty good Chinese. I would think being connected to a Buddhist temple that the service would be good. I was wrong. Everyone was very tired and seemed to hate work at 11:10am on a Friday. They also stopped me from taking pictures and wouldn't allow me to explain that I was taking them for their benefit to put on HappyCow. I believe I will try to come here one more time to give them a chance but I'm very unhappy now. I haven't even gotten my food yet and I'm leaving this review because I'm very unhappy.
Pros: vegan
Cons: bad service
Contributions +27
Extremly unfriendly - Edit
We arrived there around 13.30 o'clock and there were some people eating. Somehow we were not welcome at all abd had to wait 15 min for the waitress to bring the menu. We ordered 3 dishes, got two of them, finished them and waited for half an hour. then the waitress came and we payed. But we had to pay for all 3 dishes, even though we only received two of them and the waitress knew. Extremly unfriendly, not very cheap. But food was ok.
Contributions +168
Busy restaurant - Edit
Our food was good. A bit oily but I guess that's the Chinese way. English menu available but staff doesn't speak English.
Pros: The temple is very nice
Contributions +19
Get that Xi'an Flavour - Edit
One of the best known vegetarian restaurants in the city right inside the temple grounds. Don't worry there's no entrance fee to get through the gate haha.
The food is very Xi'an style, by which I mean its got the spicy Muslim inspired flavour to it. It was pretty good. I really liked the Broccoli dish. Its a little place. And I'm pretty sure they don't speak English but the menu has pictures and it's definitely vegetarian 100%.
Pros: Good Food, Easy Find, Quiet and Serene next to the buddhist temple
Cons: Small place, little bit older
Contributions +71
Delicious and affordable vegan restaurant - Edit
We had our hostel call and ask them whether it's vegan, and we showed our vegan passport - it's all vegan! :)
Very delicious and cheap restaurant with a welcoming atmosphere. Offers really great Chinese food, with different kinds of mock meat and yummy vegetables. The staff is very friendly. Most don't speak English, except for one young waitress.
Pros: Cheap, friendly staff
Cons: No English menu
Contributions +147
Great food - Edit
We visited this place 3 times while in Xi'an and we were there only 3 days. This is the best Chinese food I have ever had. Food was excellent and simple. Fresh vegetables are used for cooking. There is a small selection of items compared to a typical Chinese restaurant, but still a good selection. The staff do not speak English but are very friendly. The meal is very cheap too.
Updated from previous review on Saturday November 17, 2012
Pros: great healthy food, friendly staff
Cons: a bit cold in winter, unless you by the heate
Contributions +26
Veg or not? - Edit
we walked in, but there was nobody speaking english and also no english menue was available. it was just chinese and without pictures. so we asked them with our chinese phrasebook, if they have vegetarian meals? and the answer was NO! the location was sure the right one, because we recognized it from the photos and also asked two people about the address and name, but the facility was different - maybe the owner changed?
Contributions +176
really yummy - Edit
Came here January 2015. It was a little hard to find but the pictures and reviews helped a lot. We got sweet and sour pork and a vegetable dish with rice. Both meals were really tasty and generous portions. The rice came in small bowls (super cheap though) so make sure to get a few.
Contributions +17
Great food, in large quantities, at good prices - Edit
I can confirm this place is open since I was just there at the end of June 2013.
I walked to this place from my hotel, and it was not that hard to find. If you go to the right too much, you'll be in a row of little shops all inside the temple complex. Instead of turning right, just go straight and then you'll see the place to your right.
I ordered two dishes --- a hot&sour soup and a special radish dish --- along with rice. I figured that would be the right amount for one person. I ordered some of their standard tea to drink. The soup came in a giant bowl --- there was enough there for 4 people easy. I had skipped breakfast, and the food was very tasty, so I managed to stuff myself and eat almost everything. I couldn't really finish the tea however because I was pretty full of liquid trying to take in all that soup.
This has got to be the tastiest food I've had in Xi'an. And in terms of vegetarian Chinese food, it's right up there with the best I've had in Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong Kong. It is superior to the best I've had in San Francisco, Berkeley, or New York City.
I'd recommend this place in a heartbeat.
Pros: Very tasty food, Quite inexpensive
Cons: No English spoken, No napkins
Contributions +71
Cheap noodle soup - Edit
Located in nice temple that is under-construction. If coming from the main road turn right into the main temple complex and before you go through a gate into the temple real look for a building on your right (have added photos)with a sign with food photos on it – there was no English sign outside.
Nice staff and no English spoken but an English menu. Food was good, especially the green beans and the sweet and sour chicken (most dishes are around RMB 20-35). We went back the next day and just had mushroom noodle soup for RMB 6.
Pros: Cheap noodle soup, Good access via metro or bus, Lovely temple also
Contributions +160
Nice, very simple restaurant - Edit
This place is a temple restaurant next to the Daxingshan temple. It's not inside the temple, so it can stay open even if the temple itself is closed. In Dec 2012 the temple was under renovation, but there was a small door on the east side of the temple where you could step in and find the restaurant right in front of you, on the right.
There was one staff member who apparently spoke English, but we did all the communication in Mandarin which was fine. The menu has pictures of most of the dishes. Everything was delicious, though very salty, which I've found elsewhere in Shaanxi cuisine as well.
There is a separate tea list on the wall in Chinese. I recommend trying the tea, it's very good and cheap! We got a pot of good Oolong tea for only 25 RMB.
The only downside with this restaurant is that in the winter it's very cold. So be prepared to sit with your coat on.
Pros: excellent food, very affordable, excellent teas
Cons: very cold in winter
Contributions +164
Very good! - Edit
We went back to this restaurant twice, even though it was far across the city. The staff could use a bit of frendliness-training, but the food was excellent and cheap. Decor is very minimal.
Try some of the interesting desserts, but be aware that the portions are huge, and as they're mostly deep fried, they're pretty heavy! The staff doesn't speak any English, but the owner does. He told us that they have a sister restaurant near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (Tianlong Baoyan Vegetarian Restaurant, 1号 Ci'en West Road). Much of the menu is the same (even with the same photographs) but more expensive, and the restaurant itself is much nicer.
Either option is a good choice!
Pros: Great food, Cheap, Nice temple
Cons: Spartan decor, Not super friendly staff
Contributions +69
Bring map, try the aubergine dish, learn chinese - Edit
My first suggestion would be to print off a map as there aren't any sign posts to the temple if you make your own way there. It is walking distance from the Big Goose Pagoda, but we got very lost trying this way. If you use the Metro from the bell tower there is a stop XiaoZhai Zhan which brings you out right near the road the restaurants on depending which exit you take and only costs 2 Yuan.
Once you find the road turn down this street keep walking until you see the temple walls, then walk until you see the number 55, go in these doors, then its on the right of the square.
The staff do not speak english or understand any attempt at chinese, and initially seemed annoyed at us being there, but during the meal they were attentive, they gave us hot water to drink and refilled the jug on the table. When we finished our meal a large table next to us started smoking, luckily we had finished, but its all down to timing. When ordering point to things and hope for the best, if you want tofu say Doofu and they will point to some for you.
We ordered; Dumplings of the pasta variety which were filled with minced veg and very tiny, but a full plate of them is lots. A Tofu dish which was ok, but I had better in beijing. Aubergine (eggplant) with finebeans, which was my favorite, a little spicy with crunchy beans. A shredded courgette dish which was nice to try but didint really go with what we were having. It all came to 80 Yuan for 2 of us, we could have order one less dish easily and we took most of the dumplings with us, they were happy to put them in abox for us as we were stuffed.
Pros: cheap
Cons: language barrier, location
Contributions +28
Good and Cheap - Edit
We went to the Daxingshan temple vegetarian yesterday and ordered 101 yuan worth of food (about $15.00 US) for 5 people and had leftovers. The menu was not in English, but they had nice color photos of all the food, so it was easy to pick out a few items. Ordering drinks was not easy, as they had no pictures. It was all good, but the waiters did laugh at the silly westerners struggling to eat their mushroom hotpot. I guess we were not doing it right.
Pros: good value, great food
Cons: little english
Contributions +279
simple restaurant, good value - Edit
We got here by taking the bus 603 and it is 4 stops from south gate. Then a short walk and we saw a sign on the road as we approached the temple for vegetarian restaurant.
The food is really cheap.
We ordered dumplings for 10 yuan. They were quite bready/ chewy but they have two types so order the other dumplings if you prefer pasta based ones.
We also had wide green noodles for 6 yuan and some vegetables which we were happy with.
Pros: good value, friendly staff
Contributions +20
Nice and friendly - Edit
I have been there a few times, and definitely will go there again. Food is excellent, waiters have a lot of fun by westerners stepping in, can speak some english. Not enough to discuss the menue...
Point on the dishes in the menue, and get surprised, this is fun. Food is really good tasting, and spicy. If you can't take it that hot, let them know.
Around the corner is a chinese shopping area, just walk east along the street. Good to have a strall after getting stuffed in that place ;-)
It is a temple restaurant, please don't expect much decoration or stuff. But compared to other places it is very clean.
Cheers and enjoy
Monkey
Pros: Excellent food, Friendly staff, Clean
Cons: Couldn't find any
Contributions +258
Pretty good - Edit
We have been here twice during our stay in Xi'an since many of the other vegetarian restaurants seem to have closed.
First off, I want to note that the map showing this restaurant as near the Bell Tower is incorrect. This restaurant is located on the grounds of Daxingshan Temple which is south of the city walls. However, it is easy to find since it's on every map and all the taxi drivers know it. It is not a big temple, so easy to find once you're there.
The atmosphere isn't much and there are no pictures or any English on the menu, but everything we've tried has been delicious. On our first visit, we had tofu in brown sauce, a cold stir fried spinach dish, and dumplings. The tofu and spinach dishes were both a bit spicy. The dumplings come in servings of 30 or 60 which sounds like a lot, but they are rather small. 30 fits on a normal sized plate, so order 60 if there are two of you and you're really hungry.
On our second visit, we had an eggplant dish which was really great. It was served sizzling on a hot iron plate. The sauce was a bit sweet, sour, spicy, and salty all at the same time. We also had stir-fried greens and mushrooms which were tasty. Finished it up with 60 dumplings.
This place is very inexpensive. Both times we went, it was about 50 kuai for 2 people. The staff was friendly and helped us with the menu as best they could. One server spoke some English, but some Mandarin would be helpful, although you could get by just pointing at random items and probably be okay. Since we can't read Mandarin, we just asked for tofu, eggplant, or dumplings and the server pointed at corresponding menu items to show us the price.
We will probably go back before we leave as it is in a fairly convenient location and the food has been reliably good. Definitely worth a visit or two.
Pros: good food, great value, healthy food
Cons: lacking in atmosphere
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