Kung Tak Lam - Tsim Tsa Tsui

They don't verify everything they sell is vegetarian. I've nothing to add to this Worst Restaurant Award:-

https://hkveg.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/worst-restaurant-of-the-month-award-kung-tak-lam

I'd rate places like this at zero or negative if happycow would let me







Updated from previous review on 2016-09-01

With so many great vegetarian and vegan places close by I wouldn't recommend this place unless you are in need of white table cloth and a good view. Food is not to my taste and many things have egg in them. But one of the more "representative" looking veggie places.

The restaurant was very lovely, clean and had a fantastic view as it is up on the 7th floor of One Peaking Tower. I got a nostalgic feel for the restaurant as it reminded me of a place in Melbourne city that I frequent often when I am home (Gong De Lin - Vegan). I eagerly ordered similar things from the menu and was delighted by a familiar taste. Unfortunately due to the price I will not be returning to this restaurant but it was definitely good to be able to experience food from this restaurant whilst visiting Tsim Sha Tsui for the 8pm Symphony of Lights.

Kung Tak Lam

(11am to 11pm)

(expensive)

Quote: "Kung Tak Lam Shanghainese serves up vegetarian and vegan friendly dishes, all featuring a lovely Harbor view. No MSG and low-salt dishes complement the overall healthy (and delicious) vibe of this award-winning eatery, so rest assured you’re doing right by your tummy here."

Kung Tak Lam, 7/F, 1 Peking Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2312 7800

Across the street from the Chung King Mansions (40 Nathan Rd entrance) is Peking Road follow it to the One Peking Road Shopping Arcade (you will need to drop down into the subway and up the other side to get past the one street) > the restaurant is inside One Peking > go up the escalator to elevators and then go to 7th floor.

Fresh blended fruit juice $38HKD > yummy

Braised Vegetarian Meatballs in Casserole $118HKD > Wonderful tasting meatballs!

Sautéed Vegetarian Chicken w. Hot & Spicy Sauce $98HKD > Very Good!

Fried Noodles w. Assorted Vegetables $88HKD > fresh but boring, lacking in flavor.

Nice upscale environment but very expensive.

Attentive and fast service.

Note: Like many Hong Kong restaurants they will bring you an appetizer and tea without asking if you want it. Unless you refuse them, you will end up with being charged for them on your bill. Example here they gave us a tiny bowl of spiced peanuts and charged $12HKD for them.

This is an excellent restaurant for anyone who enjoys Chinese food with veggie "meat" and "fish". They also have a very good range of vegetable-based dishes too. The room was over-lit making it feel a little austere and the excellent view difficult to see. The price is medium/high; the service very good, with friendly and helpful staff.

The view from this restaurant is really nice, and the staff friendly. The food is okay – of the four things we ordered one was really awesome, two were okay and one was underwhelming. You might have a different experience depending on what you order and what you like.

Okay food, nice view, but don't spend too much :).

Kung Tak Lam is the perfect place to head to with friends, family or by yourself! The service is outstanding, the food is quickly served and it is all very tasty. Mainly vegan, with egg-dishes labelled. The pancake mince, sweet and sour 'pork' and cutlets were our favourites. However, it IS pricey but the portions are large and the view of Hong Kong side is fantastic. I would definitely recommend this place.

It's my 2nd Visit and the food was good. But I felt the 1st time when I visited there a couple of years ago the food was better.

Close to the station opposite Langham hotel. Its open at night despite happy cow saying it's closed.
Nice views from 7th floor nice place to bring business people too.

Nice to have a spot with lots of options, very clean, nice staff. Not so cheap, but fairly tasty.

I've eaten at Kung Tak Lam four times for lunch and dinner while visiting Hong Kong and it's worth noting how reasonably priced the food is here. It's become a haven for me when I want a good quick dinner where I don't have to worry about MSG and high sodium. I prefer the lunch menu as the serving sizes were better than what I got for dinner. They offer a good range of hot and cold options plus organic fruit drinks and the ladies will help you select, just be patient and open to a bit of cross-cultural communication (you're in Hong Kong after all!). Another thing worth mentioning is that I haven't had any food reactions eating here although I still choose non-soy/soy bean foods. I made the mistake of ordering the fried red bean balls off the separate dessert menu which doesn't say that it contains egg white but everything else is clearly marked on the full menu. If you need clarification staff are willing to advise. Service is speedy but staff have forgotten one thing that I've ordered every time I've been there and I've had to follow up. Views are nice but unless you're in a large group you can forget about a window table. If you're after dinner with a wow-View then you should go to iSquare Level 33 or ICC, Ritz Carlton etc. They do charge for the salted peanuts that are already on your table when you're seated.

The food was good. Not the best we've had but good. The staff however are abrupt and the dining experience is not a peaceful one.

Would not recommend. Try Paramita instead which is great.

After reading several reviews on the topic of pushy and unreasonable staff, I was severely apprehensive of the restaurant. To avoid any hassle of choosing items, we chose the Set Menu For Four, which managed to please myself and my meat-eating family!
Our favourite dishes were 'Diced Veg Chicken in Hot Sauce' and the 'Glutinous Rice Ball Filled with Sesame Paste in Ginger Soup' which was a real highlight!

The view was wonderful as expected and the staff were certainly attentive which brought negatives and positives. Food service was quick but as we were towards the end of our meals, several staff members continued to hover near our table, eager to take the next empty plate. Thankfully I was facing away from this, but it made some of my family feel just a bit uncomfortable!

All in all a pleasant experience, we were not charged for peanuts or for our many pots of Chinese tea! If we had the time, I would have loved a second visit for lunch and that Ginger Soup dessert!! Mmmmm

This is a real, happening restaurant with professional staff, white tablecloths, great views and an urban feel. The private room is great for events -- I had a birthday party there, and the staff made it comfortable as though we were entertaining at home. The set menu is expensive, but unfolds over a dozen courses like a royal banquet. Unlike some Chinese vegetarian restaurants, the food is not heavy, and seems actually healthful and thoughtfully prepared. The main restaurant can be crowded, and service is brisk.

This is the spot to pass the afternoon away sipping tea, eating dim sum and enjoying the nice view over the harbor. The white table cloths and dishes are something out of my imagination of a fancy pants tea hour. We ordered a variety of dishes, which were pretty traditional HK style foods. The flavors were straightforward and tasty. Enjoyed the meal and atmosphere. A few pics here http://kuriouskittenskookykrusades.blogspot.tw/2014/05/hong-kong.html

The food here was quite bland (we tried four different dishes) and heavily centred on mock meats (personally I find mock shark fin a bit creepy). The food was mostly reasonably priced though. The highlight was that there are delicious fresh juices available.

The views are great and the food is good, but i will NEVER again walk into this restaurant. The staff is obnoxious. I walked in at 11:45 am and 2 of the 25 tables were occupied. I asked to sit by the window, they said "NO, you're one person and that's a table for 6, you must sit at this table for 4". THE PLACE WAS EMPTY! Another time We went to lunch at 2:30, i asked for dumplings, they said No, dumplings are only served until 2, now is 2:30, no dumplings. Anything you ask to be accomodated with they say No. They have a facist mentality of Do it our way or leave. Makes it unpleasant to be there. The rating is deceiving because happycow does not allow a rating of 1. This is a firmly 1-Cow establishment.

Food was just ok, nothing special. But the views are as noted in other reviews, lonely planet. If you arrive before the dinner rush you can have a nice table near the window overlooking the harbor. Waitstaff has creepy long fingernails common in Asia.

Although I have to agree with the other reviewers that the location, view & food is pretty good. I certainly need to update about the service I received this time round.

My 3rd time there n it's the most disappointing ever since.

My group of 9 went in and we got proposed with a HKD2399 set, as we had late lunch n my friends won't big eaters, we decided to order ala carte for the night. The staff serving me was really pushy and showed me black face after I ordered 6 dishes to be served before we decide if we wanna order more.

He approached me again after the first 2 dish was served and his colleague came again shortly. She urged me to order 2 more dishes but we were all feeling full already so I declined the request, she pushed and pushed and finally she said,"What u ordered is much lower than our minimum spending and this is putting us in s difficult position."

I explained that we are full already and no point ordering n wasting food. I mean what's the point if u b vegetarian to do a little part on saving the earth yet waste food right, yet she pushed and pushed...

So, unless u hack that attitude or is ready to spend a lot, if not, dun go.

Kung Tak Lam is possibly the best-located vegetarian restaurant in the world. With grand views of the Hong Kong Harbour, surrounded by sky tickling towers, it has a prominent advantage over any run-of-the-mill Buddhist restaurant. And for that reason, your hotel concierge will most likely recommend Kung Tak Lam when you ask about a vegetarian restaurant.

If you're a neophyte to the Chinese Buddhist cuisine, you're in for a treat. Any dish you can imagine from the Chinese, and particularly Cantonese cuisine, is available here in a mostly animal-free version.

But, if like this reviewer, you've tasted Buddhist cuisine far and wide, you'll notice that the grand view has perhaps relaxed the kitchen hands, leading to wide variance in the quality of dishes.

Of further concern is the heavy reliance on mock meat, fish and shellfish, to a point where a truly healthy, unprocessed dishes are hard to come by. Overall: a good introduction to Buddhist cuisine, for yourself or someone close to you.

My wife and I enjoyed the food and so we went back again the next night. The first night we took the elevator to the 7th floor, we were seated next to the window and could see all bright buildings in the harbour. It was not crowded and the music was pleasant. The second night we went it was later and very crowded - we did not get to sit by the window.
We ate the same thing both nights: #405 Veggie sweet and sour veg pork, #510 Soya bean fillet with black pepper sauce and # 608 Curry potato in casserole. We also had white rice with it. The curry potato dish was the best. They served two types of Chinese beer which wasn't too bad.

My girlfriend and I here two nights in a row, we loved the food so much. We even lucked out and got a table right in front of the window overlooking the harbor both nights as well. If you can get there around 730 and get a table near the window, you'll get to see the laser light show that happens usually around 8 PM every night over the harbor too. Get a pot of the tea made with fresh fruit too.

This restaurant is on the 7th floor overlooking the harbour. A great spot to see the island skyline. The service was very good, and it was the closest to fine dining you get among HK vegetarian restaurants. They serve Chinese (Shanghainese I think), including dim sum and fake meat dishes. The menu was extensive. I got some delicious dumplings, but some really bad sweet and sour pork. It's hard to know if that was just bad luck, because I was there alone and only tried the one main meal. It was more expensive than other vege-Chinese places in HK, but you are obviously paying for the service and view.

I went here alone, and at 6:30pm on a Tuesday night I was the only diner in a very large restaurant, so I was given a table looking out at Victoria Harbour. The restaurant has a very good location in the 1 Peking Road building. That was the best part of my experience there. I was given a small starter which contained fried peanuts, tofu and cucumber, and I ordered Jasmine tea. The menu is extensive and is written in both Chinese and English so it is easy to order.

I ordered a fried noodle dish with vegetables and a spicy bean curd dish. Both dishes were sizable but both were bland and not well flavoured at all. This is not a cheap restaurant with many of the dishes sitting in the $60 to $80 HKD range. The restaurant had a large number of staff but their attitude was one of indifference. By the time I left at approximately 7:30pm there were about 8 to 10 tables taken.

I have been meaning to try this place for a long time, so glad it did not disappoint. Personally I'm not a fan of meat analogs, so I didn't order any. Just based on what I had, the food was fantastic. First off, unlike the other traditional Chinese vegetarian restaurants, their food was not greasy at all. They also have a couple of interesting items on the menu, one of the must try dishes is imo the tofu dumplings. Same with the cold noodles, you can whip up your own sauce based on the condiments that come with it (about 10 of them). Fun and tasty at the same time!
The setting was very nice too; harbor view, spacious, spotless. If you want to secure a table by the window, do make a reservation.
Minor downside is the service; it wasn't bad, just mediocre. I would expect more from a place like this. Also, it tends to be pretty cold inside, so bring a jacket, or you can ask them for a blanket like I did.

Interesting food. Atmosphere is nothing to write home about unless you go after dark and sit by a window. Definitely need reservations weekend evenings.

Went to the restaurant on 24/11/09. This restaurant has both good food & great atmosphere which you can imagine!! We ordered the set meal for 12 pple & though we have 14pple, we still can't finish their food, not that the food isn't tasty enough & its cos the restaurant is very generous in their serving!! Personally, I prefer their pumpkin soup, cold noodles, olive fried rice & the "fish" dish as well as the dessert... Beside the food, I like the atmosphere there too cos its both classy, spacious & yet you own your own personal space!! The staff is fast to response too!! Efficient is the word to describe them...
Recommend to try their cold noodles: this dish is very unique, they'll come with a wide variety of sauces for your noodles to mix on your own, but u can try that no matter how you mix it, the noodles is juz SEDAP!! Delicious!!
I love the cold dish they serve also!! Nice place for gathering, spacious with alot of customers & yet you can chat there comfortably.

We visited this restaurant in June 09 on the recommendation of a friend and were not disappointed. We ordered the sweet and sour mock-pork and mock-prawns with broccoli which were both excellent, the former of which my vegetarian husband hoovered up in a matter of minutes! We also ordered the noodles with various sauce (I think there were 8 altogether) which is a good introduction to trying different chinese sauces, I liked the satay and the chilli sauce, mmmmm.

The views of the harbour from the restaurant are excellent due to its high location, however, if you do not get a table with a view i'd recommend going up to the aqua cocktail bar in the same building on the 19th floor where the views are even better (the cocktails are a bit pricey, but it really is worth it).

I would definately come back to this restaurant if ever in Hong Kong again.

went to the causeway bay restaurant an evening meal. excellent service and really fantastic food. we had a little boy with us who got very tired half way through the meal and sadly we had to leave early (after one bite!)..but the staff were absolutely fantastic and quickly and neatly packaged everything for us for take-away so we could enjoy the rest at home. the menu was very clear and and included some pictures of the meals. everything we had ordered to eat was great, i can't remember what the peanut one was called but it was beautiful, (i think it had chilli and mushrooms in it as well if that helps!). It was particularly busy and we were given one of the only 2 free tables left without a booking, however the service was very efficient and very attentive even through the busyness, also our waiter knew the all menu items very well and could explain anything at all that we needed further clarification with.

Elegant restaurant in a very central, upscale location. Excellent food, good service and an incredible view of the Harbour. If you go for dinner, reserve a table close to the windows and watch the beautiful light show unfold across the harbour at 8:00 p.m. Wonderful selection of teas. Not cheap, but not really expensive either. Definitely worth the price! Highly recommended!

Food is meaty looking and uses Tofu to make all the different menu items. Wonderful taste and reasonable prices. Well appointed, lovely views and good service. A gem

known as 功德林. went there twice during my HK trip, nice ambience, great food. staff were friendly, but a little slow. certainly visit this restaurant again! would prefert this outlet to the other oulet at Cause way bay.

I took my family to this restaurant twice this week, and the food was great both times. They sell their own moon cakes at this time of the year for the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. Special mention goes to the pine nut fried rice, which we always get when we go here.

A nice, upscale vegetarian restaurant. Great views of Victoria Harbor, and the food was very good too. A nice change of pace, and I would certainly take business associates there.

had a set lunch at hk$50. was okay, but not fantastic. i have eaten at the island branch before, and it is very similar. the portions are big, but it does have the feel of a chain, and staff were pushing add on sales etc...

at the moment there is no building in front of it, and views of hong kong island are stunning.

if this was in glasgow i would be raving about it, however it's in hong kong and isn't as good as some of the other restaurants, but i would still recommend either branch.

I took some US customers there yesterday & they loved it. A really comfortable place to eat in / sit & relax in. Superb views of the harbour & over to Hong Kong Island. Mostly vegan. For the ambience & the quality of the food the prices are very low. Wonderful hot dim-sum. Good teas especially the "Pu-erh". Menu clearly shows which dishes have eggs. A short walk from the Star Ferry. Visit & enjoy! Can seat several hundred people so perfect for hosting events. Linked to the place in Causeway Bay - also called Kung Tak Lam.