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  • NénGrén Zhāi Guǎn 能仁斋馆

  • (34)
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  • White Vegetarian
Vegan-friendly
Chinese
Buffet

Vegetarian restaurant attached to the buddhist temple, inside the same gates. No English signage or menu but has a photo menu. Serves a wide range of vegan food from simple mushroom dishes to mock meats to elaborate banquet style dishes. Buffet at every new and full moon. Short walk northwest of city center, at Xinyi Rd, across the red bridge. Open Mon-Sun 11:00am-1:30pm, 5:00pm-8:00pm.


Venue map for NénGrén Zhāi Guǎn 能仁斋馆
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34 Reviews

First Review by flamekat

MJLT

Points +15

Vegetarian
26 Aug 2023

Great place!

Really nice place, near the temple. A buffet where vegetarian and vegan can enjoy local dishes for a very reasonnable price. Good and clean!

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Huraiquire

Points +7230

Vegan
31 Jan 2022

Temple Food for the Body and Soul

Speechless. I dined here three times now. Serves lunch and dinner at just 29¥ per person. Wonderful temple and beautiful environment. Clean, affordable and delicious. There is an upstairs and a downstairs. So much gratitude for this food and space.

VinayGunther

Points +158

Vegetarian
01 Dec 2021

Great buffet

Oh so delicious. It’s a heavenly buffet. Super modest price. Very popular. The food was local, varied, fresh, and many dishes to choose from. Can’t recommend it enough.

EmilyNoelle

Points +458

Vegan
29 Jun 2021

Lovely Place

This buffet is very popular but for a good reason! The food is delicious and there is a lot of variety. Lots of soups, DIY stations, some seaweed wrapped veggies, and loads of cooked vegetables. If I had more days in Guilin, I would have definitely gone back!
The staff is super friendly. I had to use translate because they don’t speak English but it was easy enough to get by! They were very accommodating!

Pros: Lots of variety, Delicious food, Cheap

Emi_Lia

Points +350

Vegan
16 Sep 2020

Best food in guilin!

Amazing Vegan buffet for little money! It is next to the Buddhist temple and offers a lot of variety, and all of it tastes great. I can only recommend going there😄

Pros: Cheap, vegan, big variety, fresh prepared,, Friendly staff

FrankieW

Points +2416

Vegan
03 Jan 2020

A true gem

The perfect place to appreciate authentic vegetarian food, prepared by volunteers in the Buddhist tradition of Metta.

Excellent and abundant food options, including some surprisingly spicy dishes.

It seems to have an exclusively buffet style dining option, with no visible a la carte on offer.

Pros: Inexpensive

sveasvea

Points +927

Vegan
20 Nov 2019

Best Buffet I've been to for just 29¥

They have salad, main dishes, soups, dessert, fruit and even sushi (all vegan) different kinds of tea and soy milk. This has a very nice restaurant atmosphere, unlike other vegan buffets which rather feel like a cafeteria.

Pros: Vegan, Best selection, Not spicy

VeraKho

Points +64

Vegetarian
25 Apr 2019

many choices at the buffet

Cheap and many choices at the buffet. Please come early, to get a fresh food. A good choice while visiting Guilin.

chinka666

Points +85

Vegan
08 Apr 2019

The best vegan restaurant in China

Great variety of vegan dishes for resonable price (29 rmb for all you can eat). This is best vegan place that I ate for now in my first month in China. Staff is friendly and some of them speeks english. Love it!

Pros: Good food, Cheap, Variety of vegan options

Codyhoffman77

Points +23

Vegetarian
07 Apr 2019

Great variety of tasty food

Living in China as a vegan or vegetarian, you get used to not so great food, if you can find anything at all without meat. This is the kind of place that restores my faith in Chinese food... yes, there is such a thing as delicious Chinese vegetarian food!! You just often need to seek out a Buddhist temple to find it. Everything was so tasty and there was such a large variety that I wished I could have tried more but sadly I was too full! The only downside was that it was quite busy and lining up in an orderly way to get your food doesn’t really exist here, haha. Had to fight my way through some grannies to get the dishes I wanted!

Pros: Large variety , delicious Chinese dishes , DIY rice noodle bar

Cons: No orderly queue to get food , Though this is pretty normal in China

GreenChris21

Points +70

Vegetarian
04 Oct 2018

Great buffet place

Huge variety of local dishes. Customized noodles and Sushi. We were lucky to get a table. Opens at 6pm.

Pros: Very helpful staff

Cons: Cheap. 29 RMB per person for buffet.

shekshaman

Points +345

Vegan
29 Aug 2018

Great.

Awesome variety of food and even DIY noodles. Plenty of fruit in the buffets, including juices and teas. Could not recommend more for a cheap and satisfying meal. You don’t need reservations as the store description suggests. We went twice in two days :)

Pros: Lots of options, Great value, Great staff

fgarvey

Points +20

Vegan
14 Aug 2018

Great veg buffet

29rmb, lots of options and a lovely waitress with a few words of English who was very helpful showing me round. Price includes drinks and desserts/fruit. Easy to find, just past the steps up into the temple go through the glass double doors!

katfletcher

Points +84

Vegan
18 Apr 2018

Lots of options and very popular

To find this place just walk past the beautiful temple. This vegetarian buffet has a great selection of mock meats and lots of options. The teas are especially good :) we arrived at 6 which is when the buffet started so it was very busy and crowded. Nevertheless the food was great!

Pros: mock meats, variety of options, teas

Cons: busy

Vegangirl7777

Points +413

Vegan
15 Apr 2018

Amazing ❤️

Amazing buffet next to the temple. Costs 28 rmb for all you can eat buffet. The staff is super friendly! Lots of choice, soups, desserts, tea, hot dishes, mock meats, fruits and veggies... a must go!! ❤️ The staff told me everything is vegan, and it closes at 2:30.

ElisabethFéline

Points +74

Vegan
12 Apr 2018

big choice good taste

There is a huge vegetarian buffet and most dishes seemed vegan to me. Most of them taste delicious and even drinks and fruits are included in the 29 RMD fee. It closes already at 8 so better be there in time. I have serious doubts that you could also chose from a menu. The atmosphere is something between restaurant and canteen, but therefore it's a very authentic place. To me it seemed to be open every day as I went there more than once in a row, but I don't know for sure.

vitalvegan

Points +321

Vegan
26 Sep 2017

Excellent food and price

Ate here three times in late September 2017.

It is at the first intersection towards the central Guilin train station from the Red (Orange) bridge (Lizeqiao). (Note that the red bridge looks like a grey-brown bridge at night!) The temple is clearly visible from the street. Go in through the temple gates and walk across in front of the temple hall to the restaurant.

The buffet is every day at both lunch and dinner time, not just at new and full moons. Hours seem to be 12-2.30 and 6-8 rather than 11-1.30 and 5-8. Wasn't aware of there being an a la carte menu also and don't really see how there could be as the buffet is on every day.

The buffet has a wide variety of steamed wheat bread type foods, salad components, fried vegetables, tofu dishes, soups, gruels, fruit and drinks. Extremely good value at 26 CNY per person. Fried items tended to be oily and some with plenty of chilli. Very popular and some diners very noisy. Some days there is a queue.

Can also ask to take away some foods (at extra charge).

Pros: Good food and plenty of choice, Easy to find, Cheap

Cons: A place to eat not for a quiet romantic dinner

vh089

Points +229

Vegan
17 Oct 2016

awesome!

must go-to. *so* many options (although I'm not sure they are all vegan—there was one tofu looking thing that tasted almost exactly like egg with an eggy consistency), very cheap (26 kuai for all you can eat, including about 10 types of soup, juice, tea, coconut milk, dumplings, baozi, cooked and raw veggies, noodle station, gourmet station, dessert, I could go on!) wonderful staff too. just make sure to get there before 8, when they close!

Pros: cheap, diverse options, all you can eat

Mimoli

Points +289

Vegetarian
04 Sep 2016

Best buffet I have eaten

Great buffet with many options for 26 CNY per person. Was very crowded with locals both times we ate here.

Anwoody

Points +145

Vegetarian
29 Aug 2016

fabulous

A 28 rmb buffet of amazing tasty varied dishes, including sweets, teas and salads. So good that I'm adjusting travel plans to make sure I can go there again

Pros: wonderful food, wonderful price

MichelleSohumYoga

Points +24

Vegan
09 Jul 2016

Good find

I wanted a good meal after travelling from Yangshuo. I came across this place and was able to eat a vegan buffet run by A Buddhist monastery. The food was mainly Chinese and the buffet offered many vegetable dishes, stews, teas and raw salads. We were two adults, two teenagers and a baby. The place was stroller friendly and everyone enjoyed their meal.

Pros: There is a monastary worth visiting just beside th, Very reasonable price. I think we paid 45 rmb per

Cons: The interior is a little shabby.

Meghlake

Points +76

Vegan
05 May 2016

affordable, delicious

This place is amazing - cost 25 rmb ($3.84 US) per person for dinner buffet. It is super close to our hostel and the tourist area. We got there a little after 6 pm on a week night and were seated right away. Food was replenished quickly and lots of options.

htenbos

Points +233

Vegetarian
02 Apr 2016

Best vegetarian buffet ever

The restaurant has an excellent vegetarian buffet with many many choices. Different Chinese and western salads, some types of mock meat, soups, several types of Chinese buns, teas, fruit juices and a number of different desserts.
The buffet starts at 6pm and seems to be very popular hence you might want to book in advance or you'll have to wait until there is a seat available.
Very affordable, for a family with two adults and two kids we paid 104 Yuan.

Pros: Very tasty, excellent price , wide range of choices

Simon B

Points +75

Vegetarian
29 Feb 2016

A popular choice

For the travelling vegan/vegetarian in Guilin, this place is as heaven-sent as its location would want you to believe; even finding vegetarian food was a tall order in the small eateries throughout the town. As far as Buddhist buffets go, the food is of a high standard, though a little more expensive than usual. It also seems to be very popular with local families, at least at lunchtimes. As the seating is mostly large banqueting style-tables, it took a while to get seated as a lone diner; groups of two or three might also experience the same problem. The buffet itself is the usual array of vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, buns, noodles, rice, soups, none of which was boiled or fried to excess. The atmosphere is the usual pleasantness associated with these kinds of buffets, though markedly more boisterous due to the number of group diners. The restaurant is the closest HC listing to the city centre, but takes around 20 - 30 mins to walk there from the bus station or south railway station. Should anyone want to take a taxi, drivers are a tough bunch to deal with in Guilin, as one can expect in a tourist town. A taxi from the bus station or south railway station to this restaurant should not cost more than 20RMB (should anyone succeed in getting a metered cab, I imagine it would be even less) - do not accept anything higher.

Pros: Food, Atmosphere

Cons: Seating, Location

Annie Tang

Points +16

Vegetarian
07 Jan 2016

Wide varieties & value for money

We went on 23 Dec 2015 & the restaurant having buy 10 free 1 promo.
Wide varieties of Chinese cooking style and definitely value for money.
Food were replenished fast.
Staff were friendly.
Recommended to try their Mushroom porridge which taste like mushroom soup. And do try their yummy Guilin Noodles.

Pros: Carpark available

Cons: Limited space n a bit narrow

Wawbanks

Points +58

Vegan
22 Nov 2014

good food, pretty cheap

We went today and were surprised to find a few English speakers among the staff. Buffet was 33 Yuan each and the food was all really tasty and constantly stocked. Very popular and busy at 12:30 when we went but this wasn't a problem. We will eat here again before leaving Guilin

Minni

Points +248

Vegan
27 Dec 2013

Ok Buddhist style food

Contrary to the description, you don't need a reservation to eat here, at least outside of season. I didn't try the buffet, only ate a-la-carte, but the restaurant was almost empty.

Food was ok Buddhist style vegetarian food, nothing to write home about, but they get only 3 cows because a lot of the menu items weren't available - "mei you". This didn't happen only to me but to the Chinese couple in the next table too. If there are one or two menu items that they don't have, that's ok, but if almost everything is "mei you", I just think it's poor managing!

Pros: food's ok

Cons: not vegan, they didn't have a lot of the menu items




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