CLOSED: World Peace Cafe

Nice food, friendly staff, but the interior design could be improved. Such a nice name for a cafe requires a cozy environment!

Let's face it, although South Wanchai is in the, somewhat controversial, process of being gentrified by the urban redevelopment council, it's not the nicest part of town. It does, however, contain one of the nicest restaurants in town, that being the very popular World Peace Cafe.

The restaurant is in the ground floor of an old walk up style building, which affords it an unusually high ceiling by today's standards, and thus confers a very bright and airy feel to the proceedings. Even though the tables may be close together, it doesn't feel cramped.

It's run by a Buddhist group who have a meditation centre above the restaurant. I believe all the people working there are volunteers from the group and, as has already been said, you couldn't wish to find more genuinely nice, helpful people to serve you. Once good thing about this restaurant is that, like Loving Hut down the road, this restaurant serves in part to provide vegetarian food to people as a sort of public service, as well as to promote Buddhist values - however, unlike Loving Hut, this second part is really subtle and not 'in your face'. The feel is one of a relaxing cafe where every time I leave, I feel significantly better than I did when I went in.

The menu at lunch time is limited to a soup, a salad and a choice of three main courses (can't remember if there's dessert as I never have it). There are options for set lunches that involve various combinations of these as well as tea & coffee.

As mentioned previously, the food is fresh and almost has a home-cooked feel to it, very wholesome and I daresay healthy (not being a nutrition expert). There is usually a choice of at least one western main dish and one Asian main dish. The soup seems to be always western style, and is always delicious.

The portions aren't huge, but they're not frugal either and I actually like this. I can have a soup and a main course and be satisfied without feeling like I've pigged out. It's not the cheapest veggie restaurant in Wanchai, but in my experience it's the best and I don't mind paying for the food and experience.

I don't think I'm alone in holding this opinion as it always seems to be busy, so generally I book before going now to ensure a seat.

Came here twice, once for lunch once for dinner. For lunch they have 3 courses to choose from and it's more like a cafe kind of restaurant; while for dinner there's only one set menu and it seems more upscale.

Food was delicious. Portions might be a bit on the small side (especially the dinner sets), but for sure enough to make me feel satiated.

Staff were super friendly and forthcoming. When I was there for dinner, they were serving tempura as starters. I said to one of the staff that I did not want any deep fried food so they had to leave it out from my dish. At the end he asked me if I would like to have an extra drink to make up for the tempura. How kind of him!

The setting is cozy and comfortable, although it can be bit noisy during lunch hours especially at the back of the restaurant. The door doesn't close all the way, which can make it a little chilly inside.

A very decent vegetarian restaurant as a whole and I will definitely go back again and again!

I had already sat down and was ready to have a nice vegetarian meal when the server told me there the dinner was a set meal. I found it quite pricey, though cannot remember just how much it cost now. I was disappointed to find that the main course contained mushrooms as I do not eat mushrooms at all. My advice is to ask first how many options for dinner there are before you make a reservation as I felt somehow obliged to stay and have dinner, I would have preferred other meal options.

At any rate, the meal was actually quite good, mushrooms and all. What really made the situation positive was the waiter, he really was very attentive and friendly to me.

I would go back again with someone else, as most of the diners were couples.

One of my favourite places to go for lunch! Bookings for lunch time are a must as it is always full! Choose from a set menu. Food always made with fresh and hearty ingredients. Presentation and flavours are always amazing, and the staff are always super friendly. Definately a peaceful place*

This place was pretty good for lunch. It was a little expensive ($88 HK per person) for a fixed lunch menu. The portions were pretty small.

The place has a healthy Buddhist vibe and sold some nice products as well. Over all, a cafe more than a restaurant.

The cuisine was Western in style. We had a fake tuna sandwich that was pretty damn delicious.

I love World Peace Cafe. The atmosphere is clean, refined, bright and cozy at the same time. The service is superb - the best in HK. As the servers are volunteers, they really care and are delighted to serve you and make any suggestions - a rarity in Hong Kong! The set lunch menus are a great value. I've loved every one of the soups I've had there, and they make a great vegetable curry with rice. Also a wide selection of organic coffees, fresh juices and soy drinks.

Nice, quiet place. Pretty big dinning area for the location. Food portions are smaller than most and the set lunch is pretty strict. Lady servers are lovely and accomidating to vegans. Recommended to those in the area, no need to go out of your way for lunch. Dinner is perhaps a different story. Much more on offer.

Very nice staff and beautiful inside. Unfortunately the meal choices were limited to one of three set meals. I was after something light, so that didn't suit me, and I wasn't attracted by their descriptions either. However, I saw some people eating and it did look quite nice.

There were quite a lot of people there and the seating was comfortable and the staff and decor nice. They have a good variety of hot and cold drinks. They also sell some buddhist books etc

I am happy cow-rating it as a cafe, not as a restaurant.

The street is at 58N on the free HKG map. It is the one written in Chinese to the left of Swatow Street

They serve lunch set menu - including soup, salad, 3 different main and desert - of course you don't need to have a set menu. And this cafe is run by volunteers from Tibetan Buddhist centre upstairs. Foods are awesome and staffs are so friendly but tend to get slow sometime - but you can not complain to their smiley faces!

They also make great coffee - my favorite is Chai with soymilk though. It's just a lovely place for lunch. But they don't open for dinner or Sunday - also there are some term breaks, so it's not very convenient but definitely one of the best Vegetarian restaurants in HK!