Baotong Si Sucai Guan (Baotong Temple Vegetarian Restaurant)
Wuluo Lu no. 289 (next to the temple entrance)
Cuisines: Vegetarian
About
Almost as popular with nonvegetarians, this restaurant prepares zhaicai (Buddhist cuisine) in the temple tradition, specializing in faux meat, fish, and fowl dishes. A delicious appetizer is wuxiang niurou (faux beef with blended spices). Made from doufu pi (the top, most nutritious layer of the tofu), this cold dish is served with hot sesame oil and soy sauce. Another doufu pi main dish is hongshao fuzhu (braised doufu pi rolls with bamboo shoots and green pepper). Two dishes that don't pretend to be anything else are quanjiafu (several kinds of mushroom sauteed with dates) and sauteed youmaicai, which is a dark-green leafy vegetable similar to spinach. Both dishes are delicate and tasty.
