Pine Forest Garden

I always come here for their lunch buffet. The food quality has been consistent and the seasoning is just right. Price is good.

I’m not a vegetarian and this place can ALMOST convert me… But this is also the only place with that potential.
Once upon a time I had to come here twice in a row and dreaded it since it would be the same stuff, but they changed it up! There’s so much variety and you’re bound to find something you like. Btw, it’s a buffet if you’re confused.

We have been going to this place for years and still our favorite when it comes to vegetarian restaurant choice. Their food are healthy I’m general. We came today at around 130pm for lunch buffet and the food is still hot and they would still refill the empty tray unlike the other buffet restaurants.

I’ve been to this location twice: once with my family, and once with my parent’s friends. The time when I came with my family, the food was nothing special. None of the items we got stood out, so we were kinda disappointed. Now I come back here again with my parent’s friend, and my views on the food did a 180! The food here were creative and delicious! Never did I think they were able to create such amazing vegetarian food! I really enjoyed it! This is the type of restaurant where what you order can make a difference because some food items are really delicious, but others, not so much. I would skip the buffet area and go straight for their menu items, if possible. That’s where the good food items are! They have quite the variety of food, so you’ll have fun trying them out.
Service needs a little improving. The only time we saw our waiter was when they were bringing food out. The place isn’t too crowded either. I also recommend coming here with a group of people because they’re food portion size is family style.

This place is fantastic. My dad heard about it from a vegetarian restaurant owner in Wichita who buys imitation meat from here because he can’t find the variations anywhere else.
I try to go every time I’m in Houston.

I like the veggies and sesame balls sushi and the potato dishes I take away 2 stars because I have had better and because the tofu is not as good as it could be.

The food is fresh and delicious. Nice selection. The owner is friendly. It’s clean and comfortable; not too loud.

I love this place. Incredibly fresh food with many options to chose from.
They have a great selection for their buffet that’s worth every penny. I’ve been here a few times with family and friends who aren’t vegetarian and they love the imitation meat dishes. It’s a healthy and great place for those who are trying to eat better and be animal friendly as well. They claim to not use MSG in their food so that’s something to look forward to. They also offer brown rice to those who aren’t eating white rice. Lastly, they’re super generous with their portion so it’s family friendly.
Service is always meh in bellaire so I’m used to it.
A few of their well made dishes:
Imitation fish with brown sauce: the sauce was a bit salty today but I’ve had it a few other times and they usually made it well. I love the crazy amount of veggies surrounding the fish because it helped balance the saltiness. The bf was the one who suggested we’d come here today because he was craving this dish. He’s not even a vegetarian!
Imitation sesame chicken: this was my order and it was so good! It’s more sweet than salty and they always make the imitation chicken a bit crunchy, which is awesome because I love that. This wasn’t bland at all and was afraid that it would be. Must try!

I come here a lot because it’s so close to my mom’s work. I love their all vegan buffet that look like meat. They are all cooked in a way that leaves natural sauce. There are varieties of food, not just slimy and fried ones. Like the spring rolls and some fruit.
People here are friendly.

Had the dinner buffet on the weekend. The buffet is cheaper than the Pepper Tree but I also had to drive 3 extra miles to get there going through Chinatown traffic. I don’t think it’s worth it cause people just don’t know how to drive in that area.
The food was good and the buffet was varied. Nothing was overseasoned so you actually don’t need the rice to cut into the taste. I liked the fried mushrooms and mock chicken dishes the most. Wasn’t too impressed with the crystal dumplings. The labeled hot & sour soup tasted like it was squash soup.
Service was curt but to be expected.

Amazing vegetarian restaurant! So kind lady waitressing! Very peaceful! Clean and cheap! They deserve more business in every sense! Why isn’t this in New York? good is BOMB​.COM

I visited the lunch buffet on a Sunday and I do not understand what all the 4 & 5 star hype is about.
The staff were not friendly. My family and I felt very uncomfortable and stared down by the staff, and we didn’t understand why. It’s like every move we made was being watched.
The vegetable dishes (sauteed pea shoots and veggies) and deep fried sweet potatoes were very tasty, but the faux meat and tofu dishes were flavorless. It was a very bland lunch with textures I did not enjoy. And I AM a vegetarian and I DO regularly cook and eat tofu, so my lack of pleasure from Pine Forest’s food had nothing to do with lack of experience with vegetarian food.
For 4 lunch buffets we ended up paying a total of $ 51. $ 50+ for a lunch for four people is far too much, especially for the taste of the food and how unwelcome we felt.
Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be returning.

I have an interesting relationship with this place. My family became completely vegetarian and, with time, I am now completely vegetarian as well. :) However, we’re vegetarians who don’t eat onion, garlic, leeks, and chives. Needless to say, our restaurant choices shrink down to a handful — if that.
Pine Forest is one of those places that I can go in and eat anything and everything they offer. What does that mean? Growing up, if my mom didn’t want to cook, she’d take us here. If we had a special occasion, there was a 77% that we’d end up here. If we were in the area… you guessed it! Pine Forest.
Don’t get me wrong. Pine Forest is great! I mean, China Town has scary drivers who make up their own traffic rules, but life means sacrifices. However, as someone in high school, going to the same place all the time took its toll. All that aside, I do love myself some Pine Forest from time to time.
Now that I’m married, I cook about 90% of my meals (the other portion would be made up of more «instant» things like cereal or oatmeal and the very rare occasion that we eat out), but we might occasionally find ourselves here on a lazy evening and get the dinner special (choose a dish and a soup. it comes with rice for around $ 10). Recently, though, Pine Forest has this All Day Buffet thing on weekdays and weekends. I love the buffet due to the choices, but buffets no longer hold the same value since I can’t eat as much anymore. I blame it on getting older.
First off, as a Taiwanese vegetarian place, the buffet (and menu) is quite extensive. It’s not huge, but it’s very, very decent. It’s not the saltiest or the greasiest (yay!) which is good. They offer both white and healthier multi-​grain rice along with desserts, a small fruit-​and-​salad section that includes raw items like spring rolls and sushi. There are also those soft dim sum buns, dumplings, radish cakes, soup, amazing fried sweet potato balls, mock meat dishes, veggies… They also have a small desert selection, usually consisting of pastel-​colored mochi surrounding a sweet bean paste. My favorite dessert is actually their mango (?) jelly, which I haven’t seen offered in their buffet in ages. Boo.
As a note, they also do catering of sorts and sell vegetarian mock meats and other items like egg rolls in their freezer by the bathroom entrance, which I do buy when I have need.
I don’t go here enough (averaging about once every 2 months or so now) since I no longer live as close to China Town but during peak hours, parking can be a hassle. When I do go, I try to avoid peak hours but there are still people there and with the new Buffet All The Time thing going on, it seems to be pretty busy. The actual restaurant is good sized and service tends to be okay, because there is often just one person on the floor when I go, but I think it increased to 2 more recently or during busier hours. The owner is a really nice man who likes to talk to the customers when he gets the chance; he used to be the cook but bought the place from the previous owner. Now, I guess he still cooks a bit but he’s also The Boss. I also had my mini wedding reception here and it went pretty smoothly… other than the lack of (good) English translations for the food. I ended up translating them myself and made my own food tags for the guests who didn’t know Chinese.
Summary: good food and selection at a reasonable price. If you’re a vegetarian and in Houston’s Chinatown (or in Houston in general), I don’t know why you haven’t visited yet.

Great little vegetarian/​vegan restaurant with a GREAT lunch buffet. Seriously, go for the buffet!

Pretty good vegetarian food considering vegetarian options are lacking here in Houston. Seriously lacking. Especially coming from a big city on the west coast where healthy vegan etc is so common. This place is Taiwanese vegetarian. So lots of taro, mushroom, veggies, and soy products. The king oyster mushroom that they make into a abalone like dish is awesome! Grilled to make it crisp and the sauce is yummy! The consistency is good too! The fried taro fish is also delicious. Super crispy on the outside and mushy taro with mushrooms and veggies stuffed inside. I love this root they serve. Haven’t seen it anywhere else but Taiwan. Lots of variety and they have a buffet! My parents are vegetarians and come here at least 1−2x every time they visit!

Nice vegan buffet on the weekends that they’ve now extended to the weekday. A lot of different mock meats and veggies. It’s very quaint, so if you’re planning on going during the weekend, go early (12ish). Overall, the service could be better. The owner has always been really nice, but the staff never seems like they want me there. Good food and worth the visit.

Usually when my friends or family take to me to a new place in Houston I’m not impressed, because you can probably find something better in socal (except for barbecue and Cajun).
But I was really impressed with this place! All for pretty cheap. 5 stars. Will be back.

This place is, hands down, amazing.
A vegetarian buffet, you get a huge array of dishes to try, ranging from straight vegetable dishes to mock-​meats and tofu plates. They have noodle dishes, stir-​fry dishes, soups and appetizers such as spring rolls and rolls. The spring rolls and rolls were awesome – the rice in the rolls didn’t taste dried out or stale like most buffets, and the spring rolls were nice and moist. Each dish I sampled was great in its own way, and I just was not remotely disappointed with each meal.
They apparently provide to-​go buffet for $ 4.95/lb. This place was busy on a Saturday, so seating was limited (the place is a little on the small side) and you may have to go expecting to share a round table with other guests. Still, that’s of little matter when you get to have your go at wonderful food.
I could not get over how fresh the food was. It’s seriously a huge selling point for this place. I definitely recommend this, even over some of the eateries nearby that are NOT vegetarian, just because some of these dishes are truly unique.

Lots of tasty mock meat… but also a great selection of other veg dishes
My family and I usually go for the lunch buffet and its always great. Awesome fried rice, sushi, veggie assortment, and mock meat galore.
Apparently now they offer the buffet at dinner too. Pretty cool.
Not a fancy place, but always great food. They do get packed quickly on weekends, so be prepared to share a table.

Veggie buffet with a lot of choices.
I think the food changes everyday, but this is what I liked:
–eggplant
–noodles
–radish cake
–crispy, seasoned cucumber
–some fish bean/​tofu thingamajig
–super silky cold tofu with cilantro
–fried mushrooms
For desert I enjoyed:
–sesame ball with red bean
–super soft coconut jelly thing filled with red bean (they are multicolored — pink, yellow, green
I would alternate between the crispy sesame ball & the soft coconut — I think it made me too happy
It’s 10 bucks a person at lunch time, which makes it cheaper than pepper tree’s veggie buffet (13 – 14 bucks)