Vegetarian Dim Sum House

I remember coming to this hole in the wall a few years back with my family that was visiting from California! My mom is of the vegetarian persuasion, so we were immediately drawn to the fact that everything they served was vegetarian! So, when I was in New York, I jumped at the chance to give it another go. Unfortunately, this time around wasn’t as tasty as I remembered.
The dumplings themselves were very doughy that impeded the filling inside. Even then, the filling was lackluster! The flavors were bland, with the exception of the crispy «chicken» noodles. That is the one dish that saved the day. Even though our tummies were full, we were left wanting more out the meal. I would recommend saving a trip and locating another dim sum place along that street.

I really like this place considering it’s the only vegetarian dim sum place in Manhattan and the portions are huge for the price. The lotus leaf wrapped with rice is easily 3 portions. I love the turnip cake which is light and flavourful and the fried taro is better than most dim sum places even though it doesn’t have pork in the center.

Note: went here December 2013.
This place is amazing. I have a soft spot for dim sum — a Cantonese comfort food. The problem? Not many places serve vegetarian dim sum and if they do, the selection isn’t very big. When I heard of this place, I had to go.
The place is smack dab in Chinatown (I think… we were tourists so that’s the impression I got while walking from the subway station). It’s fairly easy to find and the place is on the smaller side, but we didn’t have an issue getting a table. The décor was simple and nothing noteworthy, but it wasn’t dirty either. They didn’t have the rolling carts (no room) but they had a little menu that you can mark what you wanted and give it to your waiter who would bring your selections to your table.
We are strict vegetarians… but no onion and garlic, so that was the first thing we asked before we began choosing our food. According to our waiter, we could pretty much choose anything on the menu. I was psyched, because this is a pretty rare phenomenon! We ended up deciding upon 7 items for around $ 25 and it was a lot of food! They were all delicious and though not devoid of grease, it wasn’t as greasy as I’ve seen some places serve their dim sum. We ended up taking back our leftovers and it was enough for dinner.
I would definitely return if I ever find myself in New York again! …Perhaps it’s a good thing that there isn’t an all vegetarian dim sum restaurant where I live…

I can’t believe that such an amazing place even exists! The dim sum was more than perfect! Every part of the food was absolutely delicious! I will never for get this place I wish there was one back in California where I’m from!

Service was slow and the lady who worked there was very rude. I just wanted to know what is the most popular noodle she said «it depends on you» for everything. Fried noodles was burnt and the portions are really small. So always order more before ha. d or you wait too long. I strongly suggest not coming here.

Love this place. Since I don’t eat pork or shellfish this is a great place to get the Dim Sum experience. The menu is large and prices are low and you can stuff your face for very little money. Food is delicious.

Chinatown Dim Sum Tour Stop #6:
Subtlety is not their strong point, vegetarian dim sum, however, is. Compared to Buddha Bodai, I prefer VDSH because the food is less greasy + the ingredients taste more fresh.
They offer vegetarian versions of all the dim sum classics such as the bbq pork bun, shrimp dumplings, and lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice. The flavor of everything was really good, and my dream of eating bbq pork bun again as a vegetarian came true — gloriously. I also really liked the rice rolls here.
Another bonus — there’s usually no wait!

There was so much msg in the food I felt super thirsty and hazy after dinner. The food was just drenched in sauce. It took us a long time just to decide what to order– we should have known then to walk out.
The portions are pretty big. Its not completely awful… okay for cheapish greasy Chinese food. Given you’re in chinatown you could just walk down the street for much better.

definitely enjoyed my meal here. quick service and yummy food. i especially enjoyed the turmip cake. Will be back!

Average chinese vegetarian food. Not awful, not amazing. We had: pork buns — ⁸⁄₁₀; shrimp dumplings — ⁶⁄₁₀; Buddhist rice — ⁶⁄₁₀; pork chops — ⁴⁄₁₀ — kinda like candied tofu — way too sweet. One thing that turned me off was that the baby corn in my rice had a distinct freezer burn taste. The service was a little slow but it was a busy day. I will be back as I think we may have just ordered the wrong things. If that’s the case, I will be editing my review.

I admit that I’m a bit biased as a voracious omnivore, but I felt that the dim sum and entrees here were merely average. I came here with my parents, who are extra nitpicky when it comes to eating out, and they also weren’t terribly impressed with the quality and prices here, given that they’ve had their fair share of super good Chinese vegetarian food.
Don’t get me wrong, this place isn’t bad, but it’s not going to knock your socks off either. Simply a good choice to have if you are vegetarian.

Simply amazing, make sure you also take the freshly made fruit juices! Surprisingly good.
And look for the other reviews to find the best options:)

This place is great for Dim Sum! It is all vegetarian and make mock dishes of meat but is surely convincing. The rice noodles (golden mushroom and shrimp) are really good. The sticky rice is great. I can keep going… to summarize… hole in the wall kind of place but great food!

A classic NYC vegetarian spot-​one of the first, and one of the best. I have been coming here regularly for 6 years, and am never disappointed. Service here is fast and friendly, and the food is interesting, authentic, and almost all vegan.
I recommend going for the traditional dim sum, especially if you are with a group. Highlights of their menu include the pork buns, shark fin dumplings, Buddha rolls, treasure box/​treasure balls, and assorted wheat gluten. This place is such a gem, and I hope that they are around forever.

My friend and I dined here and we made the mistake of over ordering. The portions are HUGE! We ordered the Mashed Taro Treasure Boxes (taro puffs), Rice Flour Rolls with Chinese Kale, Rice Flour Rolls with Deep Fried Dough, Pan Fried Dumplings, Spinach Dumplings, Napa Rolls, and Chinese Broccoli. We thought the portions would be smaller but we were wrong. The Pan Fried Dumplings had 6 huge pieces alone. It was a lot of fried stuff and it was tasty but I yearned for something green and fresh and I was glad we got the Chinese Broccoli (didn’t see it on menu but we just asked for it). My favorites were the Spinach Dumplings and the Napa Rolls (fried dough with napa cabbage inside). We had a ton of leftovers to take home with us. Next time I’m in New York, I’d like to try Buddha Bodai to see how it compares.

We stopped in on Friday and were overwhelmed with the amount of food … We ordered a few plates from the dim sum menus. Mistake number 1 they are not small plates
Then ordered a meal each mistake #2 we could of shared a dish mistake #3 was an additional order of green beans .
Food was very good but a bit salty .The staff if very friendly we will defiantly be back … The good thing was I had lunch and dinner the next day

My animal-​flesh eating (but very sweet) friends found this place just for me. We ordered about 6 dim sum between us, and we liked them all. My favorites were the «pork» buns and treasure balls — and no, I don’t know what they were. A big downside was that almost everything was fried, which ended up feeling pretty heavy. More steamed options would have made lunch 10x better.

I am normally an optimistic person, and the Buddha in me would like to believe this place will get over their negative marks but the realist in me is currently winning and I must recognize that this place is just a shoddy version of the better vegetarian /​vegan brethren in the neighborhood.
The Boo and I ordered a few things and I will itemize my review by them:
1) Spinach dumplings — I would like to start with the best dish we had here, which was still only a 2.0÷5.0. The spinach dumplings which are highly praised in a couple other reviews are what drew our attention. I felt there was too much grain filling, and not enough of the good stuff. For what they were, it was just okay.
2) Flour flat noodles with fried dough inside — This was very disappointing. It tasted pre-​made and re-​heated. The fried dough was not crispy, the noodles were flavorless and just tasted wrong.
3) Pulled pork buns — These were okay. Another 2.0÷5.0. I felt like they could use more flavor.
4) Fried banana — When ordering, I asked if it was vegan to which they said yes. I asked if any animal product was used, to which they said no. When it came out and I took a bite, I noticed a syrup on the bottom so figured I would ask — which turned out to be honey! I felt sick to my stomach. I could and do expect this at omni restaurants, but a vegetarian restaurant should understand the difference between vegetarian and vegan and should know what animal products consist of. This ruined my appetite and my mood, not to mention my stomach.
Go elsewhere and save yourself the dough /​cash /​stomach ache /​head ache.

If you’re a carnivore, don’t come here.
Even though it was vegetarian, it didn’t feel healthy at all. Just a bunch of fake meats (yuck) and carbs. The fake meats weren’t horrible but I did feel as if I was in a food coma after.
As a carnivore, it was a mistake to come here. Not coming back.

Dim sum dim sum… how sweet you are to my heart now that I found you vegetarian style. I’m not a vegetarian but for dietary reasons — I do not eat pork or beef. Given most dim sum dishes are pork based — my world of dim sum was somewhat limited/​restricted. Brought my mom (vegetarian) with me to try out the restaurant.
We were both taken back by the endless options. We ordered the taro treasure, shrimp rice noodle, shu mai, beancurd wrap, shark fin dumpling and seafood pan fried noodles. The presentation and replication was near success except the shu mai (total miss). The taro treasure was not made to order — it was pre-​made and sat out in the open near the front window (otherwise it would have been a perfect hit). The highlight was the seafood pan fried noodle (noodles were wheat based) perfectly cooked and seasoned — replicating the seafood variety normally found in the original dish.
Service was pretty on point. Food kept coming out at a reasonable pace and often check back from the servers. Definitely keeping this restaurant on my NY pit stops.

Disappointing, tasteless and expensive dishes. The wan tan soup was a disaster. Hands off!