I love weekends.
(Who the heck doesn't? Oh, maybe those who have to work on weekends, and do not exactly enjoy their job).
It's when I can be lazy...
Do absolutely nothing...
..or everything.
Such as my last weekend's trip to the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery.
It's a place for worship...
...and when you're hungry from that hike up and down the stairs to the big Buddha...(not to mention bending over backwards trying to shoot good pictures), you can always go to...
Po Lin Monastery's Vegetarian Restaurant
On a perfect 26C, sunny autumn days...you can dine outside and enjoy the scenery...
If you're an air-con fanatic, dine inside.
They started the meal with a soup of winter melon, vegetables and burdock. Very subtly flavored.
One of my favorite dishes of the day...sweet corn and green peas with tofu. Naturally yummy.
This one's baby bok choy, mushrooms, mock meat made of gluten and tofu, with creamy sesame sauce. Deliciously creamy.
Cucumber, celery, carrot, and yellow bell pepper with mock meat made of tofu. Taste absolutely fresh.
Crispy vegetarian rolls. I love anything deep fried, so this was one of the highest highlights of the day.
Fresh shitake on vegetables.
Every dish served taste really subtle, mostly with a shiny corn starch finish, with absolutely no hint of aromatics and spices. Apparently, anything that pleases the palate are forbidden in Buddhism. It's eat-to-live as oppose to live-to-eat, I guess? Can you imagine cooking without garlic, shallot, and all of the wonderful fragrance we normally use? Considering this fact, the dishes weren't as bad as I imagined them to be, they were even delicious, as we were super starved from all the hiking.
The whole experience isn't only about food.
Everything taught us something, including this napkin holder...
....and the toothpick holder....and if that's not enough...
A whole rack of free Buddhism books for you to take home.
As a human being in this vast universe...I feel curious to know what to people bring to the Gods, apart from the usual oranges, apples and pomelo combo...
the essentials...crackers!
and of course...CHOCOLATE!
^_^
The Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery
Check out how to get there, etc here
Lunch costs HK$60 per person
i been here once, the vegetarian dishes are really delicious :D
ReplyDeleteYou make the food look so good! I was here two years ago but did not try out the food. Looks great though. I remember seeing people eat the same dishes you had :).
ReplyDeleteMbak Ritooong... fotonya bikin ngilerong T_T. Bayangin naik tangga kuil setinggi itu kakiku dah gempor duluan hehehehe. Btw, dapat award dari blogq. Diambilong yong... :D
ReplyDeleteTonggg....
ReplyDeleteI love mock meat! Great! It's coffee break now, I don't feel like going to the coffee shop. It's cold and gloomy, you have such beautiful weather only 26C. Last friday, we had a terrible day. It was fresh snow showering. It doesnt feel like fall, does it?
That pea/sweetcorn/tofu dish looks AMAZING and something I want to recreate at home (considering how I have all three ingredients!) - what kind of sauce was it in? It looks like something with chilli...?
ReplyDeleteJax x
anonymous, yes...especially after that climb up to the big buddha :)
ReplyDeleteETE...try them out in your next visit
tatong, maburong numpak helicopterong
pepong, hehehe i love certain mock meats too...they absorb sauces well and thus get really tastyyy.
hehehe i dont want this perfect 24-26C weather to go away...pleaseeee
jackie, the sauces there were pretty mellow...there was almost nothing but corn starch finish to most of the dishes including the corn one. i think you can add soy and chilli to give it a bit of a kick
Is this at Lantau Island? My friend recommended us to go there but we were a little lazy. Now that I look at your photos I regretted not going.
ReplyDeletemakes me want to go. your pictures do it justice!
ReplyDelete