Entering Lotus, a vegetarian restaurant in Beijing, one is strongly reminded of a Buddhist temple.
The style of the background music is the same as that heard in a temple. The lines of the songs are words of Xinjin, a Buddhist scripture. A lot of silks and satins are used in the restaurant, as well as statues and paintings of Buddha.
There is a monk in the restaurant, who tastes the food and supervises the dish-making process.
The dishes here look and taste almost like real meat dishes, although they are all made with vegetarian materials, such as soy-protein, gluten and the powder of mo yu, a plant root similar to sweet potato.
Among the tempting dishes, vegetable sausages, by the symbolic name of yizhichan, or one-finger Zen, is delicately designed, with a long, green gladiolus leaf stretching out of the wooden bottle.
Steak on an iron slab (tie ban yuan pai) combines round juicy dried bean curd and fried potato chips.
The most typical one is the water-boiled fish with red pepper (shui zhu yu). Contained in a special utensil which resembles a Buddhist alms bowl, the fish looks like the real thing.
Many other delicacies like ruyi chicken and 'happy' flowers (made up with bean sprout and heart of cabbage) are popular among foreign guests. A meal typically costs between 80-150 yuan (US$9.6-18.1) per person.
Many of the Chinese customers ask questions about the dishes, to which waiters offer patient explanations.
The majority of the waiting staff have religious convictions: 'About 90 per cent of them believe in Buddhism, and pray for Buddha every week,' said manager Zhang Gelong.
With the outbreak of SARS, bird flu, mad cow disease and other maladies, people are more aware of the importance of a healthy diet. Vegetarianism has become increasingly popular among city dwellers.
It's a good alternative for someone investigating vegetarian cuisine and interested in finding out how it is done
Location: Behind Disco Agoyo, Changhongqiao, East Third Ring Road, in the courtyard of the China Federation of Literary and Art circles.
