The Yunwei Vegetarian Restaurant at Beijing Financial Street opened its doors just one week before the Spring Festival. As well as the usual imitation meat dishes and non-meat dishes, there are also a few new creations.

Li Yuan Bai He (pear orchard and lily bulb) is a cold dish which mixes slices of pear with lily bulb. A pinch of salt is added to the ingredients to produce a tasty combination of bitter and sweet flavors.

A must try is the seven-color vegetarian abalone , which is tasty and healthy. If it was just the imitation abalone slices the dish would have been so dull. But served with seven small portions of four different slices carrot, turnip, lettuce stem and black fungus it was a delight. The colorful slices are marinated to make them salty. Three sauces are served alongside the abalone and vegetable slices: soybean sauce, wasabi sauce and chili sauce. Abalone slices dipped into wasabi sauce is a delicious mix. Out of the selection of hot dishes, the assorted vegetables warmed by pebbles in a wooden bowl is one of the best. Beautiful white pebbles are heated and used to keep the dish warm at the bottom of the bowl. The vegetables include black and white fungus, slices of imitation sausage, as well as broccoli.

Another recommendable dish is water boiled baby cabbage with tianma , tuber of elevated gastrodia, a Chinese herb which is very nutritious. The fried fish slices with bitter melon and red and green bell peppers ) is also a good option.

Finally, the restaurant's pumpkin soup is delicious. And it goes particularly well with the husband's pastry and double taste crisp pastry .

The restaurant is still on trial opening so only the dishes ticked red on the menu are currently available. Avoid the imitation fish slices in spicy soup , which is a little thick and not particularly tasty. The saffron in fried wild mushroom with saffron is also one to miss it has a slight smell of detergent.

The restaurant is decked out in light, warm colors, giving it a comfortable feel. Average spending is 50 yuan per person. The menu is presently only in Chinese.

Yuwei Vegetarian Restaurant

Opening time: 9:30am-2pm; 5-9pm.
Location: B1-107, underground level one, Fortune Time Building, Taipingqiao Dajie, Xicheng District
Tel: 01-58362560