World Peace Cafe

I’m not called a peripatetic Canadian for nothing! Owning a car in Hong Kong is expensive, however, local transportation on the other hand is easy to use and relatively inexpensive. Where else can one travel 20-30 minutes and only pay HKD$4.50 to HKD$10.50 (USD$00.58 cents to USD$1.35). The tram, which is the world’s only double decker street car is another avenue to get around. Two dollars (USD$0.25) allows passengers to travel from one end of the island to the other which takes approximately 45 minutes. So, yes, I do a lot of walking. Getting around on foot allows you to see so much more of a city and I feel I also get to experience the real Hong Kong. Case in point, the other day I found a neat place hidden away in Wanchai (thankfully, not one of the places due for ‘the urban renewal’ axe).

World Peace Cafe has been open for one year. The restaurant serves organic vegetarian food and fair trade organic coffees, fruit juices and herbal teas. The menu consists of 3 set dishes HKD$58.00 (USD$7.50) per set. What’s interesting about this place is that the staff are volunteers! Upstairs there’s the Vajradhara Buddhist Meditation Centre for those who want to meditate or learn the art of meditation. This type of cafe seems to be sprouting all over the world.

When my girlfriend and I went there, we couldn’t believe how crowded it was at 12:15pm. We lucked out and were able to share a table. I had ‘Set C’ which consisted of Happy Eggs Benedict (happy?) with pak choi risotto on homemade vegetable bolognese sauce (quite delicious!). My girlfriend chose ‘Set B’ Snow Mt. Giant Mushroom stewed with curry pumpkin sauce on green sprouts and noodles. All set lunches come with cappuccino or organic herbal teas. They do offer other drinks (smoothies, juices, herbal teas, organic coffee, soft drinks etc.) for a nominal fee. We both chose the Indian Chai which was lovely. The lunch was flavorful and it’s always a good thing when one is able to taste the different herbs and flavors of the dish.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: Pleasantly surprised at how well the restaurant runs (during lunch hour) considering you have a bunch of volunteers doing the work. Well worth the visit but I would recommend making reservations. (2527-5870)

Natural food 天然的美食 – Peaceful place 平靜的空間