King's Joy (京兆尹) is a Michelin 2-Star vegetarian restaurant located right outside the Lama Temple (雍和宫) in Beijing, where Emperor Yongzheng of Qing Dynasty lived before he ascended to the throne. The restaurant building is a traditional Chinese courtyard house, built with grey bricks, surrounded by bamboos. The look is very classic and elegant.
We were there for lunch on a chilling Friday. Walked past a long passage way, and were ushered into a reception area, where you can sit down, relax a bit, remove your heavy winter wear, and soak in the atmosphere. There are books and magazines around for you to read too.
The dining area is in the courtyard, covered with a glass ceiling, letting in soft natural light. Live Chinese music is performed in the center stage.
Table setting is a fusion of the West and the East, you have the Chinese chopsticks, as well as the Western knife and fork. Some mandarin oranges were served as our appetizer.
The staff was very friendly and patient in explaining to us the different dishes available, and recommended to us what might be the best options we could have.
Our first dish was avocado roll. Avocado was cut into thin slices then made into a roll, with honey dew and probably raisins as fillings. Lots of efforts were put into the layout of the dish, and sure they succeeded in doing that. Avocado's crispiness combined with honey dew's sweetness and fragrance, the taste was very pleasant, a wake-up to all your taste buds, to get ready for the next dish.
The next dish, deep-fried seaweed and tofu skin roll, came out like a painting, it looked so nice that we almost couldn't bear to eat it. The tofu skin was so crispy that you could hear the sound of it being crushed in your mouth. Seaweed gave you the smell of the sea and a pleasant aroma. I didn't touch the flower, it was just too beautiful to be eaten.
Our two hot dishes were Luohanzhai, stewed mixed vegetables, and Chinese cabbage with different types of mushrooms. Never know mushroom soup could become so milky, it was filled with fragrance, unique to the mushrooms, while different from that of the fruits.
For Chinese style of vegetarian food, usually a lot of oil is used to get rid of the bitterness in the vegetables. In this case, however, I hardly saw any oil, yet there was not a trace of bitterness. Kudos to the chef!
Our finale was spicy lion's mane mushroom, cooked with red hot chilies, presented in the form of a bump boat. It looked pretty spicy but it was not. There was only a slight hint of spiciness, which brought out the freshness in the mushroom, and added an additional layer of sensation to the sponginess of the mushroom. Never had I imagined that you could cook mushrooms with chilies, sounded like a crazy combination, but it worked out pretty well.
The bill was CNY 1000 before service charge and taxes. Overall, I enjoyed the meal very much. Never in my wildest imagination that vegetarian food could be done this way, so beautiful yet so tasty! Truly a feast to the eyes and the taste buds!
We were there for lunch on a chilling Friday. Walked past a long passage way, and were ushered into a reception area, where you can sit down, relax a bit, remove your heavy winter wear, and soak in the atmosphere. There are books and magazines around for you to read too.
The dining area is in the courtyard, covered with a glass ceiling, letting in soft natural light. Live Chinese music is performed in the center stage.
Table setting is a fusion of the West and the East, you have the Chinese chopsticks, as well as the Western knife and fork. Some mandarin oranges were served as our appetizer.
Avocado Roll
Our first dish was avocado roll. Avocado was cut into thin slices then made into a roll, with honey dew and probably raisins as fillings. Lots of efforts were put into the layout of the dish, and sure they succeeded in doing that. Avocado's crispiness combined with honey dew's sweetness and fragrance, the taste was very pleasant, a wake-up to all your taste buds, to get ready for the next dish.
Deep-Fried Seaweed and Tofu Skin Roll(海苔腐竹卷)
The next dish, deep-fried seaweed and tofu skin roll, came out like a painting, it looked so nice that we almost couldn't bear to eat it. The tofu skin was so crispy that you could hear the sound of it being crushed in your mouth. Seaweed gave you the smell of the sea and a pleasant aroma. I didn't touch the flower, it was just too beautiful to be eaten.
Our two hot dishes were Luohanzhai, stewed mixed vegetables, and Chinese cabbage with different types of mushrooms. Never know mushroom soup could become so milky, it was filled with fragrance, unique to the mushrooms, while different from that of the fruits.
For Chinese style of vegetarian food, usually a lot of oil is used to get rid of the bitterness in the vegetables. In this case, however, I hardly saw any oil, yet there was not a trace of bitterness. Kudos to the chef!
Spicy Lion's Mane Mushroom (香辣猴头菇)
Our finale was spicy lion's mane mushroom, cooked with red hot chilies, presented in the form of a bump boat. It looked pretty spicy but it was not. There was only a slight hint of spiciness, which brought out the freshness in the mushroom, and added an additional layer of sensation to the sponginess of the mushroom. Never had I imagined that you could cook mushrooms with chilies, sounded like a crazy combination, but it worked out pretty well.
The bill was CNY 1000 before service charge and taxes. Overall, I enjoyed the meal very much. Never in my wildest imagination that vegetarian food could be done this way, so beautiful yet so tasty! Truly a feast to the eyes and the taste buds!
