This is one of the top three experiences in Toronto, in my opinion. A unassuming vegetarian asian restaurant that seems cast off to the side of Kensingon, this is usually the place I recommend to anyone, regardless of diet*, because the food itself is total quality for incredibly affordable prices. The space is charmingly misleading ... you'd think the restaurant was tiny and that you could not bring groups here, but you'll find out that there is a second dining room down the hall that I've used to hold dozens of people when there's room. The food itself is amazing. It's usually termed after some kind of meat, but the protein is usually some form of gluten. I don't even know or care what the supposed namesake is when I order, because certain dishes ... the gluten appetizers, the general tsao chicken, the lamb stew, the lemon chicken, are so good that I dream of eating them as they are all the time, every day, every night. The supposed "mock duck" tastes nothing like real duck, but I'd pick it over the real thing every single time because it is a culinary wonder all itself. The food is incredibly cheap and incredibly plentiful. You will go home with a package of leftover food and still feel like you did not pay enough. The staff is incredibly friendly and accomodating, and every person who I have brought here has found it a delight. *: With one exception: People who are celiac will have to see if there are foods here that gluten free ... it wouldn't surprise me given how accomodating they are in all things, but gluten features heavily in the meals here read more

CHINESE VEGGIE HEAVEN! Not to brag, but I've eaten here definitely over 10 times and each time, the same thing is ordered. This is definitely the best Chinese veggie cuisine in Toronto - low prices, huge servings, delicious imitation foods and did I say huge huge servings? PS- you will always have leftovers. I've tried many things on the menu and have brought my non-veggie friends several times. This place is pretty well known to the veggies and even non-vegetarians and the place is always packed during lunch and dinner peak times. Parking is quite hard to find in front of the restaurant. Here are my go-to's: (shared with at least four people) The food comes out super quick - definitely within 5-10 min of ordering which is also a big plus! 1) Fried Rice Noodles: really big serving of the perfect texture of rice noodles, not too salty as well! 2) General Tao Chicken: at least 3/4 tables in the restaurant order this- without a doubt. Although it is mostly dough on the outside, they are absolutely delicious! 3) Vegetarian Crispy Noodles 4) Taro Rolls Absolutely recommend this to everyone - this is one of those old gems in Toronto that has a variety of dishes that everyone will love. read more

Buddha's Vegan - Vegetarian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Huge portions. Delicious food . Get the mixed gluten and bean curd sheets. Plus hot and sour soup.

The best about this restaurant is that they have HUGE portion dishes with that kind of price tags. However, the restaurant is a bit run down, and they have this weird seating. One table at this corner and 2 tables at that corners and some tables at the back of the corners. The tasted weren't bad but also weren't that good that will give you a "WOW". I tried better ones. However, the prices were also a little bit higher of course. So...for the sizes and price, I would just give them 3 stars... If I ever come back to this restaurant again. I don't think I will order their general tao chicken because each piece is just a blow up chicken ball. There is this 1/2 inch flour breaded the "special flour" inside. The general tao chicken sauce weren't bad. It is sweet and sour and have this "punch" to the taste that bring out the flavor, as a vegetarian dish, I would say their sauce is quite good, consider there is no ginger and garlic in all their dishes. read more

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This was my first time coming here and I've got to say it's going to be one of my favourites. It's absolutely delicious and super authentic as far as I can tell! Everything is vegan except for this one mock fish dish which I happened to pick first. I ordered a mock beef pad noodle dish and my friend did as well but with different sauces. The food came relatively fast and the serving size was HUGE! I eat a lot despite my small frame, and it was even filling for me; my friend couldn't even finish her dish! Everything was super cheap, ~$10 will definitely fill you up. It's 100% worth the trip and money! I also think it's a family run restaurant so please tip well! Also, the people were soo nice to us! I would eat here weekly if I could! read more

Buddha's Vegan - Mock beef with bean sauce and pad Thai noodles! - Vegetarian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

This is not your fancy white-cloth restaurant. The moment you walk in, you will wonder where you will eat since there are only 2-3 small tables at the front. Then you are led through their kitchen/prep area to the back, where there are more tables. This 2min journey kinda reminded me of going down narrow alleyways in Hong Kong to find a hidden eatery stall. The food here is vegan/vegetarian friendly. For 4 people, we ordered the imitation duck (small), fried rice, fried tofu with imitation pork, general tao chicken and fried taro. I really liked the imitation duck and the tofu. However, as a omnivore, the imitation pork tasted really weird and unnatural. As for the general tao chicken, it was (as someone previously mentioned) basically your typical canadian-chinese chicken ball and red sauce. I suggest they could change the name to reflect what it is. Finally the fried rice and taro were tasty! There is limited parking in front of the restuarant (city parking). However, if you are frugal, there is free street side parking on the street one block east of the restuarant. Overall, this place has a great bang for your buck. $40 for 4 people and we were barely able to finish everything. read more

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Friendly owner, huge portions, and the vegetables were well cooked. A surprisingly good lunch for a reasonable price.

This place is awesome! I have been coming here for years and the food is consistently good. If you are in the mood for Chinese but can't handle the grease or MSG this is your spot. It's vegan/veggie but meat eaters will love it to. Honest truth, my partner doesn't do vegetarian but he will eat here. My partner and I always get the spring rolls, mock beef and noodles, and sweet and sour mock chicken (they are like chicken balls but vegetarian). I have also tried many of their soups and eggplant. Give it a try! You wont be disappointed, plus you get to support a local small business...win-win!!! read more

The food is always good. Servings are generous. Substitutions at no charge are welcome. The service on par, staff are very friendly and welcoming. The place is always busy. If you're looking for food with good karma, this is where to eat. A vegan/vegetarian's haven. I love the fact that no animal lives are taken at this place. read more

Great food, great prices, friendly staff. Can't wait to go sit inside there again, drinking green tea with friends, enjoying a smattering of great vegan eats read more

When meat lovers like me hear the word "vegetarian" our face cringes. Surprisingly, vegetarian food can be pretty good. The restaurant is VERY small and quite hot in the back. We came in a group of 7 and were directed to a hidden part of their restaurant where we had to walk past dirty dishes =S. The food was pretty good and the portions were large enough that we had to take a dish home. However, I thought everything was a bit on the greasy and oily side. We ended off dinner with spring rolls (I know it's the other way around). The spring rolls were super hot so you know they just came out of the fryer. The rolls came with a sweet and sour sauce which complemented it. Overall, the food is great here but the decor and size of the restaurant lowers my rating. read more

Came here after a recommendation from a good friend of mine who used to come here often when she was living in the neighbourhood. If I got this right, this place is an institution in Toronto. It has been around for awhile. Small, clean and very cosy despite a scarce decor if compared to what Toronto is getting used to. I'm a man of substance: what's superfluous, is not needed. Presentation a part (and with that I mean that I don't need a Van Gogh in my plate), I eat with my mouth, not my eyes. I start saying that I'm not a vegetarian restaurant kinda guy. I love meat and I'm pleased when there's some sort of presence in my plate. But since I went to Vietnam and I had the pleasure to fine with locals in some of the restaurants that weren't serving meat at all, I discovered that a vegetarian meal isn't too bad if it's cooked properly. So here's what I had today for lunch: - small sweet and sour vegeterian soup with tofu - deep fried dumplings - deep fried tofu with bok choy and mushrooms on a bed of crispy noodles. Everything was cooked very well. The ingredients tasted fresh and the preparation was quicker than a "meal" at Mac Donald (and that's fast food by definition.....hmmmm, I wonder) Staff was prompt and very friendly and ready to have a quick conversation with you. SOUL FOOD. Will visit again. read more

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This is a vegan/vegetarian haven. Their mock duck is well loved by many meat eaters. It's tasty and highly affordable. As it's made with soy beans, it's healthier than mock meats made with wheat gluten and other alternatives. Their kung pao mock chicken is a must have. The sauce is a perfect balance of sweet/spicy/sour-tangy. I could drink that stuff. The deep fried taro roll is served with sweet and sour sauce that's also well executed. If you are in the area, this is a great place to try out for reasonably priced vegetarian food that is tastier than snooty places that crank up the prices. read more

My wife and I have been to Buddha's Vegetarian Foods for more than 10 times. I am a meat lover but all the soy products taste even better than any meat! Absolutely recommended! read more

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My favourite Chinese spot in the city! HUGE portions, reasonable prices. Only (tiny) catch is it is a bit of a hole in the wall, and sometimes hard to get a servers attention. But this place is about their greasy veg Chinese food, and you can't get any better than here. After coming here for ages and trying almost everything on the menu, my go-to for you and a friend are the Buddha deluxe with pan fried noodles and crispy ginger beef. These are their best two items and are absolutely divine. And you will both have leftovers. read more

This is probably my favorite restaurant... Soups are great, mock duck is fantastic, anything with mushrooms is amazing. Try it you'll love it - it's such a hole in the wall - so amazing read more

Been my family's go to vegetarian place before the owner's change. Food I find isn't as amazing but still one of the best Chinese vegetarian locations. There are some new items on their menu that were not there before the change and they are pretty unique like the vegetarian "fish" dish there is a sweet and sour version as well as a savory version. Both are unique and new. Recommend the vegetarian duck read more

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I went with two friends to this place for lunch and like fools, we ordered a big bowl of soup and three main dishes. When the food started coming, it was as if it were a joke...it was literally PILED on each plate. My one friend actually grunted while trying to pick up and move one of the dishes from one side of the table to the other. Crazier still was the food was pretty good. I wasn't a huge fan of the soup because it had big hunks of slippery tofu in it (and wet tofu just makes me gag), but the rest of the meals were good (a sort of curry noodle dish and two veggie stir-fry dishes). The place inside looked (and looked even from the outside) like a total dive, and really? It is. But still, if you want good value for LOADS of food, this place ain't half bad. read more

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Me: ...and a spring roll please. Chinese lady: Ok, no problem. Me: Oh, and could you please make it with less oil? Her: ... Well, it's deep-fried... Me: Oh. Right. Okay then. Eating here reminds me that vegetarian ain't necessarily healthy. But, grease aside, it's a lot for pretty good value (though to be fair any dish without meat should theoretically be cheaper), it's close, and it's good enough to get by on a vegetarian day. I guess the main appeal of a place like this (as opposed to any other place in Chinatown) is that you get more variety as a vegetarian. Nevertheless, I usually only come when I'm craving hot and sour soup (which in non-veg restos sometimes has meat hidden in it), since most of their other dishes are like mom's with extra oil. I will be back on the odd Wednesdays, when (sorry Buddha!) the somewhat less oily, tastier, and more appealing Greens down the block is closed. read more

I love eating their sweet yam roll! I make sure I pass by the restaurant when I am around Kensington Market. Prices are cheap too! Budget friendly for a romantic or friendly date:) The mock chicken meals are tasty! This restaurant's street number is 666 but you feel the good vibes always! read more

The food was great! We ordered the Buddha's Deluxe ($9) and we asked no tapioca starch, and we loved the dish. The stir fried vermicelli were 90% noodles, so it's more of an accompaniment. If you do order it, also get a vegetables dish. The service was good, they were very friendly. And just FYI, the ambiance of the place is not great. It's more of a take-out place really. Don't take a date here :P We will definitely come back! read more

I came for lunch on a Saturday and ordered the mock lamb stew noodle soup. It was ready in under 10 minutes and was delicious -- rich, flavourful broth, with plenty of noodles, some veggies, and nice soy (or gluten?) balls of some sort. Dirt cheap, at $7.50 plus tax. Loved the meal and would definitely return. read more

My partner and I have been exploring vegetarian and vegan options in Toronto. We both eat meat but try to minimize the amount we have per week. The restaurant is no frills and isn't very big- there's a dining area in the front and another in the back. Nonetheless, it's usually busy and for good reason. The food itself tastes great and is cooked well. I really like the imitation duck and vegetables. It makes you feel like you're having a cheat meal but you're not. Most of the dishes have a great amount and variety of vegetables- something sometimes hard to come by in vegetarian/vegan restaurants without paying ridiculous prices. Speaking of which...we ordered 3 items thinking that this was being conservative...we could only finish one and the other two looked untouched. You get a HUGE amount of food for extremely reasonable prices. I am actually going to make this a weekly meal prep option because it is as healthy and cheaper than making my own food. The owner is also incredibly sweet! I wouldn't be surprised if they have a lot of regulars because of this as well. We will definitely be getting food from here often and recommend it to our friends! read more

The sausages tasted nothing like meat but yet SOO GOOD. If I had a choice I'd choose this over normal sausage. The general tsos chicken was mostly balls of dough but with the sauce it came out delicious. Normally love my meat dishes but this restaurant is definitely worth a try. read more

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Delicious food. Lots of options. Friendly people. :) The Deep Fried Taro Roll is one of my favourites!

Let me be clear - I'm a fan purely because of the value this establishment offers. The one elderly lady that works there always smiles and greets me like I'm a relative (shame she doesn't give me a relative discount though!). The food is greasy, yes it is. The large is damn large, so go for the small, unless you're sharing (which is recommended). This is not the place to go for ambience/vibe. What you see is what you get - cheap, greasy, veggie Chinese food. It doesn't pretend to be anything else. I love going here with a group of friends and sharing a few dishes. I dig the hot'n'spicy soup. read more

Went for dinner here after all the great reviews here last night. Well, actually ordered takeout but I will throw in my 2 cents. What we ordered: 1) Singapore Noodles (curry style) 2) 3 Mushroom Chow Mein 3) Spring Rolls 4) Taro Roll 5) Small order of Imitation Duck (Bean Curd) Thoughts on each of the dishes: 1) Least favourite of all. Didn't really like the flavour this dish had whatsoever. Will not order again. 2) Much better than the 1st dish. Noodles had some crispyness to them which I loved though many took on sauciness due to the car ride most likely. Mushrooms are plentiful and while I'm usually not a fan of some of the bigger chinese mushrooms found in these dishes, I didn't mind the ones in this one. I felt the dish lacked a little in flavour though but would still order again. 3) I'm a fan... I liked the spring rolls. Rolls are massive in size! 4) Not something I've ever ordered before, but I liked them! Rolls are gigantic in size also and very filling. Have a nice sweet flavour to them and I could almost eat them as a dessert. 5) I really liked this and didn't think I would going into it. The bean curd has a cool texture similar to duck. Will order again. Total Price: $25!!! This place is CHEAP!!! The amount of food we have will easily last my girlfriend and I 4 meals. Each dish is a lot of food. It is nowhere near the best chinese food I've ever had, but decent quality for a ridiculously good price. Here are some pics of my food https://vine.co/v/bvDgWTrZHYJ read more

Hearty portions, vegan fake meats galore. Asian food that is quite alright.

The cooks are geniuses. Almost everything (if not everything) is vegan. Very unpretentious place. Small, not fancy or pretty, but clean. It is wonderful food, and lots of it for cheap. One of the best in Toronto! read more

Came here a few months ago, very nice veggie restaurant. If going with meat-eating friends, there will be more than enough dishes to make everyone happy. Pretty small, but nice family vibe. Food came out for me SUPER quick and it was all fresh and tasty. Got the General Tao's chicken and Fried rice noodles with beef and black bean sauce. Staff was very nice and accommodating. read more

A good friend recommended this place and even though I am no fan of meatless meat substitute...aka...highly processed tofu....meat vegetarian restaurants? Yeah, something like that. I never really understood the rationale behind making stuff taste like something that it's not but hey all I care about is if it just tastes good. Now, only if something can make kale taste like butter I would gladly truckloads of this stuff :D I really don't know what I am eating to be honest even though I really know it's just all tofu or soy protein and a lot of vegetables. However, whatever it was meant to be did not matter because this stuff is delicious. While I wouldn't say this stuff has gotten me thinking about becoming a vegetarian anytime soon, it certainly has made tofu quite oddly delicious. This stuff kinda tastes like the real thing (a bit frightening)...except it's not. Shrimp is... kinda shrimpy. Chicken...is kinda chicken-like and mystery meat is...well meaty. It's the preparations that I am raving about. Everything seems to be cooked to perfection and tastes kinda like the real thing. Price wise is fair but the portions are out of whacked! Way too big! So order less than what you would normally order. Oh yeah, avoid the Lemon Chicken; a bunch of yellow, soggy, balls of flour. read more

I have been waiting for this place to reopen for a while now. I have visited the place several times to see if it was open only to be greeted by the hand written sign that it was closed. By complete fluke, I finally got there - and with the person who had originally introduced me to their goodness. I made the ultimate mistake of ordering my own dish + some spring rolls. I justified this action by saying to him, " I am starving - and you know, even when I'm just nippish, I eat a lot - so I am sure I can do this seeing that I am STARVING." When the food arrived, my tummy started jumping up and joy for food - there was quite a lot, but no worries, I was starving. OMGosh there were so many mushrooms of different kinds, I was in love. Even better was that it didn't look or taste all that fried. GREAT spring rolls. VERY VERY HOT. do NOT touch until 5 full minutes pass by otherwise you WILL burn your mouth. As i start digging in to the main dish, I realize that the tiny little dish must be magical because I KEEP EATING AND IT DOESN'T SEEM TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF FOOD. awesome hot sauce - goes well with the noodles...the bok choy and....well, everything. SO. MUCH FOOD. I was so full with goodness - I had to get the rest of'em to go, with lots of hot sauce. I really was scared that the food will start spilling from my eyes, that I walked looking up for a while, to my friend's complete embarrassment - but he was not as embarrassed as when I started walking slowly hunched forward because my tummy was just stretching towards the ground. GREAT value. GREAT food - it tastes delicious even the next day =] Not so great decor but THANK goodness for the air conditioner in the back (it's actually kinda cold back there). read more

My girlfriend and I came here on a recommendation. We just finished and wanted to write a review. Wow, Wow, Wow! We are astounded at the quality, quantity, and price, along with fantastic, friendly service!! We originally sat down and ordered a spring roll to share, which was HUGE, definitely the largest spring roll I have ever seen in my life. It was delicious What really surprised us in a great way was seeing the first noodle dish - for 8 bucks there was enough to feed four of us at least! The black bean eggplant was my favourite - who some warms and succulent. Their signature fried fish has a presentation that is remarkable - cast on a hot iron and then covered in a homemade seasons garlic that is to be dreamed of. We are two adults and ordered 3 dishes - we have enough leftover to feed us for another 3-4 sittings. It's amazing. Also the helpful customizations by the boss, Sammy, was really helpful. We didn't want mushrooms and he automatically cleared it from all our dishes as well as the fungi, replacing it with tofu. Best part? For vegans Sammy is really on top. Some places miss eggs in their chowmein noodles. This place doesn't. And the biggest question for many of us? Yes they speak fluent English. I'm now gonna be a regular. read more

Pros: authentic vegetarian Hong Kong style Chinese food. I ordered the general tso chicken and the small vegetarian doc sheet. A lot of food. Ate half and took the rest home for lunch the next day. Inexpensive. Great value. Cons: staff is a little standoffish. read more

Buddha's Vegan - Veggie duck - Vegetarian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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As a non-vegetarian i was pretty disappointed. The general tao imitation chicken had no flavour to it (i had a piece that didn't have much sauce on it and tasted like nothing), but luckily the dish was drenched in a sauce that wasn't too bad. The shanghai noodles tasted exactly how you would expect them to (nothing special). I really liked their tofu and the soup we ordered was very tasty and packed with stuff (can't remember what it was though). I just couldn't get over how greasy and coated in oil everything was. Definitely NOT a healthy choice, even though it's vegetarian. Decor was pretty cheap and rundown looking. The place was dirty looking, but the tables/dishes were clean (thankfully). The upside is that it's dirt cheap and large portions. So if you're a strictly vegetarian looking for something greasy, you can't go wrong. But if you eat meat or want something healthy, i'd definitely give this place a pass. read more

What Buddha's lacks in style and decor, it certainly makes up for in quality, quantity and definitely value, which is why it remains one of my favourite places to eat in Toronto. I will admit that the fact that it's been around for a while may influence my nostalgic biases but really, where else are you going to find a dish you can eat for a week or one that feeds 5 people for 5 bucks? I've gone with three strapping young men who not even put a dent in two dishes. Although the selection is the old standard Chinese fare, the vegetarian aspect is a HUGE and awesome checkmark in my opinion, one that I think it is severely lacking in other cities I've lived in (Vancouver, New York). Plus, you can veto the MSG upon request. I recommend the gigantor spring rolls, spicy tofu dish, imitation duck sheets and noodles with three types of mushrooms. They close at 9pm most days and are completely closed on Tuesdays, making Tuesdays now the saddest day of the week (luckily I have leftovers). read more

One of the most consistently priced and yummy places I've been to since moving to Toronto. The portions are generous and the service is friendly. I always get a spring roll and the gluten items are really tasty. I don't recommend the mapo tofu, it's not very spicy or authentic. The buddhas delight is always a favourite though. read more

Buddha's Vegan - Consistently the best spring roll - Vegetarian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I came to this restaurant because of all the excellent reviews it gets here. The food is quite good when it comes to taste and ingredients. But having been to many vegetarian restaurants all over the world, I must say that the dishes did not wow me. It is somewhat disappointing that the locals seemed to have rated the restaurant based largely on price and quality. On those two, this restaurant is a clear winner. I had a party of seven and ordered a good selection of dishes which we could not finish. The bill came to under $80. Everyone was surprised. I understand that the owner has no intention of turning the restaurant into a high-end one, and that the local customers seem happy with the no-frill arrangement. Still, I wish the restaurant could pay more attention to other details such as seating, decor and hygiene. As much as I liked the food and the friendly service, I did not enjoy the environment - cramped, windowless, clunky tables and chairs, weird layout. The rival restaurant down the road has table cloths, glass window and a much more sensible seating arrangement. I was told that you don't get as much value for the money. But if I can't finish the food with the giant portion anyway, it makes no difference and I will indeed give this other restaurant a try next time I am in town. read more

When I first discovered Buddha's 5 or 6 years ago it quickly became one of my favourite lunch spots. Massive portions of totally vegetarian Chinese food for dirt cheap. Absolutely no effort put in to decor or atmosphere - a plus for me. And, conveniently located at Bathurst and Dundas. What more could you ask for? There was a time while I was at U of T that I'd come to Buddha's a couple times a week with a bunch of friends. We'd usually go for hot and sour soup, vermicelli Singapore-style, and one of the chow mein dishes with tofu and heaps of 'shrooms. There's no cheaper way for a vegetarian to stuff themselves to the gills. Unfortunately, the novelty of the massive portions eventually wore off and I started question the quality of the food. The truth is, most of the dishes at Buddha's are very bland, boring, and taste almost exactly the same as each other. If you're a vegetarian Buddha's is worth checking out at least once. If you're a meat eater don't bother; you'll find much better options on Spadina, such as Kom Jug Yuen (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/kom-jug-yuen-restaurant-toronto). If you do decide to eat here, don't do it too often because you'll get sick of the bland food very quickly read more

A decent place to come if you're looking to feed a hungry hoard fast, this bare bones diner is known for serving monstrously large portions. The food itself is satisfactory and the menu selection consists of the usual Chinese fare, but there are better options to be had out east in Scarborough or in the surrounding neighbourhoods. Newbies to Chinese cuisine may enjoy the food, but don't bother if you've got a choosy palate. If you're scratching your head over lunch for Monday, bring a food container here on Sunday night; chances are you will need to take-out. As a bonus, Toronto Vegetarian Association cardholds get 10% off. read more