Kuan Yin Teahouse

I have read many reviews on the Kuan Yin Teahouse, and walked past longingly for some time before actually knowing first hand the experience of the Teahouse. Not only is it cosy, and the staff are sweet, lovely and patient with my rag-​tag group of indecisive but hungry, hungry hippos — it’s cheap. Super cheap. And yet, so fresh and so delicious.
I had the wonton soup (sans noodles) — the wontons were more delicious than those I had eaten back in the days of being an omnivore. The broth perfect — not too salty, not too bland. It could not be faulted. It was made at the perfect temperature to keep the leafy greens crisp, but not raw. The wontons even held together well.
I also ordered a serving of the steamed dumplings and crunchy duck roll to share — the dumplings were great, super substantial — I probably would have been satisfied with just one plate to myself. The crunchy duck roll was AMAZING. It was a pancake style wrap with lettuce, the batter-​fried duckstitute (everything here is vegetarian) but perfectly juicy, and crunchy at the same time.
It’s a bare bones, delicious and delightful atmosphere. No frills, JUST DELICIOUS THRILLS.

Very disappointing. Was expecting great food based on the reviews. Entrée dumplings while tasteless were really ok. Husband had enjoyable fried rice. My Spicy Noodle Soup was thick and tasteless. Unfortunately I had to send it back because it was inedible and I have never had to do that before. I thought the soup would be typical Asian thin but punchy spicy soup. Generous serving however. Was not sure if noodles were Vegan. I think they were egg noodles but could not get a clear answer. The waitress said they were not rice noodles. They looked like spaghetti pasta actually.
Friendly staff but sadly will not be back.

Love this place to death! Tis a haven of deliciousness for vegans & vegetarians.
Great selection of meat alternative dishes for those vegos & vegans who feel like something a but different. A couple of dishes may wig out those who find meat textures distrubing as some things are actually quite uncanny.
I’ve tried over half the menu now and I love almost all of it. The mock ‘seafood’ dishes are a bit weird to me. My faves include Peking Duck Rolls, Pork Rib Noodle Soup and the Sweet Potato Fries.
Service is always friendly. Prices are more than reasonable. Can get a bit busy for dinner times.
Only a couple of the dishes on the whole menu are not vegan cause they have egg or cheese but these are flagged.
Be warned it is super easy to get way over excited and order a million things — but never fear — there is take-​away!

As a former vegetarian, I know all too well how few dining options herbivores have. Kuan Yin stands out not just because of the paucity of vegetarian restaurants in Brisbane, but also because it is delicious and CHEAP. Oh so cheap. It is almost impossible to spend more than $ 25 individually — if you don’t believe me, check out the dining records on the back wall!
The menu features a lot of meat substitutes (mock meat), which is an unfortunately named product, as I believe it should have a name deserving of its deliciousness. Dumplings, soups, noodles, rice — dishes you would expect in any Chinese restaurant can be ordered here, with a vegetarian or vegan twist. There are many mysterious menu items, and there is fun to be had in choosing a random dish and seeing what you turn up with — rest assured that whatever you receive will be tasty. My favourite dishes are the zi zhu juan and the veggie 3-​combo. I have ordered them at least 10 times in the past couple of years, and yet I still have no idea what they are actually are, other than delicious, mysterious substances.
Bubble tea is available, as well as some special drinks, such as fresh watermelon juice.
Take away is available, too, and if you supply your own take away container, you get a discount!
The staff here are lovely and the proprietor is an amiable fellow who likes to joke around. For a period of about one year, he spoke exclusively to me in Mandarin… even though I cannot understand one word of it. So I spoke back
to him in Japanese/​Vietnamese.
The restaurant itself is quite small, seating about thirty or so people, and the décor is kitschy bamboo and wood. I’d describe the place more for casual dining, rather than for a fancy night out.
Kuan Yin is a cheap, delicious and friendly place to eat, whether you be vegetarian or otherwise, and I highly recommend it!

I absolutely love Kuan Yin. Just writing about it now is making me want to head out and buy some.
I’ve been there many many times, when I’ve had the spare cash (price range is about $ 6/​small dish and $ 11/​meal). They’re pretty cheap, but I can’t help but eat at least two dishes when I’m there, as well as have some bubble tea.
The staff are always friendly and helpful. If you’re not sure what you want, ask them for advice :).
Their food is nearly all vegan, which is amazing, and there is a huge variety to choose from! Some of it is spicy (thai spicy calamari I think it was), some is rather bland (dumplings) but the majority of it is delicious.
Oh man, when do they open, I have to have some now!

Pearl Milk Tea (AKA Bubble Tea). Maybe the best I have ever had.

To ‘drown our sorrows’ in the rain (or not), a few of the girls decided to go out to lunch at Kuan-​Yin, a popular vegetarian hub in the Valley that looks quite homey from the outside. We had high hopes for this place due to its ratings, but I can’t say we can support the good reviews. I only had the Fried Dumplings [] (5.9), which was fried nicely, but the filling was mostly cabbage, without much variation, and wraps were just alright. They weren’t anything special, but they were good enough to finish. We all shared the Taiwanese Fried Chicken (5.9), which obviously wasn’t actual chicken, and while the texture was alright, the flavor tasted nothing like it should have — not to mention, it was a rather stingy portion. I also got a Jasmine Green Milk Tea (3.5), which was the average — probably made with powdered tea. The boba/​pearls weren’t great either, so I think I’ll just stick to Cha Time.
The other girls had soup noodles, which allegedly weren’t too great either, so I don’t know what to think of this place. Since I didn’t eat a ‘proper meal’ — something hot and not just a snack… so I’m afraid I can’t say much. My over impression does want to say that there are better places to go around the valley though…

I have a friend who eats at Kuan Yin regularly and until tonight I didn’t truly understand why. Needing a quick but reasonably healthy take-​away dinner that was filling but light, I took advantage of Kuan Yin Tea House being only a few doors down from my event location and stopped in to order take-​away.
The menu is tailored towards vegetarian and vegan eating but before you turn your nose up and poo-​poo the idea of eating here (I can see you doing it through the screen) give this place a chance. It’s cheap as chips (I spent $ 11.80 on a dinner that gave me two «meals») and from the two menu items I ordered, darn tasty.
So the dumplings were fine, nothing to really write home about, but the Toona wrap (which actually has no tuna in it) but is some kind of magical tasting wrap with pickled vegetables and iceberg lettuce wrapped inside, well I think it’s my new $ 5.90 of happiness. It was the right balance of peppery, strangely subtly sweet and crunchy. Just order it, okay?

Kuan Yin’s isn’t just for vegans and vegetarians, it’s for everyone. They have very cleverly made soy products resemble animals (in both appearance and taste), and so even your discerning meat eater can sit down to a meal of ‘beast’. I know the whole premise of it sounds horrible to carnivores, but, just try it. You’ll be surprised by how authentic it tastes.
Almost everything on the menu is worth giving a go. I particularly like the fried dumplings for entrée (yes, made with fake pork). I can’t go past the hot and sour soup personally. My friends and I will sometimes come here and all of us will order it. Sometimes you love something so much that you just don’t need to try anything else. Find your special dish. You’ll keep coming back for more.
It’s unbelievably cheap. I’ve never been charged more than $ 15 here, and I’ve always left, full and beaming, with my tummy swollen with fake meats.

I did a month of vegan eating not long ago, and boy do I wish I’d found this place then. A vegetarian restaurant with several vegan options, Kuan Yin Teahouse is a small, unassuming space on Wickham St next to the very classy Tony’s Nightclub. I decided to drop in since I was in the area and had only just become aware of its existence.
The menu has a wide selection of Asian-​style meals, many featuring imitation meat made from soy products. As I was after a small snack I ordered the fried dumplings from the entrée section of the menu along with a pot of jasmine green tea for under $ 10 total. The food and tea was quick to arrive and piping hot. The serve of dumplings was quite large (great value for money) and I wasn’t quite able to finish all of them despite them being delicious. The tea was also lovely and fragrant and a perfect accompaniment and.
Kuan Yin Teahouse is serious about social responsibility. A ‘vegetarians save lives’ sticker is proudly displayed on the cash register, and if you supply your own takeaway containers you’ll receive a 5% discount on your meal. BYO is not available, and make sure you take cash as there are no EFTPOS facilities.

In a family of vegetarians, vegequarians (vegetarians who eat fish!) and strict Buddhist vegetarians, it’s hard to find a family restaurant that suits everyone. Kuan Yin Teahouse is this place.
I’m pleased to see a vegetarian restaurant doing so well, especially one specialising in Asian foods. Asian vegetarian food have often been criticised for not being as healthy as the European diet. It’s true that Asian cooking is not big on beans, legumes or salads but they can do amazing things with tofu and have their own unusual herbs and root vegetables that Western cooks are unfamiliar with such as lotus roots, gingko nuts and goji berries.
On your first visit, you can order a set meal to avoid confusion and to get a general feel for the variety of food. All the ‘meat’ dishes are actually made from soy products and it’s contentious whether it actually tastes like chicken, pork or whatever meat it claims to be.
As a rule, I try to stay away from the meat products as I’m wary about any artificial flavouring that may have been added to give it the ‘meaty’ taste. Instead my all time favourite is the hot and sour noodle soup. Plus, you can’t go wrong with a plate of Chinese greens in oyster sauce.

This entire review will potentially be a huge, messy gush about how much I adore Kuan Yin Teahouse, so here’s my attempt at putting it into structured sentences.
Staff: Lovely. The manager is a friendly, bespectacled fellow who, once you’ve frequented the teahouse often enough, will start to crack a few jokes with you. («Where are all your friends!» — this, when I rocked up to study alone, and «That will be $ 500» — when I offered to pay all together.) He’s a stellar fellow always willing to lend a hand and his body of staff are very polite and helpful.
Competition: There’s a scoreboard by the counter that features photos of past customers who have set the record for the most expensive bill at Kuan Yin. If your table beats this score you have a choice between a discounted bill or YOUR OWN PHOTO MOUNTED ON THE WALL PRESERVING YOUR CULINARY GLUTTONY FOR ALL TIME. I’d choose the photo, if you can’t tell from my caps.
Food: Kuan Yin specialises in vegetarian food. They have ‘meat’ on the menu, including chicken, pork and seafood — all of which are made of tofu or soybean based products. Don’t be alarmed though: they pull it off well and it tastes almost authentic. The meals and drinks are very reasonably priced. My favourite is the Pork Veggie Rice for $ 8.50. For an entrée try the fried dumplings for $ 5.90. Wash it down with fresh watermelon juice for $ 3.90.

When I was younger I used to play with my food,
it looked better sculpted into a garden or made to resemble a cat
than it did on my fork.
I was always reprimanded and told no good would come from me messing with my food.
…Thankfully no-​one has said that to the owners of Kuan Yin Teahouse.
When selling the idea of this restaurant to me my friend’s used
the word «Fake Meat» quite extensively and I can see why.
Kuan Yin has played with their food and have created an intriguing dinner idea.
Tofu things made to RESEMBLE and imitate meat!
While being a happy omnivore I was a bit wary of an exclusively vegan/​vegetarian restaurant,
I was pleasantly surprised because this stuff tastes so good!
The faux-​chicken drumsticks and the potato wedges were delightful,
But I really fell in love with the ham egg pancakes and the Vegie Pork Rib Soup.
Kuan Yin is in a good central valley location (right near Chinatown)
and at under $ 15 per person
you have no excuse not to try it!