Ambrosia Veggie House

I have to say, being a vegetarian nowadays is probably much easier than back in the old days (how long ago, can’t say. Just making an assumption). Vegetarian food can be so versatile and it’s no longer just tofu and greens, although a lot of mock meat is still made with tofu or soy protein components. I went on a vegetarian diet for 30 days and it actually went pretty well! I did not stuff myself with carbs this time around but I’ll say this… tofu does not fill you up for long! And I don’t like beans. So I would fail miserably if I were to give up meat for life.
There’s not many vegetarian restaurants in town, but one such one would be Ambrosia Veggie House, who serves Pan Asian Chinese Vegetarian Food. They are both vegan and vegetarian, and has a pretty vast menu! I find their location interesting as it’s located on the side of Avatamsaka Sagely Monastery (華嚴聖寺) — I’m not sure if the monastery opened the restaurant.
My family decided to try out the restaurant with me. Here’s what we ordered:
Spring Rolls — $ 4.75
I didn’t try these but I imagine they were just simply stuffed with vegetables. Served with plum dipping sauce.
Satay Skewers — $ 6.75
These were made with very firm soy nuggets and was on the spicy side!
Crunchy Seaweed Sticks — $ 8.75
These were seaweed wrapped firm soy nuggets, deep fried, and coated in a sweet and sour sticky sauce. I enjoyed the chewiness of this.
Mashed Potato Tofu Pockets — $ 12.75
Bean curd sheets stuffed with mashed potato and then deep fried — they were nicely flavorful but the bean curd sheets were way too chewy. I think if they can use something else, like a puff pastry to get that nice, melt in your mouth texture, then this would be a lot easier and enjoyable to eat.
Jade Rolls — $ 12.75
I’m no stranger to this. These are vegetable stuffed bean curd rolls which I used to eat a lot of. I love that savoury gravy that atop it!
Sweet and Sour Bean Curd Rolls — $ 12.75
This is pretty close to the real thing with all the right flavors and vegetables that normally come in a sweet and sour pork dish!
Lettuce Wrap — $ 14.75
I thought the faux meat mixture was done really well (tasted really good on rice), but was a bit taken back with the five lettuce leaves they provided. Yes, five. We had eight people — six adults minus my two kids. I’m pretty sure lettuce is cheap…
Stir Fried Mixed Greens — $ 10.75
A plate of Shanghai bok choy sauteed with a good amount of wok «hei».
Eight Treasures Tofu Hotpot — $ 14.75
This was kind of bare. They didn’t substitute anything for the «meat» so it was just tofu and vegetables.
Shanghai Style Chow Mein — $ 10.75
Your standard Shanghai noodles, minus the meat.
Assorted Fried Rice — $ 10.75
A simple vegetable fried rice with faux meat bits. This was particularly tasty for some reason, and my brother’s gf mentioned that it was fried with a lot of oil… ah, that’s probably why. And it also had really good wok «hei» too!
This was actually a very tasty meal, but it is on the pricier side as portions were also on the small side. However, it takes a lot more effort to turn something non meat to make it taste somewhat like meat!

Delicious Taiwanese food. Wonderful
selection of vegetables, curries, sweet and savoury.

I love Buddhist food (I am not a Buddhist myself, but I really like Buddhist cuisine). Located at an actual Buddhist monastery, this place is the most legit Buddhist food I’ve found in town. Excellent dishes, I especially recommend the dim sum availble on weekends and the veggie satay skewers! The atmosphere if very tranquil inside and that is helped by the fact that the restaurants oversees the Bow river, which is also a plus.

Good Authentic Buddha veggies restaurant under Avatamsaka Sagely Monastery Temple, veggie dishes cannot use any kind of onion, garlic, shallot, leek, chive to cook. Great ambient, great services, Dinner very tasty & delicious colorful dishes. I would recommend anyone come to give it a try… I give it 5 stars because this is the first 100% Authentic Buddha Tasty Chinese foods.

Very expensive! I ordered two dishes and it costed me almost $ 30! The portion is small. Most important it tasted awful.

I have always been a carnivore but if I had someone serving up food like Ambrosia does I could easily see myself becoming vegetarian and vegan at that (well at least for 75% of the time). So far all the dishes I’ve had have been delicious and extremely well presented.
Ambrosia Veggie House is located right in the temple building that is at the end of the 10 St. Sunnyside Bridge just as you turn off to head towards Bow Trail. There is an entrance to a small parking lot almost right away to your left so be careful not to miss it.
The décor is tasteful and service is good. I have always had the same waitress serving on the 3 occasions I’ve been here and she is always pleasant and helpful.
Ambrosia has a selection of 4 – 5 specialty teas that you can order from and each one is distinctive and is $ 3.75/pot except for the jasmine which is 2.75. The tea is made from quality loose leaf teas that you can purchase from the restaurant.
Orthodox Buddhist do not eat onions or garlic so there is none used in the cuisine; that being said I was told that MSG is used to enhance the flavours but food can be requested to be MSG free and that it would be no problem.
So far I’ve had the following appetizers: Marinated Bean Curd Rolls, Thousand Layered Tofu Rolls. Both are served up warm. The time I had the Marinated Bean Curd Rolls, they were warm on one end but really cold at the other so it’s obvious that these are pre-​made and warmed up. They tasted good both warm and cold.
Meat lovers should be pretty surprised by the Soy and Burdock Short Ribs in Black Bean Sauce. The texture of the «ribs» was very meat-​like and the burdock stem looked like a bone. I also love the Lotus tofu puffs which were stuffed with veggies and mushrooms.
Mushrooms are a big feature in most of the dishes so for my friends with a profound dislike of mushrooms this place is not for you. The dishes are also NOT gluten free though they will try and accommodate when possible but guests are told to ask about each dish if gluten is involved. Ambrosia is a nice addition to those seeking vegetarian-​centric establishments. No meat whatsoever is served here. Soy & mushrooms is involved in many of the dishes.

Great vegan dining. Bit on the pricey side for Asian but typical for vegan. Our three kids loved it (5,3,8mths). We went with 5 adults so managed to cover a good portion of the menu. More GF options than not on the menu. I’d skip straight to the sorbet on the dessert options.

First of all the service was excellent: friendly, kind and fast. The place was very clean and had a peaceful ambience to it with great reviews of the river.
However, the food was okay but not great. My meat-​eating friend rated half the dishes we ordered as really good and the other half only okay. I would rate the dishes higher but I am more accustomed to vegetarian protein substitutes — which they do very well.
Neither of us enjoyed the dumplings, the wrappers were too thick and dough-​heavy. The lettuce wraps were a highlight and I recommend them.
Portions were large and we ended up with leftovers.

Stunningly good meal! We had the kung pao soy nuggets, the asparagus salad roll and the lotus tofu puffs. Everything was beautifully presented and even before tasting anything we could see that the food is prepared with a skilled hand. But as to the tastes– magnificent. The kung pao was perfectly spicy and savoury and the protein, tofu skin and either a tofu or seitan firmer thing, was delicious and a fantastic, meaty texture. The asparagus rolls were magical– the wrap seemed a bit like a soft wheat-​based starch but whatever it was it had a delightful soft chewiness. There’s seaweed in there which adds an interesting note, and something a tiny bit sweet… complex and addictive. The tofu puffs had a third sauce that was like a hoisin but with tamarind, really delicious, and the puffs themselves were mesmerising. We loved every bite, every part of this meal. I cannot recommend a place more highly and can’t wait to try more.
Oh, the restaurant itself is quite pretty and upscale, which came as a surprise as we were expecting a tiny hole in the wall for some reason– it’s not that remotely. Very comfortable experience, very professional staff. Eat here!

Lovely resturant attached to the Avatamsaka Monastery.
We had the veggie skewers, ma-​po tofu, and seasonal greens. The food was of very high quality. The skewers reminded me of excellent equivalent options when i was living in southeast Asia. The tofu dish was excellent and the seasonal greens too.
Very pleasant service. A really good find.

Just had our first visit and this is our new favourite restaurant. We tried the hot and sour soup, the satay skewers, mashed potato in tofu pockets and the seaweed tofu rolls. Flavour, texture and presentation for all the dishes were as good as it gets. Sometimes this type of fare can be heavy and oily but everything we tried was light and delicately flavoured.
We didn’t see any signage telling us it was okay to park in the lot adjacent to the building but that is their lot.

Went there on a quiet Sunday at 5pm. Service was fast and courteous. The spring rolls were excellent. The portions were ample and overall a good experience. There drink selection was a little limited. Décor is simple and not too cramped. Dishes were perhaps a few dollars more expensive than they should be. I’d recommend trying it out but keep your expectations in check.