King's Joy is one of Beijing's established high-end vegetarian restaurants, in Wudaoying Hutong beside the Lama Temple. It is known for its refined setting, its extremely attentive service and its modern vegetarian cooking. It has held three Michelin stars and a Michelin green star, and currently holds two stars.
The basics
- Address
- 2 Wudaoying Hutong, Dongcheng District — about 74 metres on foot from exit G at Yonghegong on metro line 5.
- What it is
- High-end modern vegetarian — fully plant-based, no meat and no seafood — built around a set menu that follows the twenty-four solar terms.
- Who it suits
- A business dinner, an anniversary, a couple's evening out, or a meal with friends who matter.
The room
- Courtyard architecture
- Designed by the architect Zhang Yonghe, who fuses a traditional courtyard house with the manner of a modern Western dining room. You pass the grey walls of the hutong and seem to step into a quiet imperial side residence.
- The experience
- There is live harp in the central court, the lighting is soft, and the mood is quiet and formal. Window tables look onto the courtyard light, and in good weather you can eat outside among the bamboo.
- Small attentions
- The menu is bilingual, and the staff explain how each course was conceived and what it tastes of. After the meal you can write a few characters with a brush and inkstone as a keepsake, and you leave with a small gift.
Set menus and what they cost
The restaurant serves set menus only, with no à la carte, and you book ahead and pay a deposit.
- Lunch and dinner
- Three menus at 999, 1,399 and 1,999 yuan per person, plus a 15% service charge. Two people usually spend somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 yuan.
- Afternoon tea
- Charged per person at about 588 yuan, plus the same 15%. It is mostly fine Chinese sweets and tea snacks.
- Staples
- If the staples in the set are not enough, noodles with gravy and zhajiang noodles are refilled free and without limit, so nobody leaves hungry.
What stands out
The menu changes with the twenty-four solar terms, and most of the ingredients are seasonal mushrooms, soy products and grains bought locally.
- Avocado rolls
- Dense and smooth, with the flavours brought together just so. For many diners this is the dish they single out.
- Fragrant mushroom urn
- A vegetarian answer to Buddha-jumps-the-wall: layers of different mushrooms in a savoury broth.
- King Kong sand tofu
- Coated in chilli, peanut and sesame — fried, fragrant and hot, with a texture of its own.
- Chilled almond and mung bean cake
- Soft and glutinous. Plenty of diners call it the best mung bean cake they have eaten.
What people say, and what to know
- What works
- The setting and the service really are first rate, and the sense of occasion is complete. The sweets and the afternoon tea are the strongest part, and it treats vegetarians and anyone eating carefully very well.
- The argument against
- Some diners find the portions small and the flavours mild, without much sensory punch — they feel they paid a great deal for a stomach full of mushrooms. The meal is also slow: one and a half to two hours from start to finish, which will try anyone in a hurry.
- Booking
- Book ahead by phone or through a platform, especially for a window table or a private room. A few days ahead is the minimum; a week is safer.
- What to wear
- Wear something with a little ceremony to it. It fits the room.