Zen Gardens in Guelph

North Kawarthas best kept secret. Amazing people, wonderful lake and great stewardship. Food

Great place very homey!

Very good vegetarian restaurant! The best in the region!! Its worth trying~

Sunday and Monday are rest days.

By far the best Vegan food we ve ever had! Everything we ordered was delicious. It was so delicious we ordered more to go to make sure we had some for the next day! Definitely recommend.

Great food. Not a fancy place, but who cares. As long-time vegetarians my wife & I are accustomed to places that concentrate more on food than atmosphere. Owner was very polite. 1st time visitors, but well be back. Thank you

Dietary restrictions: Great vegan options. Food

I cannot understand how can anybody rate this place with five stars or four stars or three. This is a zero star. Its way too salty. I ordered jambo shrimps and I honestly believe it was chicken painted orange on one side. I could not eat it, the rest of the dishes were just as bad. Everything was being served in plastic. I can go on and on and on but Im going to stop. The worst experience ever! I never complain but this time it was just impossible not to say something.

Amazing option for vegetarians to explore yummy Chinese food. Their options are all meat free and delicious and we keep going back to try more of their taste tickling dishes. A must try for all when in the area!

Great food and great service!

I often have their vegan sushi. Their tempeh platter is also incredible - amongst so many other options. Thank you for continuing to be in Guelph.

Best hot and sour soup I have ever had. That and the enoki balls are my favourite options.

We will start off with the location, well its in a house, its a small place with a calm atmosphere. Nice calming music. The staff was great, friendly and answered our questions. Everything was vegan which is new to me, Ive never had vegan Thai food before. I was pleasantly surprised. The Pad Thai vegan style was good and piping hot to boot we all almost burned our mouths, I laugh because all four of us made the same mistake of not blowing on our food prior to digging in, it smelled that good! Bonus to this place! The lovely friends I shared a meal with ordered extra to bring home to their other sons which Zen garden happily prepared for them and was ready when we all left. Cozy place only like 4-5 tables, very intimate. I would totally recommend this place for dates and family gatherings. The food was delicious although different from the kind of Thai food Ive enjoyed in the past. But dont be fooled by this place its very very good. Please check it out and enjoy the experience. Much love to you Zen Gardens, I promise Ill be back :)

Dine in experience was different than expected but still enjoyed it. Food was yummy, i enjoyed the different vegetarian options. Good portions and price

I think this is the only place on earth that has vegetarian ChickUn Balls. God bless them for that!

Just simple and nice!

awesome !! such a wide variety , was spoilt for choice and the service was wonderful. Vegetarian options: wide selection

This is the only restaurant that I will go out of my way to eat at every time Im back in Ontario. Its that good.

The food was extremely salty and otherwise flavourless to the point that I couldnt eat more than a couple bites. Everything was served in takeout containers with plastic utensils, including the soup. One of the dishes ordered wasnt served. Communication regarding gluten-free dishes was unclear and inconsistent. The restaurant was in a beautiful old house though it was unkempt. When we complained about the food a very slight discount was offered, though the discount did not appear on the bill until we pointed it out. We dined at the London location many times and never had such an experience.

Ive come to Zen Gardens a few time and Ive always left with a happy and full stomach for the price. The food here is mostly Vegan and anything that is not they make sure to label as such. There specials that they rotate are of a great value. One thing to note that this place is two levels, one on a old cobble stone patio and then on a narrow wooden deck. This place has seen better days on its outside and could use a fixing up for its stone work to make it easier for wheel chairs and also its steps as well as they are quite jagged. The decorations are quite dated, using old Christmas lights and aging knickknacks that are falling apart. The chairs here are also hard to sit in and some what uncomfortable. I hope that one day the environment can be altered. Overall a great valued experience. Vegetarian options: This place is 85% vegan. Dietary restrictions: This place is 85% vegan. Wheelchair accessibility: There are tables on ground level but the ground is made of uneven, large stones.

Absolutely amazing food! Everything from here is so delicious, and the staff are the best!

The waiter is really nice, they even gave us free food and the food is so delicious and a very very good price, a must try

Went there with family and friends. Its a cozy place and has a very warm feeling to it. The owners are very welcoming and sweet. The food was good. We trued couple of dishes and all of them were good.

Terrible experience! My spicy eggplant literally only had 3 pieces of tofu in it... This was our first meal after 2 days so we were starving, yet my partner couldnt finish his dish because it was way too salty! I tried a bite and it was overwhelming. My partner ate maybe 3 bites of his food and we told the server MUTIPLE times we didnt want to take the leftovers home, it was way too salty, something was wrong with it, and thats why he barely ate any of it. Yet she still packaged it and tried to make us take it! So uncomfortable, she kept acting like she didnt know what I was saying. She kept saying she would give a small discount, but gave me the debit terminal with the original price. After confronting her she quickly updated the cost and walked away. Still paid $50 for the worst dining experience we ever had. All dishes (aside from the wonton soup) were lacking flavor and presentation. Theres something off-putting about dining in and being served slop in plastic containers and eating burning hot soup with a plastic spoon... Very wasteful too. To make it worse, my partner called before we came in and asked if there are gluten free options, they said tell us what you want, well make it gluten free and told us the soy nuggets were gluten free, which I had a bad feeling about. BUT as mentioned, we were starving and they told us they could accommodate gluten free. Yet when we got there, we ordered soy nuggets and they didnt bring them out because Im assuming they contained gluten. If they wouldnt have lied to us, or at least knew what they were talking about, we wouldnt have came in and we could have avoided this whole mess. London location is one of our favorite restaurants, this was extremely shocking. Vegetarian options: Lots of vegetarian options Dietary restrictions: I cannot recommend this restaurant as they told us misinformation regarding gluten. They didnt seem to know what gluten was.

What a AWESOME place! Not only is the food absolutely delicious, but the people are so welcoming and kind! We ordered for the first time tonight and got take out - we ordered a lot of different dishes and none disappointed! Its been over 15 years since Ive been able to enjoy a chicken ball and I loved every bite! Will definitely be ordering from here as often as we can - 10/10 service and 10/10 food! Thank you! Vegetarian options: Its all DELICIOUS and vegetarian!

Excellent food, balanced flavours, and, most importantly, tons of exciting vegan options!

Delicous! We are happy every time we order. :)

I can t say enough about their wonton soup, sticky rice wrap and chicken drumsticks. This is the food I d eat for the rest of my life if I could only eat from one restaurant.

Love their food! Only suggestion would be to increase the portion of rice because the serving is too small.

My favourite place for Chinese food

A hidden gem in Guelph! Amazing food and the BBQ buns are my favorite :)

Excellent food with a wide variety of choices. Food had excellent flavor / taste and service was good, thank you, will be back :).

Fave place!!

I had a great lunch here. Felt relaxed and it tasted authentically Asian.

Always friendly staff and the food is so tasty

If you want vegetarian food come here. Its nothing fancy and I used to come all the time before covid. Glad its still around and the food is still as good.

Wonderful place. Great plant-based food at fair prices.

Staff was friendly. Food was good. Not many tables, you should make a reservation. Venue is a bit chaotic with fridges and things all over the place. Not our last visit. Vegetarian options: All vegan or vegetarian.

Really delicious Chinese food, its a lot higher quality than your average joint but still really good price. They also have a ton of vegetarian dishes. Highly recommend!

Always great customer service and super delicious!

I wish they were open when I went there. Every time I go within their scheduled hours theyre closed unexpectedly and I have to go somewhere else. The food is great which is why their inconsistent hours are a huge disappointment.

My favourite restaurant! They have such amazing food that is decently priced! I would drive an hour just to get take out from here. The owners seem very nice as well. 20/10 recommend!!!

Really cute atmosphere and amazing, fresh vegetarian/vegan Asian cuisine. Chinese style monk food. Im not vegetarian or vegan, but this is a new favourite anyway. They gave us free tea and candies with our takeaway.

Delicious food, large portions!

My partner and I got takeout last Friday. It was delicious and the restaurant kindly added some small appetizers to our order! Every item was tasty and warm. The menu is great and accessible for vegans, but my meat-eating partner loved it too!

We are here on a Thursday at 2pm and they are closed. No mention of it on their Google hours or their door... The number to call just goest to a voicemail, very disappointed

Great food! Also vegan options are amazing as well!

Great vegetarian food! So exciting the menu is huge and service was fast!

good food

Amazing food for great prices. Its refreshing to find a place thats entirely vegetarian! The staff are friendly and we had a short wait time.

Soooo good! Pineapple and chickn fried rice and pan fried dumplings were way too good makes me wanna try the whole menu haha!

Unique, delicious items. Love that I can order anything on the menu and I know its vegetarian!

Really happy that a vegan Chinese food place exists. I especially loved the vegan chicken balls.

Everything Ive had here is delicious, and its great to have so many vegan options. Items containing dairy are well labeled which I appreciate. The chicken balls especially are a real treat!

The food is always hot and flavourful.

Its nothing like the one in Mississauga. We all went with very high expectations. We thought we had found the same restaurant near by, we were very wrong. Taste was not the best. Presentation was below basic, we were served in take out containers with plastic cutlery and paper cups. Portions were also small. Long story short we will rather travel all the way to Mississauga next time.

The food was not good.

Worth the trip

Large portions, very fair price, always fast and tasty! Love this place. Pad Thai and the curry vermicelli are my go-tos.

For your vegetarian restaurant needs. This is my first choice to go

Vegan Asian food that owns

Love this place. Vegan all the way

We visit this restaurant regularly. The food is always great. As we are vegan, it is often hard to find delicious food without substitutions. Everything at this restaurant can be vegan. The staff is always wonderful. We have brought friends and family here. We highly recommend it to everyone. We make sure we come here to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.

BBQ pork, dumplings, everything else. Amazing.

The food is extremely tasty, and the staff are attentive and friendly! Its a wonderful place for quality vegetarian options--even my meat-eating friends like to go. Highly recommend!

Super yum fresh radness. 98% of the menu items are vegan!

This restaurant is my happy place They re food is so flavourful, and I m always trying new dishes! They re also so kind every time I come in. They re quick to make your order too. Worth a try, especially if you only eat vegetarian!

Very good food!

Food was good enough. It s nice that it s all vegetarian and meat eater friends could not tell the difference.

My husband and I visited this zen garden location after a long drive. I had been to other Zen garden locations and wasnt disappointed, so I figured this location would be no different. We were shocked by house converted into dining rooms but were able to put that aside. We ordered our food, the server promptly left and we suddenly heard a microwave going off. A few moments later she came back with my husbands lunch. His salad was literally a piece of lettuce, and a slice of tomato that clearly wasnt fresh. He was waiting for my food, to begin eating. My food took about 10 minutes longer due to the fact that his was microwaved and mine wasnt. I ordered the pineapple friends rice. The pineapples were really gross and again werent fresh. We spent about $50 and were really upset at the price based on the quality. We will not be going back to this location.

The service was great! Our waitress was really nice ( a UofG student) and super patient. We ordered lots of food including the sweet and sour pork .

A very intimate place to dine!! Awesome dinning experience!

We always love zen garbage. Great vegetarian fare especially when youre craving protein.

Excellent service and food!

The food was good

Always come here when visiting Guelph. Never disappointed.

Its not just the best Vegetarian restaurant, its also one of the best Asian restaurants in the city.

Good was very good and prepared very fast

Always get the teriyaki cutlets - you will never be disappointed!!

Great experience! Love this place and definitely going again

Excellent food many choices on the menu for vegan and vegetarian.

Tasty vegetarian choices and place feels like home.

Amazing Asian Vegetarian cuisine. The food was absolutely delicious and Im not vegetarian. Even my 11 month old daughter really enjoyed everything we gave her! The only thing that I thought was strange was in the dinner combo, the dessert was Chips Ahoy cookies. If the dessert were something like Matcha ice cream or Red Bean ice cream I would have been a little more thrilled about the dessert part to the dinner.

Food fresh

Very friendly with great food!

Amazing vegan options ! I heart the medlar avo rice

The place is nice and quiet. The food is tasty. The waitress was kind and smiling.

My absolute favourite restaurant. The family who owns it is SO lovely. The food is delicious, prices are reasonable and the service is always great.

The staff were polite, and zen music was nice, but there were food boxes and unwashed plates in a plastic tub sitting out in the open. We were the first from their opening lunch time, so these plates were likely still unwashed from the previous night or longer. Our meals arrived in plastic sectional plates, with much smaller portions then other Zen Garden locations. Food taste was below standard and for overall value for money, there are are much better options in the area.

Really delicious entirely vegetarian food including dim sum. Total winners are the bao and puffs with the bbq filling, the steamed rice in a lotus leaf, the gailan w ginger, spicy eggplant w tvp and the amazing addicting enoki mushroom balls. We take out from here often and theyre great about having things ready on time, fresh and hot, even hours after I order.

This is my absolute favourite restaurant in guelph. Been here a couple of times with friends, family, boyfriend, etc and everyone LOVED it. There is not one thing i dislike about this place. The family that owns this place is always super kind and takeout orders are always timely. The food reminds me of home and is just overall delicious. I recommend the honey bbq pork since it is something I haven t had since I became pescatarian and the flavours are mind blowingly similar.

The chow mein, veggie chicken balls and fried rice are too good! Prices are fair and portions are large. Great service, too!!!

Love this restaurant. Super fast service! So many options for plant based eaters. Tasted fresh and server was friendly. Cant wait to go back. Also, loved that the take out packaging wasnt plastic.

This restaurant is one of the best in the area for plant based diets! The food tastes like nothing I could ever cook at home and it s such a treat! It s also very affordable and service for delivery is very fast. Portions are generous as well!

Great vegetarian options

The entire meal tasted like it was cooked in dirty dish water. Ive been a vegetarian for 5 years, and have eaten lots of vegetarian and vegan meals. This was by far the worst Ive had.

Some great dishes made fresh to order.

love love love

Vegan and vegetarian food, delicious!

Amazing food!! Most options vegan friendly. Perfect for a date night. Soy nuggets (best ones Ive ever had) sweet and sour lappa. Miso soup/sushie/ noodle dishes. Lots of vegan meat to try. Recommended

Food is always fabulous. They dont keep you waiting forever for it either. Portions are generous. Weve always had a good experience here.

The steamed buns were delicious! That was literally the only thing good about this meal. Weve been vegetarian for years, and wow, this was shockingly bad. The portions were tiny, came in divided plastic plates (the kind you give kids), were very over-seasoned, and were very expensive for what we got.

All the dishes were delicious

Delicious food, quick service. A cosy atmosphere.

Lovely intimate, almost feeling like visiting someones home. Delicious healthy freshfood, so many choices. Cannot go wrong. With ten people the bill was $200. We were stuffed. Highly recommended. Our family reunion dinner was a hit, big success! Asian vegetarian restaurant with vegan options. Love it!

Insanely delicious

Very tasty meals, most of which are vegan. Portions were on the generous side and prices are fair. Good food and great value as well.

Vegan

presentation is good; the food tastes good; serving is slow - but this is still the place to go. alright. the food tastes fresh, and since we are a vegetarian family, good food is hard to find, so this is definitely the best vegetarian food weve had so far.

Good vegan food. Steamed BBQ buns a house favorite

After the cambridge zen shut down, we decided to check out the guelph location. Ill be honest it felt weird because it is in a house. The living room dining room have been converted into a dinning area. I got used to it quickly. Our server was excellent and friendly. Service was fast (way WAY faster than the cambridge location) Great food and knowledgable staff. The only real strike against it is the parking. Its a little tight for our caravan. But its guelph so park anywhere and walk over, its a nice area!

Sadly its all show :(. I ordered a lunch special and it came on a sectioned tray with a fork and was at best mediocre cafeteria food. The staff is nice and I like what they are doing, just if they could do it right. Only because they are good people I dont rate it two stars. The hot and sour soup was... Soup, not what I was expecting, but not in a good way. How does one give polite constructive criticism?

The service was great and the food was excellent. Nice small establishment.

I came here with a friend and we were so pleasantly surprised! We had such great service and the food was great. I was so excited finding this place being a vegetarian and all the food we ordered did not disappoint. We ordered the dim sum dishes, which is almost impossible to find as a vegetarian, as well as the pan-fried dumplings which are a must. But everything is veggie or vegan, delicious and reasonably priced especially if you plan on sharing...even my non-vegetarian friend was convinced. Definitely recommend!

Food was tasty, served hot and quickly. Service was great. Price was good. Will definitely be back.

Very good, very fresh, great service, humble atmosphere..... will definitely come back.

Quite small place. All the food serve here are vegetarian.

Amazing food and staff.

This is our third time to order food for my co-workers lunch time , we just tell the owner how many people and $10 for each , she will made a little buffet for us , We all like the food and always eat so full , also every time have some leftover for dinner. First time we have 12 people , this time we have 6 , I recommend to let her choose the food for you . Then, she will have little surprise for you every time .

Asian vegan cuisine. Im a meat eater and still loved it

The food tasted excellent, the service was friendly and quick, lots of vegan options. Quaint and comfortable atmosphere, very clean.

Id go again but would order differently.

Awesome food, awesome service - the dumplings were sublime, and the atmosphere very cosy - we will be back!!

This place was great in terms of decor and food. Food was great quality and made really well, lots of flavour. Portions are a little on the smaller side though. Service was quick and nice. The only complaint I would have would be that the prices are a little on the higher end.

Great vegetarian Chinese food. The restaurant is a little out of the way in an old house. It was clean and quiet for lunch, very reasonably priced. Would recommend the mushroom Enoki!

Normally I would give Zen Garden full stars, but my last two food orders have been fails. They are a great vegetarian comfort food place and I usually order the same things to share with friends when we order take out. I ordered pineapple veggie chicken fried rice and it arrived with only 7 tiny cubes of veggie chicken and no sign of pineapple. I also ordered tofu pad Thai, it came with 3 pieces of tofu and some kind of lump of spices. I always order crispy sticks, and I only revived 4 or of the usual 5-6. I tired calling the restaurant to let them know and it went to a voicemail that wasnt set-up. Overall Im pretty disappointed, I love the food from this place, but I cant justify ordering online with them anymore.

Tasty veggie menu, mainly Chinese, quiet. Im not veggies but enjoyed dinner with my family.

AMAZING!!!! Fast service

A weirdly home-y restaurant. Great food. Large selection of vegan dishes. The enoki mushrooms are the best.

My whole family (including the kids) love eating here. We make a point to go to Guelph from Kitchener just to eat here. The honey BBQ pork is our favourite and the kids could eat plates and plates of it!

Fantastic vegan options

Superb vegetarian dishes and a beautiful atmosphere.

Fantastic food. Slightly smaller portions compared to the prices

Great atmosphere. The staff was very pleasant. Very humble. One of the only places that respects vegan choices in the city. Ive gone here at least 20 times now, and each time have been pleasantly surprised with both flavour and originality of their cuisine. A lot of foods to choose from. A MUST visit if youre into oriental cuisine or especially vegan/vegetarian.

Gave this restaurant a try for the first time and was extremely impressed! The restaurant is cozy and relaxed, and the service is quick. Everything we ordered exceeded our expectations; the food was fresh and delicious! I recommend the steamed dumplings, vegan pork buns and veggie sushi. As a vegan I was delighted to find this gem, and will definitely go back!

Why do people like this place so much?! Its a vegetarian restaurant and out of the 6 dishes my boyfriend and i ordered none of the vegetables tasted fresh. Definitely frozen. Theyre four steps away from the farmers market!!! Buy fresh veggies! Lots of deep fried foods, all gluten whey crap. Also the owners kids were sitting in the dining room with us watching TV. We felt like intruders in someone elses house. It was weird.

Truly a must try Guelph eatery. Soothing and relaxed ambiance. The best osmanthus tea anywhere. Service is both friendly and courteous. Must try foods: Spicy Eggplant,Sweet N Sour Lappa, Vegetable Tempura, _all_ the soups. Who am I kidding? It is all good! Best of all -- non-vegetarians love it too!

Amazing flavors in vegetarian cuisine. And thats coming from a dedicated carnivore. Huge selection. Pleasant service.

Amazing vegetarian food, a must try! Try the veggie nuggets. THe chow mein was amazing, and the udon noodles were perfect. I loved my purple rice, and my boy friend loved his dumplings. WOW!