This used to be my all-time favorite vegetarian restaurant in the city, every since I came here first in 2006. I took my very-carnivore dad her once and he absolutely loved it too! Even though it used to be a bit pricey, I thought it was totally worth it considering the delicious food, special and creatively presented dishes, good service and nice ambiance.
How that opinion has changed since my visit yesterday! We went there for my birthday dinner, and I was very much looking forward to it. When walking into the restaurant I already thought they had changed the ambiance a bit, with jazzy music instead of the quiet music they used to play, and with a lot of water vaporizers(?) and insence, apparently to create a unique experience, which was just too much. But OK, opinions can vary.
I was shocked when I looked at the menu. The cheapest dishes were ¥169, and prices going up to as much as ¥500 for sushi or a curry, ¥700 for so-called 'sacred' dishes and ¥1690 for I-don't-know-what, because I didn't even look at the details. The simplest bowl of rice was ¥108 and for a bowl of noodles they dare ask ¥169! Prices had at least tripled since the last time I went there, one year earlier.
We would have just left if it wouldn't have been for my mother in law who was there, and for who it would have been a loss of face (or something like that) to just leave like that. So we ordered some of the cheapest (if you can call it cheap) dishes, only to hear that several of those 'weren't available'. We ended up paying over ¥1000 for a few dishes (no staple food) and weren't full at all. Especially my mother in law, who didn't dare to eat anyting for those prices.
The food is still very good, the dishes are presented very nice and creative (although this was somewhat overdone as well; think of a bowl with succulent plants to serve one piece of dim sum). When we were done I waited for the fruit platter they always used to serve on dry ice for free after the meal, only to learn that it didn't come - unless you ordered it at a price of over ¥250.
I don't see what could justify the excessive increase in prices, as the quality of the food is still the same as before, and no sensible person should think that asking for almost ¥300 for a plate of fruit is reasonable. Real buddhists wouldn't ask that much for food.
It's a real pity, beacuse judging from other reviews here Pure Lotus is losing more and more of its loyal guests. No more for me. I'd rather go for a slightly less thrilling experience at Baihe (Lily Vegetarian) or Xuxiangzhai near the Confucius Temple.
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