In the Jiuzhen or Nine Treasures Box, nine different dishes are gathered together on a large wooden platter.[Photo/China Daily]

Shanghai

A zeal for untainted flavors makes this Buddhist-inspired eatery stand out. Li Xinzhu experiences an epicurean awakening.

Wuguan Tang is located on Xinhua Road in a heritage district protected by the Shanghai municipal government. There are no high-rise buildings allowed in the area, so the restaurant is nestled in peaceful surroundings conducive to its dining philosophy.

The restaurant, now almost seven years old, is owned by Yi'An, a devout Buddhist. She named her restaurant Wuguan Tang, which literally means a dining hall for monks.

Yi was operating a Sinology Center when she discovered that many of her foreign students preferred to dine at restaurants that did not use "gourmet powder", or monosodium glutamate. She decided to cater to their tastes with a vegetarian restaurant.

An eye-catching banner across the wall of her restaurant proclaims her culinary philosophy: ben wei shi shu or literally, savor the original flavors.

"A vegetable or fruit has its own taste before we add seasoning," Yi says. "Just like our original world was before we filled it with lust.

"A cabbage should taste like a cabbage, a tomato should taste like a tomato and a glass of water should be just that. This is what we call taste."

And that probably explains why Wuguan Tang does not offer carbonated or alcoholic beverages, only tea or water.

The restaurant has two floors and a roof garden, which is a perfect place for a meal in summer. The natural theme is carried indoors, where most of the dcor is wood-based or in other natural tones.

Chopsticks are made of bamboo and tableware is celadon green.

The menu is all handwritten, and no two copies are the same.

"I'll recommended that diners go vegetarian at least once a week," says the 38-year-old head chef, Xu Zhiyin. He already has 16 years in the business and is a firm believer in eating and cooking fresh. "It is good for health."

Food at the restaurant is exactly that, and every dish is as well presented as a work of art, like the Five Fortune or Wufu Bag.

The popular dish in the restaurant is Jiuzhen or Nine Treasures Box, where nine different dishes are gathered together on a large wooden platter. The combination is carefully selected with an eye on balanced nutrition and features vegetables, soy products, fruits and nuts.

The average cost is 80 yuan ($12) per person.