Kingdom of Vegetarians Restaurant

So I think this place closed? It had been a while since I have been here and I tried going recently and after pacing where I remembered it once was I could not find it. Also called and the number was disconnected. Very sad but New Harmony came through.

What this place lacks in ambience, it makes up for with food! Really great vegan Chinese food at incredible prices. You will spend very little, but get very much! It’s a little weird that the food comes down through an elevator, but hey, they always do takeout! Highly recommend!

Any time that I go to Philly, KOV is on the itinerary. Coming from a place with a shortage of vegetarian and vegan eateries, I’m always excited to eat somewhere with all faux meat and a menu that features more than veggie burgers and stir-​fry.
That said, the last time that I was there I was a little underwhelmed; my boyfriend and I went for dinner while in town for a festival, and my kung pow shrimp was more like kung meh. It came out in a really thick coating of heavy, bland batter that I ended up picking off — for real, there was twice as much batter as there was «shrimp»! My boyfriend got the sweet and sour «chicken», which he really liked.
The service was friendly but slow, which was frustrating because there was only one other table there, a family of three. I’m being really princess-​y here, but I’m also not wild about the kitchen in the basement, but that’s probably due to my coming from a harbour city.
Overall Kingdom of Vegetarians is a decent restaurant that’s worth checking out. It may not win any new converts to veganism, but at least everyone will leave full and happy!

The Kingdom is pretty close to my place of work so it’s a good option for a veggie friendly lunch that isn’t a salad and doesn’t come with the cost of getting food at Reading Terminal.
On food alone this place deserved 4 stars. I recommend the eggplant with garlic sauce lunch special. You get more than enough food and it comes with rice and soup. The garlic sauce is really good and they give you plenty of eggplant and tofu to accompany it.
The service can use a little work, however. The first time I was there I had placed an order online ahead of time because I was on a tight schedule. When i went to the restaurant to pick up my food they had no idea I had placed an order because their system was down. It didn’t take too long for them to prepare the food (10 – 15 minutes maybe) but it would’ve been nice if it had just been ready.
The second time I stopped by during lunch I stayed there to eat. The entrees came out before the appetizer which we thought they had forgotten about and then I had to get up from the table and go to the waitstaff to ask for my check after realizing they weren’t about to deliver it any time soon.
Overall– good place to grab a quick, cheap meal if you’re a veg. Phone in the order– don’t use the online system.

I saw their promotion flyers for Mothers’ Day. So I went with my friends. We ordered dim sum buffet, lecttuce cups, chicken and scallops with strawberry sauce, fresh seaweed and cumin lamb. Everything was sooooo good! And I liked their vegan green tea ice cream too. The fresh lychee juice was really good too.
The restaurant was quiet so we were able to enjoy the food.
Anyways, it was a really good experience!

I really want to love this place like I once did. I’ve been coming to Kingdom of Vegetarians for 11 years. It was the first restaurant I ever ate at in the city when I moved here. It was great! Generous portions of deliciously, lovingly prepared vegetarian food. Although I, myself am not vegetarian, I always came here because the food was just that good.
Apparently, they have changed owners in the last year. Things are terrible. I went with a friend to have dim sum there today, which I remember being wonderful from my last visit. It was a nightmare! The dim sum menu has shrunk exponentially and the food is just… a…well I would say ‘hot’, but it came out luke warm… a luke warm mess. Oily, bland and not fresh. We ordered several dim sum dishes and soup and were told while ordering that «They don’t like to only make dim sum on weekends so you have to order entrees.» As much as this pissed me off, we still ordered one. A run down of what we ordered follows:
Chicken and Snow Pea entrée — oddly gelatinous! only 3 pieces of ‘chicken’ in the whole dish and for almost $ 12, they can suck it!
Hot and Sour Soup — gelatinous yet again and served almost cold.
Scallion Pancakes — oily and w/​o any type of sauce accompaniment.
Coconut Triangles — I really don’t think there was any coconut in these at all. More like red bean triangles.
Pan Fried Turnip Cake — Oily with no flavor.
Steamed Veggie Dumplings — which I’m reasonably sure we did not order — salty and mushy and all around not fresh! My friend actually spit this out.
Steamed Spinach Buns — Ehh.
Friend Bananas — The only thing that was half-​way decent.
I’m really sad about this place. We’ve really lost a gem. If you are looking for great vegetarian asian food, go to Singapore or Rangoon. Don’t waste your money here.

CHANGE OF OWNERS.
You no longer get your gigantic bowl of rice :(Not that I need it, but it was nice to get that fake silver bowl full of rice for the table to share.
Last time i was there i waited an hour and a half for the first part of my food, the second part came out wrong and I waited another half an hour. My friend and I finished a gigantic bottle of wine before our second plate got to the table. And then the waitress tried to blame us for not telling her the right order when I pointed and said the number out loud.
I’m never going back. Go to New Harmony.

Loved the food, the staff, and the location. I just wish more people came here! I was the only one there after a group of ladies left as I came in.
I had the banana fritters (delish w a little sprinkle of sugar) and the thai fried rice (über spicy, but leftovers were a little better).
This place totally hit the spot. I can’t wait to come back on my next work-​related visit to Philly.

SLOW SERVICE (45mins wait for food!).
Service was rather inattentive. Cheap ass décor and ugly plastic table clothes. Food was meh (avoid the crispy faux-​chicken). Bad rice. Generally, the place felt desperate.

There aren’t worser feelings than that of being robbed while hungry in the pursuit of some well anticipated grub.
There is another vegan restaurant that I frequent just a couple doors down, I did not eat there today, well that’s for another review.
I was happy to walk into this place for the very first time. It’s Chinatown, so I was not expecting the interior to look better than the ankle hooking pavements and I was not disappointed. Dismal atmosphere, cheap looking décor. I was hungry, excited and in a hurry, so I ordered something to go. Large menu, included mock meats (my favorite). My palate helped with the choosing and we went with number 50– «sweet and sour spare ribs»: $ 8.95. While I waited (27mins. That was too damn long, even if they had to turn a pig into tofu) I imargined that my food would look like real sweet and sour spare ribs, I imagined the creativity of it having wooden sticks in there to mimick bone if necessary, I imargined it being slabs of succulent plant protien.
She finally brought it out accompanied by some bs story that they did not have the ribs they usually used, and that the cook used something that was more expensive. She showed it to me and I wanted to cry. That did not look any thing like *RIBS. It was battered fried balls of something. I tasted one ball and I quickly identified the mock meat in the center as chik’n i’ve had b4. It was 8o% flour batter, I was not going to eat all that dough. I threw it out. I’ve been robbed. I’ll never go back. Being vegan does not mean we have to eat crap.
I took a pic, wish i could attach it
*RIBS= like the «morning star bbq ribs»

My favorite Chinese restaurant. They only serve meat substitutes but you would never know eating it. Its just as good as the real thing. I always get the General Tso’s «chicken». You get a huge plate full but I always manage to finish it. So crispy and full of rich sauce. The Hot and Sour soup is also the best I’ve encountered and I love the asian spoons they give you to eat it with. The perfect amount of heat to make you sweat. I look forward to my yearly trips to Philly partially because I know I will be coming here.

God what happened to this place?
I used to go here quite often two years ago when I worked in Center City. It always hit the spot for greasy vegan comfort food when needed and the lady who seemed to ALWAYS be working there was really really nice.
Fast forward to today. I have since moved away and then back into the neighborhood and decided to hit up KOV for a quick lunch. When I walked in I wasn’t sure if they were open since the only people eating there were the workers and their family. I was seated quickly and given water in a not so clean glass and that’s where the good (?) things stop.
I ordered a scallion pancake as an appetizer and sesame chicken. Quick things that I have ordered there before so I knew it wouldn’t be too long of a wait. 15 minutes later, I was still waiting for my appetizer. 25 minutes later I asked if I could have everything to go, since I had no desire to wait around even longer. 35 – 38 minutes later I finally had my food and was on my way home. Did I mention that the workers and their families got about 5 or 6 different orders delivered to their tables while I was starvingly waiting for my measly scallion pancake?
The food, which used to be wonderful, is gross. The scallion pancake is barely cooked and super chewy and they didn’t include any of the sauce they normally serve with it. The sesame chicken is also undercooked and the seitan tastes a bit off. The steamed broccoli is good, but how hard is it to steam a freaking vegetable? What a waste of $ 16.
I won’t be back. Instead I’ll follow my stomach and just go to New Harmony which is only two or three blocks away. KOV, you used to be my friend. No more.

Really great food in a casual setting. I tried the hot and sour soup, maw pow tofu, and the kung pao «chicken», all items were served in large tasty portions. The food was appropriately spicy and all entrees were more than enough food for two meals.
One down slight down side was a not so clean bathroom. I would come back again for good food and cheap eats.

Just because I’m not eating animal products at the moment doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy some deep-​fried junk. And the lemon «chicken» at KOV is junk indeed. That veg protein was breaded and battered to high heaven, so much so that the breading was as thick as the protein itself, and sweet too (really, the whole thing tasted like lemon pound cake). It was good, but as an occasional splurge. I’ve also had the wonton soup here which is… rustic. I’m a fan, but I think a few carnivores would disagree.
I will definitely be back — the menu is huge and I want to explore. Plus, the hostess/​waitress was really friendly and helpful. However, the flavors didn’t blow me away.

Love this place. I’ve never had the dim-​sum, but I’d say that I’m happy sharing an entrée and an appetizer with my co-​diner as the entrees are HUGE. Probably a better deal than the dim-​sum anyway. I love that they bring you tea without asking (no charge) and are very nice.
The place is very quaint, the food comes down to the restaurant from a mysterious dumbwaiter. Now, the menu definitely is made up of lots of faux-​meat products, so you might want to be in the mood for that (sometimes I’m definitely not). The fresh juice was very good, the service quick but not hurried. A nice place.

This is one of those places that people tend to go for the obligatory birthday party, if someone not too keen on local vegetarian fare has, knowing they will inevitability have someone cancel if it’s not at a vegetarian joint.
Best known for it’s dim sum, and mass quantities of food, Kingdom is not known for it’s ambiance, however, I’ve never been in here without there being an influx of stylish people.
My favorite thing about this place, when you walk in, there is a tiny Buddhist area with books and materials available for free. It’s a nice gesture for those looking to learn more, without being preachy.
You can’t get more for the price, there is something for everyone here, even if you aren’t a vegetarian. Everyone loves the spicy hot and sour soup.

The $ 12 all-​you-​can-​eat dim sum is a whole lot of MSG-​filled junk food, but if you walk into any restaurant with pink plastic tablecloths and expect five star cuisine, well, I just don’t know.
This is pretty much the generic brand cheetos of chinese food. I’m not ashamed to admit that sometimes, it’s just what I want. With a bottle of wine. Because I am classy like that.

Dim sum!
I had never had dim sum before and always wanted to, so I jumped at the chance to try this place out. Oh my! So much food and it just kept coming! Liked almost every dish brought to the table, especially the wonton soup, sesame mock duck and steamed dumplings. The food on the other patrons’ tables looked fresh and delicious, too. A very special meal to share. Highly recommend checking this place out when in Philly.

My husband and his vegan friend rave about this place. They go there whenver they are in Philly so I had to try it when we were up there for a wedding.
I will say it’s not pretty but it has a charm that comes from the friendly service. Basically, you order the dim sum all you can eat for two. It’s only like $ 10 and you get so much food. They bring you about 8 dishes of vegetarian dim sum, and it’s enough to make you sick. My only complaint is that is it a bit greasy. And I would classify it as Chinese comfort foods so heavy on the fried, heavy breading and starches.
But I will definitely being going back for some more dim sum.

Very close to my hotel, I chose Kingdom as my dinner palace on Friday night. I walked in, was seated immediately, and brought water & tea.
The food was deelicious and I definitely enjoyed the reasonable pricing. Service was fantastic.
Definitely would go back on my next trip.