Fare Buddhist vegetarian buffet, using 5-10 per cent organic ingredients. Despairing of the waste in most food and beverage businesses, long-term restaurateur and nutritionist Howard Ling opened Harvester where meals are charged by weight so you can take exactly as much as you will eat, and any leftovers are given to an elderly home and the homeless.
Ambience Automatic sliding doors welcome you into this cafeteria-style diner full of tiny Formica-clad tables and a buffet down one side. Fair Trade products and other foods for sale are displayed on shelves, and signs on the walls proclaim that 'Money is yours; Natural resources are ours; Please save; Don't waste'. A second room offers larger wooden tables and a more secluded air.
Cost By weight HK$16/100gms. Minimum HK$30.
Who to bring Vegetarians, the health conscious or those after a cheap, pleasant meal.
Turn-ons Ten bain-maries boast a selection of MSG-free delectable dishes that change from day to day. There might be a comforting roasted yam or delicate sauteed kale, while a traditional Buddhist mixed vegetable dish stands out for its earthiness. 'Pretend' meats make a showing, with the 'calamari' marvellously close to the real thing: curls of a slippery, rubbery texture, etched with criss-cross cuts are tossed in a vivid, garlicky sauce. After paying, serve yourself as much rice, congee, soup and dessert in the form of sweet soup as you'd like.
Turn-offs If you dislike manual labour, you won't like having to collect your cutlery, and deposit your used dishes in the collection area when you finish.
