Laughing Buddha

Mee Yang

Great portions, excellent customer service, and delicious vegetarian food! We ordered the black pepper udon noodles, crispy basil shiitake and tofu, soy popcorn chicken, and won ton ginger broth soup. Chef’s kiss!

Maya Allison

I came here on a hot day and ordered the cilantro tofu salad. It was light and refreshing but also filling. The outdoor patio is also really nice. I will have to come back on a cold day to try something warm.

Austin Lan

I personally am not vegetarian, but came here with a Vegan friend so we could eat out together. We were both thoroughly impressed. I eat a lot of Chinese food and I really enjoyed all of the dishes. They all had depth of flavor and were distinctly different. I was especially happy with the green beans - this dish traditionally is made with minced pork but instead it’s got a bit of a twist with jalapeños. Sooo good and honestly better this way. Also loved the longevity tea. My vegan friend was really happy with the meal and said he’d be back for sure. The staff was attentive and very kind. Flexible and super knowledgeable of the menu.

Diana H

Very yummy vegetarian food. The tofu in their clay pot dish was spectacular. I also really enjoyed their lemongrass, eggplant, mushroom ball and tofu dish. The mushroom ball had the exact same texture as a fish ball. The dish was lacking in lemongrass taste though.

Celine El Khouri

Wow can’t believe this was my first time here. Dining in the patio is so nice! It’s covered so you don’t feel hot outside, it gets a nice breeze. It’s very pretty. The food is so delicious and the serving sizes are generous. Friendly service too!

Felipe Torres

This place is the absolute best of Oakland! The food is delicious and the service is impeccable. The prices are affordable and the menu is extremely extensive. They decorated the place in a very tasteful fashion that is intentional and modest. We will be coming back here very often and hope to see this place get really popular. They did an amazing job.

Rebekah Keely

Delicious, beautiful, lovely staff. Ordered fully vegan. Entire menu is vegetarian but staff understands and accommodates vegan options.

I really enjoyed how fresh the food was and so flavorful. The lettuce cups had a delightful fresh ginger taste and the pineapple fried rice had a wonderful smokiness. We came here on a rainy day and had the longevity tea which came in a generously large mug. Everything was wonderful!

This place is a new hidden gem. I thought it might be basic vegan Chinese, but the entire menu was hard to choose from because of how delicious and unique and flavorful everything sounded. Even the teas, brought in amazing gigantic mugs! The food was so fresh and flavorful, you really can’t go wrong in anything you order. The specials menu was amazing, I can’t wait to go back and try more. Also- the restaurants vibes are great. Sit in the back, it’s so sweet.

We’d been meaning to try this place for over a year, but honestly, we were so burned out on the usual veg*n Chinese spots around the Bay that we kept putting it off. I’m so glad we finally went—because wow, what an incredible surprise. Every single dish we tried (two entrées and three appetizers) was beautifully seasoned, full of flavor, and genuinely delicious. The variety on the menu is impressive, and for once, we didn’t hit a single miss. Everything just… worked. If you’ve been feeling underwhelmed by other veg*n Chinese options, or just want to try something new, this spot will absolutely renew your excitement. Highly recommend. We’ll be back soon.

We ordered takeout and got the Lemongrass Eggplant, Mushroom Ball & Tofu, Peipa Tofu Clay Pot (my personal favorite), and the Salt and Pepper Trio. All the food was flavorful and delicious.

Absolutely love this place! Tons of options to choose from and everything I’ve had is fantastic. In particular my favorites are the On Fire Won Tons, Black Pepper Veggie Udon Noodles, and Lemongrass Eggplant Mushroom Ball and Tofu.

Seating is in the back! Don’t let the empty front waiting area discourage you. Food is really good. Fresh and spicy. Will bookmark and come back for more.

A hidden gem, I love to both eat in and get take out. They make vegan and vegetarian wholly satisfying and delicious! Their service is also very friendly and the patio is tranquil. I especially like the general tsos “chicken”.

Such a special gem of a place! Perfect for group dinners too (make reservations!)- we celebrated the lunar new year with a vegan Chinese new year dinner here in their cozy dining room with such good vibes, and unique authentic dishes like lotus root and lychee in the sweet & sour seitan dish 🤯 It’s big enough to have a large group table (we had 12) and quiet enough to feel like you’re all celebrating together. This is very hard to find in the bay! Grateful this place exists, bringing such good vibes and animal love to Oakland ♥️

A great neighborhood ma & pa gem offering vegetarian and vegan Chinese food. Food is tasty and reasonably priced (similar to other vegan Chinese food restaurants). The back seating area is eclectically decorated to create a garden like atmosphere, complete with flowers streaming from the rafters. It's funky and zen vibe gives that 1999 Bay Area vibe we all miss.

Jessica Mendenhall

I really enjoyed how fresh the food was and so flavorful. The lettuce cups had a delightful fresh ginger taste and the pineapple fried rice had a wonderful smokiness. We came here on a rainy day and had the longevity tea which came in a generously large mug. Everything was wonderful!

Chloe

We ordered takeout and got the Lemongrass Eggplant, Mushroom Ball & Tofu, Peipa Tofu Clay Pot (my personal favorite), and the Salt and Pepper Trio. All the food was flavorful and delicious.

Josh W

We’d been meaning to try this place for over a year, but honestly, we were so burned out on the usual veg*n Chinese spots around the Bay that we kept putting it off. I’m so glad we finally went—because wow, what an incredible surprise. Every single dish we tried (two entrées and three appetizers) was beautifully seasoned, full of flavor, and genuinely delicious. The variety on the menu is impressive, and for once, we didn’t hit a single miss. Everything just… worked. If you’ve been feeling underwhelmed by other veg*n Chinese options, or just want to try something new, this spot will absolutely renew your excitement. Highly recommend. We’ll be back soon.

Doug Amar

Seating is in the back! Don’t let the empty front waiting area discourage you. Food is really good. Fresh and spicy. Will bookmark and come back for more.

David Souza

Absolutely love this place! Tons of options to choose from and everything I’ve had is fantastic. In particular my favorites are the On Fire Won Tons, Black Pepper Veggie Udon Noodles, and Lemongrass Eggplant Mushroom Ball and Tofu.

Kate Collett

Everything I ordered was delicious and also felt healthy, which is a rarity. The service was sweet, thoughtful and fast. This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in the Bay!

Jessie Duke Gerzon

This place is a new hidden gem. I thought it might be basic vegan Chinese, but the entire menu was hard to choose from because of how delicious and unique and flavorful everything sounded. Even the teas, brought in amazing gigantic mugs! The food was so fresh and flavorful, you really can’t go wrong in anything you order. The specials menu was amazing, I can’t wait to go back and try more. Also- the restaurants vibes are great. Sit in the back, it’s so sweet.

Bamboo

What a beautiful restaurant! Ever since they first opened, I was reluctant to come here as a vegan because i would rather go to fully vegan spots and avoid the egg stuff. But I quickly fell in love with this place anyway since the staff was so knowledgeable, kind, and helpful. There are great plants, and beautiful areas to sit. The teas are really satisfying and unique. So many good mushroom dishes, fresh vegetables, nourishing food. Homemade seitan! Tofu skin! Yes please, I'm in heaven. Overall meditative and peaceful vibe here. It wasnt busy at all when we were in, so that was great too. Yummy fortune cookie at the end 🥠 Come here if you're vegan or vegetarian. Or if you are just a person in general. My mom, who eats meat, loves this place

Went with some friends so I got to try a bunch of things since it was served family style. We had a good time, liked everything, but our favorite dish was definitely the Veggie Crispy Noodles. The rest of our order was Hot and Sour Soup and Laughing Buddha Delight. I really liked the soup and if you’re vegan be sure to see if egg is included or not since many of the soups have egg flower broth or egg white broth. I do wish that there was a more even ratio of noodles to veggies. All of us had plenty of vegetables but would have liked more noodles. The cups of tea are HUGE. Sitting in the back patio is very comfortable

Claire Mizutani

Went with some friends so I got to try a bunch of things since it was served family style. We had a good time, liked everything, but our favorite dish was definitely the Veggie Crispy Noodles. The rest of our order was Hot and Sour Soup and Laughing Buddha Delight. I really liked the soup and if you’re vegan be sure to see if egg is included or not since many of the soups have egg flower broth or egg white broth. I do wish that there was a more even ratio of noodles to veggies. All of us had plenty of vegetables but would have liked more noodles. The cups of tea are HUGE. Sitting in the back patio is very comfortable

The server was incredibly sweet and thoughtful and offered some of the best service I've had in awhile, but the food was ok to good. My daughters enjoyed themselves because they never go out. I liked the tofu wonton, and the udon noodles had a nice texture, but I don't recommend the sweet and sour lychee and seitan.

Emily Loftis

The server was incredibly sweet and thoughtful and offered some of the best service I've had in awhile, but the food was ok to good. My daughters enjoyed themselves because they never go out. I liked the tofu wonton, and the udon noodles had a nice texture, but I don't recommend the sweet and sour lychee and seitan.

Brad Kekst

I get it's really difficult to work late on a Sunday night. However I still expect a business to do what they say and say what they mean. We walked in at 8:30pm because they said they close at 9. They informed us they were take-out only at this point. We ordered the "Triple Mushroom Saute" and the "Curry Veggies & Gluten". The mushroom dish did not have enoki as the menu says, it had the more common cremini. I thought "Gluten" meant it would include Seitan, but apparently not. Yes I should have asked. All it had was about 3 pieces of tofu skin. But the quality of the ingredients was excellent, everything was cooked fresh, and the flavor was excellent. The atmosphere looked nice from a quick glance, though the place was colder then outdoor temperature.

The mapo tofu was really sweet and had this odd, syrupy sauce. It did not resemble mapo tofu at all. We also got the clay pot dish with tofu balls and it was just okay, the balls were mostly bread than tofu. The best thing was probably the salt and pepper tofu but that was a bit on the salty side too.