“If you can answer this question correctly, you are the smartest person in Australia” Mr NQN said looking at me over the top of the iPad. As a child of Chinese parents that was subjected to flash cards before I could talk it is pretty much a given and an imperative that I will jump when asked a question (and cringe when asked to do a physical challenge-true).
He cleared his throat. “OK so in Australia on the census, most people ticked that they are of “no religion”. Can you tell me what the next two religions are?”
I thought about it for a moment and answered, “Catholic and Anglican” and he shook his head. Apparently the next two most popular religions in the last census before this year’s was Catholic and then Buddhist! Who knew? I mean I knew plenty of Buddhists although neither of us are but I didn’t think my motley sample pool of friends represented a portion of Australia as a whole. But this little tidbit reminded me of a Buddhist temple that we had driven past many times.
The Nan Tien Buddhist temple is an enormous sky high temple and never fails to catch our eye and a friend had mentioned that they do a yum cha or tea of sorts in their tea room or the “Dew Drop Inn” (pun perhaps intended). Well yum cha in the fact that they serve dumplings but there aren’t the trolleys whizzing past or a huge choice of items like a typical yum cha. Nevertheless we were intrigued to stop there and not just to see what the temple looked up close. Call it a temple version of checking out someone’s house!
We arrive through the enormous grand arch way and flapping in the wind are flags that signify us to “Do good things, Speak good words, Think good thoughts” and we immediately try and banish thoughts of swearing about how cold it is and how we just hope we get a parking spot really close to the tea room.
There’s a pagoda in a separate building but the main building houses the tea room. Some brave souls are sitting outside but as it is a freezing cold Winter’s day where the sun fails to ignite any sort of bodily warmth due to the wind chill we take shelter inside. We grab a wooden table, they are mostly all taken but there are all sorts of nooks and crannies here, and I go to the counter to order. I take one of the large laminated A3 sized menus and peruse it. On one side is a list of drinks from regular coffees to pots of tea. On the other side are a dozen or so dumpling and noodle dishes to choose from. All of the dishes are vegetarian and there is a good range of exotic teas. The prices aren’t as cheap as yum cha but the funds go back into the temple and it’s quite a nice setting to eat in.
Lotus tea $6.50
My first choice of “cam quat” aka cumquat tea is not available so I choose a lotus tea instead. It’s lovely and warming and helps warm us up from the inside.
The noodle pick up area
Curry noodles $9.90
If you order noodles, you are given a small card with the name of the order on it and you go around the corner to swap the card for a bowl of the noodles. Here they have several lots of noodles on the go and different broths and they quickly assemble my bowl of curry noodles or laksa as they call it. It’s not really like a laksa that you may find at a Malaysian place, indeed the sauce is more like curry noodles than laksa. There are pieces of cabbage, green beans, carrot, potato and bean sprouts on top of the soup. Although it looks smaller than the large ramen bowls you can get it is very filling and warming.
Spring rolls $8
By the time I got back to the table with the laksa bowl the spring rolls and five spice roll had arrived. The fried items are more at the ready and they’re still warm while the steamed items seemed to take a bit longer. The spring rolls aren’t too bad at all, in fact they’re quite nice. Served with a sweet chilli sauce rather than the usual yum cha sweet and sour sauce they’re crunchy and satisfying even without meat.
Five spice roll $8
These were my favourite. I think they were probably made out of tofu and that mock meat gluten but they’re actually very tasty and quite meat like. The five spice lends it a good flavour and helps it resemble the non vegetarian version quite nicely.
Steamed dumplings $8
The six steamed dumplings weren’t quite as successful tasting like they were just filled with cabbage.
Sao mai $8
The siu mai were my other favourite along with the five spice roll. Again they had managed to duplicate regular siu mais down to the faux red roe on top and these tasted like pork siu mai once it was dipped in the slightly sweet soy sauce (similar to the sauce that you get with the steamed prawn rice rolls at yum cha).
There were a few desserts on offer-mostly cakes and Western style goodies but by that stage we were actually really quite full so we pulled on our coats and scarves and looked around the temple. Determined to get back to the car without getting too cold we did up all of our coat buttons and thought good thoughts all the way to the car.
So tell me Dear Reader, are you a religious or spiritual person? And do you often do surveys?
Dew Drop Inn Tea Room at Nan Tien Temple
180 Berkeley Road, Berkeley, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 4272 0600
Tuesday – Sunday
9am – 4.30pm Tea, Coffee, Light Snacks
11.30am – 4pm Lunch Menu
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56 Comments | Add your own
The survey results surprise me but could it be that a large percentage of the population are not religious, hence buddists manage to come in second even though they may only be a relatively small number of persons.
A Buddhist temple serving dumplings! We’ve driven past this place often as well, but never though to drop in at the Dew Drop Inn..
The food looks yummmyyyyy! I love yum cha! I think vegetarian yum cha is just as nice as normal yum cha
I am quite proud to say that I do not have a religion. I was raised Catholic and I respect other peoples choices but after a lot of soul searching, research and questioning what my “beliefs” were based on I realised the only logical answer for me was, there is no God.
I also realised that I make good kind choices in my life because I am a good person and I don’t need “the fear of God” to be so.
I do note, in difficult times it would be good to go back to being a “crisis Catholic” It was comforting to believe you could pray your troubles away.
P.S The food looked great and the temple reminded me of a lot we visited in Japan, Particularly one in Kyoto.
This looks terrific – I love a good yum cha, and a vegetarian one looks like fun.
This post makes me sad. Because I went to the opening of Nan Tien and now I feel rreeaallyy old. I can assure you that the food has improved ten fold by the looks of things! Such a peaceful place.
T x
I had to look up where Berkley was on the map – who knew you could get a vegetarian feast at a Buddhist temple?
As far as me being religious, I’m a bit of a lapsed Catholic. I go to church at Christmas and Easter…yes I’m one of those. And I LOVE filling out forms, especially the Census!
i am disappointed that the temple is in nsw..i would love to visit..i go to crossways in swanston st melbourne whenever i am in the city..i am spiritual and i do surveys
jane
DELISH!!!
Someone once told me that Buddhism is not a rligion per se -but a way of life??
Lovely shots of the temple, Lorraine. The food looks excellent too, definitely not a place you’d think you find a feast, but I am more than just slightly curious now.
I would surely love this place! It looks so peaceful.
Maybe i’m saying this cos i’m a buddhist.
I had to do a double read when I saw Nan Tien Temple, because about 5 minutes drive further south is where I lived for 26 years of my life, Berkeley! Lorraine, you do surprise us so.
I was born and raised a Catholic, having the fear of God and nuns ( they were mean ) instilled in me but now in my adult life, I’ve come to realise that there is no need for religion. Inner strength comes from within!
I’m not a fan of surveys, too time-consuming but will do one if there’s a carrot being dangled, lol!
I love visiting here – there’s such a serene feel to the place, not to mention some interesting vego eats
I am not religious per se but I do believe in a higher power. Not a god but more like a universal energy/strength we can call on when we need to.
As for surveys, I love them!
PS: do I ever get off moderation?
This is extremely interesting. Didn’t expect that Buddhism is the 2nd more popular religion there and seeing this Yum Cha restaurant in a temple Sydney is a little surreal for me…
I would like to think I am a spiritual person. And that helps to make me a better person.
To me religion shouldn’t matter, but being a good person, thinking of others, living everyday to my best ability, is so much more important to me.
I would love to visit this place, thanks for the post
I was brought up by strict Lutherans, but I’m a spiritual person rather than religious. Not Buddhist, but I live Mindfully which follows a lot of the same ideas, without the religion. Except for the Census, I usually only do surveys if it’s in the hope of winning a competition!
I haven’t eaten in the cafe but I was lucky enough to stop by one day when they were having a festival and all around the courtyard were food stalls with the most amazing variety of “not meat” foods (like “not pork spring rolls”!!) that tasted suprisingly like their namesakes! I love visiting here.
Oh, and I am not religous but I love to do surveys!
My partner is a non-practising catholic, so even though he has no faith himself, he still put Catholic on the Census because of his parents’ beliefs and his religious rearing as a child.
You may find the same situation with buddhism – there is a much higher proportion of Asian immigrants in Australia now, even if they’re second or third generation Australian, their home cultural life has such a strong impact that they still identify as Asian and Buddhist.
That being said, there certainly has been an explosion of interest for specialist Asian-language services for various Christian denominations, so I can see how it can seem like such a melting-pot!
Social demography is so wonderfully complicated!
oh man those veggie spring rolls look good!!
I’m a Christian, God’s the Boss and Jesus died for my sins (and all of yours incidentally
Not a big survey type though!
I am an atheist. It was reading opinions like the one above (#24) that turned me that way. Shan are you trying to make everyone become Christian by false obligation?
Oh, Lorraine; you have ticked all the boxes for me with this one! Would you believe I have never been to the Temple even tho’ I live 40km away as the crow flies and have slowly, over the years come to regard myself as a Buddhist rather than a Lutheran. Yes, I have always been a very spiritual person tho’ it’s taken awhile to find the path for myself. The food looks pleasant and reasonable, but their banner is ‘upside down’ to my way of thinking: you start with good thoughts, do not say things you may regret and following that, do no harm to man or beast
! Surveys: you mean the kind presented on the Net etc: well, Milady, I am registered with 158 panels as there is no other way for me to earn here – sometimes fascinating, sometimes informative and quite oft boring, you sure do not pay your rent, even working 8-10 hrs a day, the way I oft do ;( ! As I said, you ticked all the boxes 
!
Yum! I do love a good vegetarian meal -and it’s so novel that they make “meat” dishes too.
The survey results were a complete surprise to me. Very interesting. I think I am a spiritual person, but not particularly religious.
Oh my!! I love this post…I love “discovering” the cross intersections of food and culture. In Hollywood, there’s a Thai Buddhist temple that apparently serves freaking good food and I hope to visit sometime!
Actually, Mr NQN gave you some wrong information. Buddhism is certainly not the second most common religion in Australia.
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1301.0Feature+Article7012009%E2%80%9310
@ Lauren – I take your point re ‘Asian’ v ‘Buddhist’ , but I think you would be v surprised how many Caucasians like myself have found utter peace and fulfilment in the logic of Buddhism. It may have its roots ere Christianity, but, when you absorb its precepts: it is so ‘suitable’, if that be the correct word, for the early 21st century. Do you or anyone you know meditate? That is basic Buddhist thought in action . . .
—Buddah said to “Eat LoOOOts of Dumplings.” Kidding. But I want to
I reeeally want to.
Looooooooooooooooove going on your adventures, L. I’ve been traveling all over w/ you. thank you.
PS. Without God, I could not have survived this past year…I still am not quite sure how I will.
xxx Big Kiss From MN.
I love filling out surveys but stop as soon as they ask me for personal particulars. I try to answer as truthfully as possible. That means it’s sometimes better that nobody knows who I am!
Thanks for this post. Being from Wollongong, I’m familiar with the temple and my parents had a bit to do with it being setup, through some of their good friends. So I’m pretty proud to see you covering it. And even though its only 10am here in Hanoi, I am now starving for some dumplings!
What a glorious looking temple. I, too, had no idea there were so many Buddhists in Australia. And heck, while we’re at it, I didn’t even know there was a Berkeley beyond the one I know so well in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Did you know that 70,000 people put down Jedi Knight as their religion last census as well? I don’t think Australians take government forms very seriously somehow.
The Curry noodles look nice, and the tea house is a good idea to raise money for the temple too.
Wait, “the noodle pick up area”? Is that where single ladies such as myself should be loitering?
Looks yum – mmm I want dumplings now! I do like surveys, but it looks like Mr NQN took you for a ride with his stats
What a beautiful place! So serene-looking.
I’m not a super religious person but I just believe in being good to each other.
This looks like a lovely outing! The tea looks so nice.
I’m one if the ‘no religion’ tickers. Raised Catholic but do not believe in it, or a God. I love surveys
The food here does look quite good. Shame about your dumpling experience, it looks really tasty
I wasnt impressed by the level of detail the government want to go in to. I thought it was a total invasion of privacy. Ok rant over lol! 
I couldn’t tell that there was no meat involved in any of those dishes: even the five-spice gluten roll looked like a meat roll to me!
I can’t really say that I’m religious despite the fact that my brother is a priest and I’m active in church. I’d like to believe I’m more spiritual.
As for surveys, well, it’d have to depend on the topic!
Is it ‘Jedi Knight’?
i’ve been to the nan tien temple a few times, it’s quite an experience, the food wasn’t so bad! wasn’t so bad at the cabramatta temple either (<– I heard they are pretty accurate, fortune telling wise)
Oooh those five spice rolls remind me of the amazing vegetarian restaurants we have back home – they manage to make the most delicious (and meat-esque) food! Granted most of it is deep fried, but it’s still really impressive.
Ah I’m not religious but I loved visiting this temple when I was young, it’s so pretty and peaceful
Thank you for writing about the Nan Tien Temple. I once did a weekend meditation course there, and in a way it was lifechanging. The temple is beautiful during the day, but has an entirely more serene quality to it after hours. Although the main gate shuts, most of the temple halls are still open so you can wander around and explore. I love the food here, although I must be honest and say I have eaten at better Chinese vegetarian restaurants. But a tip if you are visiting and apt to over order: Buddhism discourages waste, and the nuns and monks here much prefer it if you finish everything on your plate … especially the rice! They (or the lay volunteers) probably won’t say anything if you are just visiting, but they may bring it up if you attend a residential course.
So nice this temple…I loved the pictures and the food look fabulous. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful place.
Hope you are having a great week Lorraine
Beautiful location. I’m not religious but I do like the Buddhist philosophy
Listen to this stat…On last years census,70,000 wrote Jedii
as there religion!!To avoid the invalid answer this time round, there was an announcement forewarning such a response would not be counted.
I’ve never visited a Buddhist temple, it looks like a very serene place and I like the fact those little reminders help you commune with the people and the environment around you.
I am christened Greek Orthodox,I’ve found that as a get older, it makes me realise how important it is to know and understand your faith;which ever denomination you are.
I dont mind taking surveys either,so long as there not too personal.
ooh, thanks so much for taking me along for this trip!
Vegetarian yum cha! Just what I’ve been on the lookout for
I am not a religious person at all – I was one of the people who ticked ‘no religion’ on the Census form (my first Census!). And yes, I most definately am a person who loves filling out surveys, which is probably why I was one of the few Australians actually excited about the Census!
That is a big temple and they actually open to the public for food?
Ohh I live two minutes from the temple – I always order the cumquat tea… very delicious.
I had no idea there was anything like this in NSW, so cool! it looks like stepping back into Asia! ooh curry noodles… is that anything like curry udon ?
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