Hi There! We are back from our whirlwind adventure throughout Vietnam & Cambodia! As promised, I will highlight our favourite spots to eat & do my best to make it easy being vegan in a foreign land! To ensure this post isn’t too lengthy, I will only showcase the best of the best!
FRUITY COLOURS!
My absolute favourite thing about Vietnam & Cambodia was the wide range of juicy, colourful fruits! Due to the tropical climate, the fruit remains seasonal all year round and so refreshingly delicious on hot days. I can honestly say I did not go one day without eating a big plate of fruit or drinking natural fruit juice so here are some of my favourites!
Dragon Fruit!Dragon Fruit Smoothie!Or Find It In A Tree…Breakfast Everyday!Watermelon Juice!Sugar Apples!PassionFruit Juice!Rambutans! My favourite fruit over here!Just in case you were wondering – this is what Rambutan’s look like and they taste just like juicy grapes!Taste The Rainbow!YUM!How Could I Forget Coconut Juice? Delicious!
VEGAN IN VIETNAM
First of all, I would like to thank Cici who is a Vietnamese Vegan & provided a wonderful translated guide that helped us immensely. With this guide, we were able to ensure all our meals were 100% plant based.
Print this guide off and take it with you everywhere you go! We found that a lot of Vietnamese don’t understand what vegan means, presuming it is the same as vegetarian so this guide allowed us to point to ‘No Egg & ‘No Dairy.’
I would also like to thank Happy Cow! If you don’t have the app, make sure you download it. With one tap, you can find all the vegan friendly restaurants in your area which is super handy when navigating uncharted territory. I have left reviews & photos all over the page!
HO CHI MINH CITY
PHO 2000:
Pho (pronounced ‘fur’) is a signature dish in Vietnam. It is typically made with bone broth but this particular vegan one at Pho 2000 is made from pure veggie goodness! You will find this restaurant near the Binh Thanh Market on the second floor of a coffee shop. The crackling on the top is fried bean curd which is incredibly tasty!
HUM VEGETARIAN:
Hum Vegetarian is located right next to the War Remnants Museum. It is a hidden restaurant filled with lush plants & Buddha statues. The staff are incredibly accommodating & we ate insanely crispy Vegan Spring Rolls & a Jicama/Mushroom Clay Pot (pics below)
HUONG SEN VEGETARIAN:
Use a map! This place is hidden in a side alley but so adorable! Many many vegan options including my top meal in Vietnam which was Coconut Rice in an actual Coconut!
BONG SUNG:
Mushrooms are used in almost every dish so I hope you like them! Bong Sung is another hidden restaurant but once you find it, it has stunning views over the balcony and private lounges. This is the Mushroom & Tofu ClayPot with Pepper Sauce!
HANOI
GECKOS:
Geckos are a chain restaurant in Hanoi. Once you find one of their many stores, flip to the very back page of their menus to find the vegan/vegetarian section. This mock chicken & vegetable curry was divine & very hearty!
ZENITH YOGA CAFE II:
We found Zenith Yoga II down a side alley. It is located upstairs in a peaceful yoga studio with lounges to relax. This beetroot & avocado burger was nothing like I’ve ever tasted!
BACKPACKERS MOON:
As the name suggests, this restaurant is for backpacker’s so all the meals here were super cheap! The mock beef was beyond good & I appreciate the heart shaped rice!
AUBERGINE:
Located on Hang Be St, Aubergine is run by a beautiful family who speak English really well and serve the best…Aubergine! This roasted eggplant was to die for, I seriously still can’t stop thinking about it!All hail Morning Glory! We ordered this with most dishes & it is delicious leafy greens cooked in garlic!
LOVING HUT:
Loving Hut is a vegan chain restaurant around the globe! There is one literally 15 mins drive from our apartment & we visited the one in San Francisco last year. It was no surprise that we sought out the Loving Hut in Hanoi & as usual we were not disappointed. These Fried Broccoli Bites with Tomato Sauce were the perfect snack!
CRUELTY FREE IN CAMBODIA!
Okay so once you get to Cambodia, throw out Cici’s guide as the language spoken here is Khmer. Unfortunately we didn’t have a translated guide for Cambodia so I just used Google Translate & pointed to the following pictures on my phone which worked a treat! It really helped the flow of communication!
SIEM REAP
PEACE CAFE:
The Peace Cafe is located outdoors with a yoga studio upstairs. The inside of the cafe has an ‘Oxfam’ type shop where all proceeds go towards the development of Cambodia. I would highly recommend bringing insect spray as I was attacked by mosquitoes here! The food is delicious & light! This is my Pineapple & Chickpea Curry!
CHAMKAR:
My favourite Vegan Restaurant in Siem Reap! Chamkar offers pages & pages of unique dishes if you feel like a lot of the food is repetitive. This is the ‘Wedding Day Dip’ and it was divine! Peanut & Coconut Sauce with fresh loaves of bread & chilli’s to top. I would love to recreate this sauce back home if I can!I sadly didn’t get to indulge in much dessert while I was here so I jumped at the chance when Chamkar offered a selection! This is Tapioca Pearls & Banana’s cooked in hot Coconut Milk! It was delicious and comes in a big bowl to share!Room Service Anyone?
TAJ MAHAL:
Taj Mahal is an all Indian Restaurant with a Vegetarian Menu! It was nice to eat some Indian food again & this dish was packed with Black Eye Bean Protein! Also try the Samosas!
PHNOM PENH
THE VEGETARIAN:
We stayed at The Kabiki which is very near the Royal Palace. I would recommend staying near here as not only is it central to everything but close to two amazing vegan restaurants! The first is The Vegetarian which is mainly vegan with one or two vegetarian options. This is Braised Bamboo with Wheat Protein & Veggies! Yum!Soft Golden Tofu Medallions With Veggies!
THE CORN:
The second Vegan Restaurant is The Corn! It is hidden down a side alley so use a map! The staff are lovely & it plays western music if you’re missing home! I fell in love with Taro Chips whilst overseas. They are much denser but better for you! They also have a slightly lilac colouring which makes them look kind of funky!The Corn serves all main meals with black sticky rice which looks like chocolate! This Curry consists of Banana, Potato, Coconut Milk & Veggies. Amazing!My last meal in Phnom Penh was this Smoked Tofu Salad with Mint & Capsicum. I loved the presentation & it was really light but tasty!
EVERGREEN VEGETARIAN:
Evergreen is located in Phnom Penh City! Meat Free Zone Posters adorn every surface. We ordered the Mock Chicken Wings & Mock Meatballs. Really crispy & delicious!Two Thumbs Up!
I hope you enjoyed the yummy & colourful variety of vegan foods we discovered. As a vegan, I don’t ever want travelling to discourage anybody. There is so much help out there including blogs like mine & Happy Cow! Anybody can eat at the first restaurant they see but it is much more adventurous to pick up a map & seek out plant based restaurants. We ate with Buddhist Monks & families. We walked down hidden alleys & discovered tropical cafes & yoga studios. We went to places that hardly anybody knows about so don’t be afraid to travel anywhere. As long as you have translated guides & a map, you will never go hungry!
I will put up another blog post soon related to all the natural wonders we encountered so stay tuned!
Such a delicious post, Bec. It looks like you can never go hungry in Vietnam and Cambodia if you are on a cruelty free, vegan diet. Each dish looks so delicious – you did a great job of capturing the delicious colours of the dishes 🙂
“Peanut & Coconut Sauce…Tapioca Pearls & Banana’s cooked in hot Coconut Milk” These two dishes are the ones I really want to try the most. All of my favourite foods there 🙂 And I love rambutan too 🙂 So glad to hear you and Francis enjoyed your trip <3
Love this post! Thanks for all the valuable info! Can’t wait till I go to South East Asia next year…good to know that there’s Loving Hut there too 🙂 xx
Thank you so much for reading!! You’re very welcome! I was so happy with the amount of options in South East Asia and Loving Hut is truly a haven of deliciousness! I want to try all of them one day!
Hi Lani thank you for stopping by and following! I actually went to Vitking in Siem Reap! Unfortunately they got my order wrong but my partner had a delicious Kimchi Soup! Have a lovely day!
Yeah, it’s tough when you go to a restaurant for the first time and they screw it up. It makes it challenging to go back. They’re slow though, but very popular and the prices are great.
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It was a beautiful venue! I love how you could kneel by the small tables outside 🙂
All of this looks incredible! I’m travelling the rest of Southeast Asia next year and just returned from Thailand where I found the hardest thing to avoid was egg, it’s in everything! Such yummy food though, morning glory + dragonfruit were also a staple of mine. LUSH. Really helpful guide, thank you for sharing!
Thank you! How wonderful, I hope you have safe and happy travels. When I went to Taiwan it was very egg heavy too and I had to check everything but it was worth it! The fruit in Southeast Asia is like nowhere else in the world! xx
Such a delicious post, Bec. It looks like you can never go hungry in Vietnam and Cambodia if you are on a cruelty free, vegan diet. Each dish looks so delicious – you did a great job of capturing the delicious colours of the dishes 🙂
“Peanut & Coconut Sauce…Tapioca Pearls & Banana’s cooked in hot Coconut Milk” These two dishes are the ones I really want to try the most. All of my favourite foods there 🙂 And I love rambutan too 🙂 So glad to hear you and Francis enjoyed your trip <3
Thank you so much Mabel! I’m so glad you love Rambutans too! Are they sold here? I would love to get them!
Love this post! Thanks for all the valuable info! Can’t wait till I go to South East Asia next year…good to know that there’s Loving Hut there too 🙂 xx
Thank you so much for reading!! You’re very welcome! I was so happy with the amount of options in South East Asia and Loving Hut is truly a haven of deliciousness! I want to try all of them one day!
I’ll keep these in mind. My currrent favorite is Vitking Vegetarian in Siem Reap. It’s super close to my house. Cheers ^^
Hi Lani thank you for stopping by and following! I actually went to Vitking in Siem Reap! Unfortunately they got my order wrong but my partner had a delicious Kimchi Soup! Have a lovely day!
Yeah, it’s tough when you go to a restaurant for the first time and they screw it up. It makes it challenging to go back. They’re slow though, but very popular and the prices are great.
It was a beautiful venue! I love how you could kneel by the small tables outside 🙂
All of this looks incredible! I’m travelling the rest of Southeast Asia next year and just returned from Thailand where I found the hardest thing to avoid was egg, it’s in everything! Such yummy food though, morning glory + dragonfruit were also a staple of mine. LUSH. Really helpful guide, thank you for sharing!
Thank you! How wonderful, I hope you have safe and happy travels. When I went to Taiwan it was very egg heavy too and I had to check everything but it was worth it! The fruit in Southeast Asia is like nowhere else in the world! xx