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. Here are some of my favourites!
Dragon Fruit!Dragon Fruit Smoothie!Or find it in a tree…Daily breakfast!Watermelon Juice!Sugar Apples!Passionfruit Juice!Rambutans! My favourite fruit over here!
Taste the rainbow!
How could I forget Coconut Juice? Delicious!
VEGAN IN VIETNAM
First of all, I would like to thank Cici, a Vietnamese vegan, who provided a wonderful, translated guide that helped us immensely. With this guide, we were able to ensure all our meals were 100% plant based. Unfortunately, it is no longer available online to download.
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 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 was 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 favourite 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 view and private lounges. This is the Mushroom & Tofu Clay Pot with pepper sauce!
HANOI
GECKOS:
Geckos are a chain restaurant in Hanoi. Once you find one of their many stores, flip to the very last page of their menu 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 relaxing lounges. 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 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. This roasted eggplant was to die for. I still can’t stop thinking about it!All hail Morning Glory! We ordered this with most dishes. If you didn’t know, they are delicious leafy greens cooked in garlic!
LOVING HUT:
Loving Hut is a vegan chain restaurant found around the globe! There is one literally 15 mins drive from our apartment (in Melbourne) & 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 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 the proceeds go toward the development of Cambodia. I would highly recommend bringing insect spray, as I was attacked by mosquitoes here! The food is delicious & light! This was 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’ which was divine! Peanut & coconut sauce with fresh loaves of bread & chili’s to top. I would love to recreate this sauce back home!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 was 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 their 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 & the establishment plays western music, if you happen to be 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 consisted 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!
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, discovering 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!
