Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurants in Vietnam
Vietnam (2185 listings)
Vietnam travel notes: Enjoy a wide variety of food in Vietnam--from exotic tropical fruits, tasty spring rolls, and noodle soups to strong bodied coffee and fresh baquettes. Vegan restaurants and veggie food stalls are established in most of the cities and towns. In major travel destinations, tourist cafes will offer something that is vegan-friendly. If you're sensitive to MSG, be sure to tell the restaurant to leave it out.
General Information about Vegetarianism/Veganism in Vietnam:
Many vegetarian restaurants, known as "chay" in Vietnamese, traditionally avoided using eggs. However, over the past few decades, this practice has become more common. In traditional Vietnamese cuisine, dairy products and honey are sparingly used. Consequently, it's easy to assume that most vegetarian restaurants are also vegan, but this is often not the case.
For a restaurant to truly be vegan, all ingredients must adhere strictly to vegan principles. Unfortunately, many breads available in Vietnam contain animal products such as eggs, milk, or butter. Moreover, vegetarian restaurants that do not explicitly advertise themselves as "vegan" or use the Vietnamese term "thuan chay" may be unaware of the distinction.
Given the challenges faced even by dedicated vegan restaurants, it's highly improbable that a restaurant identified solely as "chay" would avoid using any animal products in all its ingredients.
Useful Vietnamese phrases:
Excuse me. I am vegan. I do not eat any animal products, including meat, seafood, fish, fish stock, eggs, honey, or dairy products
(such as milk, yogurt, butter, cheese, or mayonnaise).
Tôi ăn chay. Tôi không ăn các loại thịt động vật (bò , lợn, gà, dê v.v..), các loại hải sản , nước mắm ,trứng gà , các sản phẩm sữa , thức ăn tráng miệng dừng gelatin , mật ong , nước lèo dùng thịt và cá