Eat

Jen is vegan — no meat, no dairy, no animal products of any kind. So, now Dan eats vegan, too (well, mostly…he still braves the mercury and eats fish every now and then).

One of the most frustrating things for a vegan in the United States is trying to find a restaurant that serves a decent vegan meal. Walk into a restaurant that isn’t specifically dedicated to vegan fare, and your inquiry into what they can offer a non-animal-product-eater is often “nothing” or “well…there is the house salad.” Of course, you do occasionally get the pleasant surprise of a place that will modify a menu item or custom-create something unique, but these places are few and far between.

It isn’t a cake walk outside the States, either. Even in Buddhist countries like Thailand and Laos, meat reigns supreme. Toss in language barriers, and eating vegan is no small challenge.

As we travel about the globe seeking a decent vegan meal, we’ll offer our observations on restaurants we have visited, cuisine we have sampled, and recipes we have found.

We have also thrown in some restaurant reviews for the San Francisco Bay area, Portland, and Hawaii.

Cafe Moi Moi, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Cafe Moi Moi, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Cafe Moi Moi is located in a group of buildings on the road to the ticket booth for the Angkor temples, just a short distance from the ticket booth and park entrance. We stopped here for lunch. The only other customers were a few Japanese tourists. We ordered a mushroom dish cooked in banana leaves, an eggplant dish, fried morning […]

Le Tigre de Papier Restaurant, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Le Tigre de Papier Restaurant, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Le Tigre de Papier is located in the mob of other tourist-oriented restaurants, next to the Psar Chaa in the downtown area. There is a wide range of options on the menu, ranging from Khmer to Thai to Indian. We ordered two Indian thali plates – vegatarian. It was good in quantity, but not all that good in quality. The […]

Sugar Palm Restaurant, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Sugar Palm Restaurant, Siem Reap, Cambodia

We went here the first time for two reasons – we had just gotten into town and needed someplace to eat within walking distance of our hotel, and the Sugar Palm is an “Our Pick” in the Lonely Planet Guide. The main dining area is upstairs, and it’s decent enough. There’s a wooden balcony with outside seating, and the ceiling […]

Chamkar Restaurant, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Chamkar Restaurant, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Chamkar is located in the tourist restaurant block next to the Psar Chaa in the downtown area of Siem Reap. Chamkar is a vegetarian restaurant, which is what drew us there. We ate there on three occasions, having seven of their dishes. In addition to its focus on vegetarian cooking – a rarity in Cambodia – the plus of Chamkar […]

Flavors of India Restaurant, Battambang, Cambodia

Flavors of India Restaurant, Battambang, Cambodia

Flavors of India is located in the central business district of Battambang, on the west side of the Sangker River. It’s located on one of the half-streets – 2-1/2 street in this case – that are closer to being alleyways than streets. We have eaten here on three occasions, having the vegetarian thali plate each time. The food was good, […]

Center Cafe, Battambang, Cambodia

Center Cafe, Battambang, Cambodia

This restaurant is located on Street 3, which is one of the main drags in downtown Battambang. It’s a small place, and could easily be missed. In addition to being a restaurant, the place deals in tours, motorbike rental, and such. We went here for lunch, ordering vegetarian spring rolls and tom yam soup. The food was OK, I guess. […]

Nary’s Kitchen, Battambang, Cambodia

Nary’s Kitchen is located about a block west of the central market in Battambang. This is not the area in which most of the establishments catering to tourists are located, making Nary’s a bit off the track. This showed when we got there, as there were no other customers, the lights were off, and the staff was lying on the […]

Angkor Thom Restaurant, Battambang, Cambodia

Angkor Thom Restaurant, Battambang, Cambodia

Angkor Thom Restaurant is located on the same street as one of the two Smokin’ Pot restaurants and the Madison Pub. Angkor Thom has more Western selections than most places (veggie burgers, for example). It does not have as many Khmer and Thai options as most places (no spicy salads or tom yam, for example). It is definitely trying to […]

The White Rose, Battambang, Cambodia

The White Rose, Battambang, Cambodia

We asked Ka, the guy who runs our favorite corner store, for a recommendation on a new place to eat. He said the “Vital” restaurant across from the Chinese School. What we found there was The White Rose. I guess “vital” and “white rose” sound kinda the same, only different. This corner restaurant is a two story affair. The bottom […]

The Madison Corner Pub in Battambang

The Madison Corner Pub in Battambang

We went here for dinner, trying to expand our dining beyond our usual choices of The Smokin’ Pot and the Sanctuary Villa’s restaurant. There was a handful of Westerners sitting at some outside tables. There were no local customers. We sat inside. The menu had only three items that were vegetarian; and at US $4 a dish, they were all […]

Gecko Cafe, Battambang, Cambodia

Gecko Cafe, Battambang, Cambodia

This restaurant is located in central Battambang. The restaurant is on the second floor of a multi-service business – it also rents bicycles and motorcycles, and sells jewelry and other small items in a first-floor shop. We both had a veggie wrap sandwich, water, and a beer. Jen’s assessment of the sandwich was that, if she had gotten it in […]

Smokin' Pot Restaurant, Battambang, Cambodia

Smokin’ Pot Restaurant, Battambang, Cambodia

This restaurant advertises itself as also being a cooking school. There are actually two Smokin’ Pots in Battambang – the original restaurant, and one called Another Smokin’ Pot about a block away. During two stays in Battambang, totaling six weeks, the two Smokin’ Pots became our dining standard.  The combination of food quality, low cost, and friendly staff made it […]

Smile Restaurant, Kompong Cham, Cambodia

Smile Restaurant, Kompong Cham, Cambodia

This restaurant is located on the river front, next to the Monorom 2 VIP Hotel. It’s a small restaurant, contained inside the bottom floor of your standard SE Asian shophouse. The restaurant is run by the Buddhism and Society Development Association, so you have a lot of young folks running the place as they learn the trade – and doing […]

Mekong Crossing Restaurant, Kompong Cham, Cambodia

This place is located on the small river front strip of hotels and restaurants, near the Mekong Hotel. We ate breakfast and lunch here. The breakfast was OK – pretty standard stuff. For lunch, we had tofu burgers with fries (we had been looking to scratch the burger itch for quite a while). They were decent. So, the food may […]

Phimphone Restaurant, Wat Phu, Champasak, Laos

Phimphone Restaurant, Wat Phu, Champasak, Laos

This is a good restaurant that we lucked into, just outside the entrance to the Wat Phu ruins. We ordered a papaya salad and a spicy lemongrass and vegetable soup. They were among the best we’ve had in Laos and Thailand. The price was good at 52,000 Kip, which included a large BeerLao, a large bottle of water, and two […]

Great Restaurant in Ban Tad Fan, Bolaven Plateau, Laos

Great Restaurant in Ban Tad Fan, Bolaven Plateau, Laos

This roadside eatery is located at Kilometer marker 38 on Highway 23, east of Pakse, on the south side of the road, fifty meters or so west of the turn to the Tad Fan waterfall and Tad Fane Resort. It is one of the best joints we have encountered in Laos. The food is super good, the price is great, […]

A Good Restaurant in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

A Good Restaurant in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

We don’t know what this place is called, but the subtitle of its sign is, “Thai E-Sarn Lao Food.” It’s located at the southwest corner of the Huay Rang Nong reservoir, which is located in the northeast quadrant of the city, east of the airport. This is the only good restaurant we found in Ubon, and the number of locals […]

Vieng Sawan Restaurant, Vientiane, Laos

Vieng Sawan Restaurant, Vientiane, Laos

Vieng Sawan is a straight-forward, no-nonsense, high-volume eatery that is an obvious favorite with Laotian locals. It’s furnishings are basic tables and chairs in a single open space, and are strictly geared towards feeding. It is not a place with atmosphere – don’t take a date there for some romantic wooing. What it does have is decent food at a […]

Sticky Fingers Cafe and Bar, Vientiane, Laos

Sticky Fingers is located center mass of the touristy bars and restaurants near the riverfront of central Vientiane. You can toss a rock in any direction from its doorstep and hit another falang-oriented eatery. And, like all the other joints your rock might hit, it’s overpriced for what it delivers by at least two-fold. We had a vegetarian burger one […]

Fathima Restaurant, Vientiane, Loas

Fathima Restaurant, Vientiane, Loas

Fathima is located on the riverfront drag in central Vientiane. It serves Indian Food. Consequently, it has several vegetarian options, which is what drew us to the place. We both got a vegetarian meal of flat bread and various toppings. Jen, who has done a stint in India, thought it was very good. I also liked it, but without India […]

Ban Villaylac Restaurant, Vientiane, Laos

Ban Villaylac Restaurant, Vientiane, Laos

The food is very good here. They also make food that is Thai-hot when you say spicy, which is not the norm we have experienced in Laos (where Laotian spicy translates as Thai mild). This place had the best-tasting papaya salad we have had in Laos after three weeks of traveling through the country. The soups were super. In terms […]

Sanga Restaurant, Phonsavan, Laos

Sanga Restaurant, Phonsavan, Laos

Sanga Restaurant is located on the main drag of Phonsavan. We ate here three times, based upon a positive Lonely Planet review and the number of locals eating at the joint. It was a good choice. The food is good. There are vegetarian options. The pricing is decent (for example: spring rolls, spicy vegetable salad, and a large bowl of […]

Vongmany Restaurant, Nong Khiaw, Laos

Vongmany Restaurant, Nong Khiaw, Laos

This joint is located on the main drag, just across the bridge on the east side of the river. We have eaten at eight places in Laos so far, and this is hands-down the best. The prices are good. The food is good. The folks running the place are nice. Like most places in Thailand and Laos, the family lives […]

Eating in Luang Prabang, Laos

Eating in Luang Prabang, Laos

You will not see any individual restaurant reviews for Luang Prabang. That’s because, of the handful of restaurants we visited, not one was remarkable enough to warrant a review. They were all pretty much the same as to price and selection and quality. Food in Luang Prabang runs about $2.50 to $3.00 US per dish. That’s two to three times […]

Old Dutch Restaurant, Chiang Rai, Thailand

Old Dutch Restaurant, Chiang Rai, Thailand

This place is located on the tourist strip of Chiang Rai, along with all the other fleece-the-tourist places. It absolutely sucks. Avoid it. It is crazy expensive. Flip the menu, and everything is in the 200 baht and 300 baht range – and up.  For comparison, you can get a dinner for two, with beer, for the mid-200 baht range […]

Rim Nam Restaurant, Chiang Khong, Thailand

Rim Nam Restaurant, Chiang Khong, Thailand

We ate lunch here, and ordered a spicy mushroom salad and a vegetarian soup. One of the guys running the place understood vegetarian, and helped us with the selection. The food was decent, and the price was OK. We would eat here, again. The restaurant is near the river, and has a good view. This is also a guesthouse operation. […]

Riverside Restaurant, Lampang, Thailand

Riverside Restaurant, Lampang, Thailand

This place is owned by the same folks who own the nearby Riverside Guesthouse. It’s on the river, has a dining area and a bar, and has live bands. We ate here twice. The food is decent, and the price isn’t outrageous, although the charges are a bit higher than average. This place has the disadvantage of being in easy […]

Nong Beer Restaurant, Pai, Thailand

This place was like eating at a US restaurant where everything comes from Costco – just nuke it and serve it.  Not good stuff.  Like eating frozen dinners. This was a bit surprising, as we chose it because there were mostly locals eating there, which is usually a good indication.  This was one instance where that indicator failed us. We […]

Aroy One Baht Restaurant, Lampang, Thailand

Aroy One Baht Restaurant, Lampang, Thailand

This is easily one of the best all-around places at which we ate in a month in Thailand. Food quality was great. Vegetarian selection was great. Pricing was great. Service was great. And since this place was busy, busy with business from locals (we were the only foreigners there during both our visits), it should be no surprise that it’s […]