We were so excited to travel to Vietnam, for many reasons: the culture, the iconic sights, visiting Hanoi's bustling Old Quarter... but top of our list, of course, was trying some amazing, authentic Vietnamese food. Over the course of three weeks we would travel throughout Vietnam (thrown slightly off course by a typhoon... but more on that later!) Where else to start than the incredible city of Hanoi? Visiting the night markets, Hoàn Kiếm Lake, the Water Puppet Theatre, trying to cross the road through thousands of motorbikes... everything about Hanoi was so different to anything we'd experienced before, and so incredible to encounter too.
Eating Vegan in Hanoi
"If there were only one place to eat, I would pick anywhere in Northern Vietnam where you get the French and Vietnamese culinary fusion." - Jeannie Mai
We expected that Hanoi might be fairly good in terms of the availability and quality of the vegan food: it is a busy city that is popular with tourists, which tends to increase the plant-based options. However, what we weren't expecting to find was some of the best vegan food we'd had so far: Mike even discovered one of his favourite dishes here! In vegetarian and vegan restaurants, as well as some restaurants that serve meat too, the vegan options are of an extremely high quality. Our top restaurants here include a mixture of Vietnamese and Western style places, and some of the most incredible mock meat we had tried so far! Read on, then watch our video at the bottom of the page, to find out our top places to eat vegan in Hanoi, Vietnam.
1st: Thiên Trà Đạo
29 Ng. 26 P. Võ Văn Dũng, Chợ Dừa, Đống Đa, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Thiên Trà Đạo has a very special place in our hearts. It is the place where Mike fell in love... with bún chả! Seriously, this remained one of his top things we ate throughout the entire three months we spent travelling through Southeast Asia. You'll already know about this incredible Vietnamese dish if you've been following our videos or blogs - now we're here to say that Thiên Trà Đạo is absolutely our favourite place to eat vegan in Hanoi.
We headed to this restaurant specifically to try the bún chả, but this vegan restaurant and artisan tea house has a menu full of plant-based versions of traditional Vietnamese delights. Seriously, from the way our bún chả tasted and was presented, we'd happily try every dish on this menu - twice! One thing that really impressed us was the vegan seaweed sausage: it was hands down some of the best mock sausage meat we've ever had. Seriously, the flavours, the textures: this bún chả was incredible all round.
The restaurant itself is a very welcoming, calming, peaceful space. With a choice of floor seating and chairs, lots of cosy nooks and friendly, helpful staff you're sure to feel at home here. Even though the restaurant felt very luxurious, the prices were really reasonable. We paid ₫55,000 per portion of bún chả (approximately £1.91, €2.16 or $2.33). There were so many fresh vegetables in it, as well as the amazing homemade vegan sausage - it was such amazing value for money, we wish we could go back for more!
2nd: Chayfood
66 P. Nguyễn Hữu Huân, Hàng Bạc, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
We visited Chayfood for the first time after a recommendation from some fellow vegetarian and vegan travellers we'd met on a cruise of Ha Long Bay. We fancied a tasty, comforting meal after a long day of travelling, and Chayfood was the absolute perfect place. Their menu is vegetarian and vegan ('chay' translates at 'vegetarian') and the vegan dishes are made very clear. They offer a whole array of different Asian and Western dishes, including soups, noodle dishes, curries, as well as healthy drinks and desserts.
Top of both of our lists to try, though, was the pesto pasta. This is one of our favourite dishes to cook back home, and so we're usually quite wary of ordering it. But we were really craving this dish, and were so glad that we chose it. Chayfood's pesto pasta was honestly food heaven. It was so comforting, and everything we needed in that moment (did I mention that Hanoi, a month into our trip, was were I got my first ever bout of culture shock?) The pasta was topped with sautéed mushrooms: there is no word to describe these mushrooms other than INCREDIBLE. They were crunch, crispy, tasty, and to die for: I just wish there had been more of them! Honestly, this was the best pesto pasta I've had outside of Europe: the spaghetti wasn't too wet (a common problem!), the portion was great - genuinely, everything about this was fantastic!
The restaurant is really nicely decorated: it felt very comfortable and homely. The staff were lovely too, very attentive and helpful - and the food speaks for itself. Overall, it was relatively inexpensive: the pesto pasta cost ₫75,000 per bowl (approx. £2.64, €2.97 or $3.18). We thought this was excellent value for such a big portion of beautifully presented and incredibly tasty pasta.
3rd: Hương Việt
13 P. Hàng Cá, Hàng Bồ, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
If you've been following our journey, you'll recognise Hương Việt from our blog in which we tried world-famous Hanoi dish, pho. We'd been really excited to try a plant-based pho from the moment we decided to travel to Vietnam (it hasn't spread around the world for nothing!)
The plant-based pho at Hương Việt did not disappoint. The traditional variants of the dish are beef or chicken: therefore we tried their vegan mock beef pho and the vegan mock chicken one too. Both were incredible: they were so flavoursome, packed full of veg, tofu, noodles, that amazing mock meat, and a really tasty broth. The portions were super generous, it felt like we might never reach the bottom of those bowls! We had some of Hương Việt's fried spring rolls on the side too - another really hearty portion, and another very tasty dish too. The crunch of them, the fresh veg inside, the soy dip... spring roll paradise!
The service was excellent, and the prices at Hương Việt were really good too. The pho cost us ₫65,000 per bowl (approx. £2.29, €2.58 or $2.75). This was amazing for such a hearty and wholesome meal. The fried spring rolls cost only ₫55,000 for this huge portion (approx. £1.49, €2.18 or $2.33). We were very full and very happy with what we'd spent. We were also really impressed with the number of vegan options on the menu, and the fact that the ingredients of the mock meat was clearly listed. They serve traditional, meat dishes here too, so it's an ideal place to eat with friends and family who aren't looking for a plant-based meal. It is also very central, located in the Old Quarter - so you'll find it easy to drop by!
4th: Tacos
45 P. Trúc Bạch, Trúc Bạch, Ba Đình, Hà Nội, Vietnam
We went to Tacos for lunch one day when we were feeling a little homesick and in need of some comfort food. We both absolutely love tacos, so when we saw that they had a dedicated vegan page on their menu we hot footed it straight there!
Tacos is a welcoming, family run restaurant with a fun vibe. It is situated on the edge of Hồ Tây (the biggest freshwater lake in Hanoi), so the walk there is very pleasant. We were really impressed with their vegan menu, which includes tacos (of course), nachos, enchiladas and burritos, all made to a fully vegan recipe. I ordered one mushroom taco and one corn taco (though as you can see in the photo, what arrived was two corn tacos). The tacos were supposed to come with your choice of filling, lettuce, and guacamole. Sadly, my corn tacos came without guacamole, and the restaurant was so busy that I didn't manage to get this rectified. So they were a little dry, and the filling didn't have the depth of flavour I'd hoped for. This could probably be mitigated by choosing a different dish, but in a restaurant called Tacos of course I'm trying their signature dish!
The other thing to say about Tacos is that their prices were much higher than anything else we ate in Hanoi. Hard shell vegan tacos were ₫50,000 each. For the usual three-taco meal you'd be looking at ₫150,000 (approx. £5.28, €5.95 or $6.35). The tacos are the cheapest dish on the vegan menu; the most expensive is the vegan enchiladas, which come in at ₫190,000 (approx. £6.69, €7.54 or $8.05). So overall, if you're looking for cheap plant-based dishes, this probably isn't the place you're looking for; but if you're searching for vegan comfort food, by all means give Tacos a try.
Where is your favourite place to get plant-based food in Hanoi? Are there any new places or old favourites that we've missed? Leave us a comment to let us know (and others who might be visiting too!)
Recommendations
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Where should I stay?
Hanoi has so many places to stay, but if you want to be close to the action we'd recommend staying in the Old Quarter, where you'll find loads of choice regardless of the accommodation type you prefer.
Hanoi Little Town Hotel is situated in the heart of the city, with a beautiful French Colonial style of decoration, and friendly service that gets consistently high reviews from its guests. If you'd prefer the atmosphere and vibe of a hostel, Hanoi Buffalo Hostel offer both privates and dorm rooms - with a pool, free walking tours and the occasional free beer on offer too!
Tours & Experiences
If you've got a limited time in Hanoi, but want to catch some important sights, this Hanoi Highlights Half-day Tour includes air conditioned transportation between Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, the Temple of Literature and more.
If that's not quite for you, or if you want to explore Vietnam a bit more widely, why not try one of the top-rated Viator tours below?
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