There is lots to choose from in the food capital of Vietnam – Hoi An.  Based on my own experience, Hoi An supplies a far superior cuisine than any other city in Vietnam – a bold statement I can back up!  Eating vegan and vegetarian is easy in Vietnam and given my personal preference as a vegetarian, I have listed specific dishes which are especially for veggies!  Here are my personal pics.

Western/Tourist focused

La Plage beach club.

An Bang Beach – An Bang beach is the local beach, away from all of the resort-going tourists at Cua Dai Beach.  Beautiful, quiet, pristine.  We had the entire beach to ourselves more than once and the water is amazingly warm.  Otherwise, on the weekends it’s a great spot to connect to and network with other long-term residents.

Directions: take your bike 2.5 kms along Hai Ba Trung St away from town, stay on that road till you hit the beach, it’s a straight line.  Take the left hand side car park, it’s free if you’re a guest at La Plage.  Walk to the right along the beach and you will pass banana leaf restaurants.  La Plage it the last on the right.  Say hi to Sam and Dennis for us.

At La Plage you will find the perfect beach side café setting, heaps of lounge chairs, great music, awesome views and the best French Fries (35,000VND) in Vietnam for sure.  Try the tofu curry with raisins, cashew nuts, coconut milk and rice (90,000VND) and ask Sam about her chocolate stash from San Fran.  You can expect frozen snickers and Nutella baguettes. Mmmm, Nutella…. A wonderful hangout any day of the week.

Good Morning Vietnam – Italian Cuisine by a real Italian chef!

102 Nguyen Thai Hoc St

Wonderful fresh, hand made pasta in the middle of Vietnam, who would have thought!?  It’s a great break from traditional food if you’ve been travelling for awhile.  Try the pumpkin and fetta ravioli (135,000VND) or the minestrone (60,000VND).  The wine selection is one of the best in Hoi An.  Say hello to Alberto from us.

River Lounge

35 Nguyen Phuc Chu – across the river on An Hoi.

Great ambiance in their upstairs lounge.  The best café latte (38,000VND) in Hoi An, as voted by Fiona who has tried them all!  Try the chocolate croissants and lemongrass crème brulee.  Have desert overlooking the lights of the old town.

Streets International

17 LeLoi Street

Streets International is a non-profit organization founded by Sandra and Neal.  The restaurant is set up as a 5 star training facility for disadvantaged young people from Hoi An and surrounding areas to come and learn hospitality skills including food preparation, serving and front of house.  The food is wonderful and the atmosphere in the café is so happy it’s contagious!  While the menu is largely meat orientated, the kitchen staff are always happy to do vegetarian twists on menu items.  The bread and butter pudding (45,000VND)  is a must try for those who miss their Nan’s home cooked deserts.  Eat heartily and know you are supporting some wonderful young people to pursue their dreams of international accreditation in a hospitality career.

Morning Glory

106 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street

This is a lovely restaurant frequented by the tour bus crowd, so we avoided it for two months, except to go and indulge in their crème caramel (18,000VND), which is one of the best I’ve ever had.  A fellow volunteer introduced us to the fresh rice paper rolls (45,000VND) which are the best I’ve tasted in Vietnam – the rice paper is made on the spot, not the re-hydrated kind served at most restaurants.

Cargo Club

107-109 Nguyen Thai Hoc

Head to this hang out if you’re hanging for some real, unsweetened fresh baked bread.  Their veggie burger is righteous, eggs benedict are perfect for upset tummies.  Lipton tea with sweet milk was also a favourite of ours.  All breakfasts are served with a generous basket of fresh baked bread rolls, fruit salad, tea or coffee and juice – definitely value for money!

Local Eateries  (AKA – cheap eats!)

Café 43

Trần Cao Vân St

This is a little local café, a favourite haunt of many of the non-Vietnamese residents in Hoi An.  Cheap, great food.  Highly recommend the vegetarian hot pot (60,000VND), it’s not on the menu, so ask the owners.  It is a generous serve for two people.  Also ask for some instant noodles.  This hot pot comes with tofu, vegies and salad which you roll up yourself in rice paper rolls.

Thien Quoc - Vegetarian Restaurant

130 Tran Cao Van St

This has to be the cheapest vegan eatery in the world!  The food is 100% vegan and most meals are 10,000 VND (around 30 cents).  You can get rice with fresh cooked veggies or a bowl of pho (noodle soup), cao lau and other local dishes.  Most come with faux meats, so don’t be scared to eat them, it’s typically textured vegetable protein or a variation on tofu.  They also serve fresh soy milk which is wonderfully nutty in flavour.

Mr Tung – hokker style, out door restaurant by the river

Cnr of Le Loi and Bach Dang St

This Sinagpore-style hokker centre is home to about a dozen tiny restaurants.  Each bench belongs to a different owner.  Although the menus are identical, the food quality is not – it depends entirely on who is cooking it.  We recommend Mr Hung, having tried many different benches.  Lien is the resident chef and she is both delightful and a superb chef.  We recommend the chicken rice (25,000VND), and you can ask Lien to make it with tofu instead.  Please say a big hi to her from us, she will laugh heartily if other people also order ‘chicken rice, no chicken’!

Street vendors

The following vendors wander the streets of Hoi An selling their food, which should not be viewed as inedible or dubious in any way – it’s all fabulous food which we eat nearly every day and have not had any tummy problems with.

Mr. Popcorn Man

You will hear Mr Popcorn Man before you see him.  Listen out for a  Happy Birthday instrumental soundtrack.  Then you will see him with his mobile popcorn making cart, strung with inflatable toys.  The pop corn is warm, made on the spot, and drizzled with his secret caramel sauce.  Bags range from 2000-5000 VND, depending on how much of a tourist you look like!

Mr. Banh Bao

Mr. Banh Bao’s cart features the best of disco music, and they are the real tracks, not remakes!  So you can eat your Banh Bao and have a groove at the same time.  Banh Bao is a steamed sweet bread dumpling traditionally filled with pork and vegies or other meat concoctions.  Vegetarian Banh Bao are denoted with an orange dot on top.  If you are around town for a few days, let the vendor know and place an order for the next day.  Be sure to go back and buy your order though, as they will make it up especially for you.  Pay around 3000VND per banh.

Mrs Tofu Desert

This little lady is a little more difficult to locate as she calls out her product in Vietnamese as she walks around the streets of Hoi An.  She carries her portable restaurant on her shoulders and sets up shop wherever she finds a customer.  It is a silken tofu desert, slightly sweet with a thin caramel sauce and grated ginger on top.  You eat it on the spot and return the bowl to her.  She charges only 2000VND, no matter who you are.

Mrs. Crème Café

This is a wonderful desert cart selling jelly-type triangles and a Vietnamese spin on the crème caramel.  Instead, you get a custard topped with a thin coffee sauce.  The jellies are multi-flavoured and multi-colour.  Deserts range from 2000-5000VND.

COMMENTS

Have you been to Hoi An recently and have something to add?  Please feel free to keep this post updated with the most recent information.  All comments welcomed below!

Tags: An Bang Beach, Banh Bao, breakfast, Cafe 43, cafe latte, Cargo Club, cheap food, creme brulee, creme caramel, Cua Dai beach, eating, Good Morning Vietnam, Hai Ba Trung St, Hoi An, hot pot, Italian food, La Plage, Morning Glory, Mr. Tung, Popcorn, restaurant, River Lounge, Streets International, vegan, Vegetarian, Vietnam

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