How to Eat Vegetarian in Vietnam, According to the National Tourism Authority’s Official Site

Source: vietnam.travel (official site of the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism) “A vegetarian guide to Vietnam” (no date given; original in English)

A dish served at the Bo De vegetarian restaurant in Hue, Vietnam. Photo: David McKelvey from Brisbane, Australia / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Summary

Use the word “chay” as your cue. Useful phrases include “Tôi ăn chay” (I am vegetarian), “không thịt” (no meat) and “không nước mắm” (no fish sauce).
Buddhists traditionally eat vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month; restaurants expand vegetarian menus and markets stock more vegetarian ingredients.
Recommended dishes include banana-flower salad, braised tofu in tomato sauce, stir-fried morning glory, mushroom rice pancakes and eggplant with scallion oil, with regional differences in places like Hoi An and Hue.
To find places, search maps for “quán chay” or “cơm chay” and look around pagodas.
Vegetarian buffets are cheap (the page gives about US$1–2 as a guide) and most restaurants have a vegetarian section.

The entrance and a table of a vegetarian eatery near a temple in Cam Lộ, Vietnam — The entrance and seating of a vegetarian eatery beside a temple in Cam Lộ, Vietnam. Photo: Phương Huy / CC0 1.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Editors’ comment

It is interesting that a national tourism body explains the lunar-calendar vegetarian custom to visitors. It largely matches How to Find Cơm Chay in Vietnam and backs it up.

“Không nước mắm” (no fish sauce) is especially practical for vegetarians since fish sauce is hard to spot. Prices are the page’s rough guide and may change.

* This page is the editors’ summary of the article above, with our commentary. Please check the original for details and exact figures.