Why We Started ComChay.com

ComChay is a small web magazine started by one editor. The name comes from the Vietnamese “cơm chay”: cơm means rice or a meal, chay means vegetarian.

Dishes including tofu in sauce and stir-fried eggplant served at a monastery in China — Buddhist dishes at Jiangpu monastery in Jiangsu, China, photographed in 2006. Photo: Shi Annan / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Why we started

Across Asia there are vegetarian and temple-food cultures rooted in faith and daily life. We want to introduce them slowly, starting from what the editor finds interesting, wants to taste, or wants to visit.

A big part of why this site exists is an experience in Vietnam. While volunteering there to help build an elementary school, I ate at a vegetarian temple-style restaurant that is said to be popular with monks.

The food was incredibly delicious, and the place also let me feel the warmth of the people very strongly. I remember thinking, “I wish Japan had a place like this: easy to walk into, where you can pick your own dishes buffet-style.” That thought became one of the main reasons I started ComChay.

Cover image: A vegetarian meal served at a Buddhist temple. Photo: Andrea Schaffer from Sydney, Australia / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

What we care about

We do not argue whether vegetarian or meat-eating is better. We respect each culture.
This is not a health-food shop, and we avoid medical claims.
We check information against official sources and show the date. Details change, so please re-check before visiting.

A good place to begin: What Is Cơm Chay?

Budai statue flanked by large lotus flowers at a pagoda in Vietnam — A Budai statue and large fabric lotus flowers at the edge of the lotus pond at Chùa Dư Hàng in Hải Phòng, northern Vietnam. Photo: BigDom / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons