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EXPAT LIFE
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Bo De Tam
Bo De Tam is a Buddhist-influenced restaurant - Bo De Tam means
‘The heart of Buddha’. Bo De Tam has two restaurants, one at 68
Pham Huy Thong street and another at 89 Nguyen Khuyen street.
With bamboo chairs and tables, Bo De Tam recalls the spirit of ancient
Vietnamese houses. Bo De Tam is famous for its swallow soup, which
brings customers the energy needed for feeling refreshed, and their
Arhat high class vegan meal, which contains the foods which are be-
lieved to have been eaten by Arhat thousands years ago. Although the
price here is a little bit high, it still attracts customers because of their
diversified and unique dishes. A veggie buffet is served all
day Friday.
Khai Tuong
Located at 112 Kim Ma, Khai Tuong is a family restaurant
with simple decoration and a small dining space, but its wide range of
food and reasonable prices make it well worth a try. Khai Tuong also
serves a buffet on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month with many deli-
cious dishes and free herbal tea and fresh fruit juices. The restaurant
has hot pot options, with Thai hot pot, mushroom hot pot and mixed
hot pots from VND200,000 to VND300,000. These hot pots can be a
great choice in winter.
Nang Tam
Located at 79A Tran Hung Dao, Nang
Tam restaurant is the oldest vegan restaurant in
Hanoi (established in 1995). The waiters and waitresses are el-
egant in yellow/brown uniforms. Nang Tam has an eclectic menu, and
one of the most delicious foods here, which you should not miss, is the
fried young tofu. The skin is crispy and the tofu is smooth and soft.
The prices here are reasonable, from VND30,000 for a meal.
Adzida
Located at 270 Nghi Tam, Adzida offers meals at higher prices than
other competitors. The restaurant is airy, tranquil and comfortable,
with Buddhism-related decorations. Adzida is noted for its regular
buffets. For VND150,000 guests can choose from more than 100 dishes.
Adzida is not just a good choice for daily meals, it is great for a party
too.
The Gioi Chay
Gioi Chay (The world of vegans) is the first Loving Hut restaurant in
Hanoi, located at 4/192 QuanThanh Str. The Gioi Chay provides the
freshest vegan dishes in Hanoi, and the prices are very reasonable. You
can have a good meal here for just VND30,000. The restaurant also of-
fers hot pots and banquettes,plus a unique vegan gateaux cake.
Recommended Restaurants
There are many veggie restaurants in Hanoi,
but these are my top 5:
as there are many fresh and easy-to-
find ingredients around, such as fresh
fruits, mushrooms, dried gains and spic-
es; however, many say it is essential to
have a creative mind and passion.
“There are many veggie cooking
books in book stores or online, but they
are for reference only. I mainly create
my own dishes from what I have and
can buy from the market nearby my
house. I cannot count how many dishes
I can cook, but I can be sure that they
are tastier than in pagodas and better
and fresher than at restaurants,” Tuong
Vi says confidently.
AT THE MARKET
Thu Thuy, a salesperson in Hom
market, has a vast number of plastic
bags containing ready-made ingredi-
ents for cooking veggie food. However
she says that ready-made ingredients
are not as good as the fresh ones be-
cause of their preservation chemicals:
“These materials are used for restau-
rants mainly due to their tasty flavours
and mouthwatering appearance. If you
cook at home, you should eat fresh
vegetables, bulbs, mushrooms, tofu
and fruits.”