The best of Vegan Bangkok

A full day of tourist attractions in Bangkok can be hungry work. Luckily, finding vegan restaurants in Bangkok is easier than you’d think. Despite the Thai’s love of fish sauce, vegan alternatives can be found all over the city. With the help of a friend (who has the city’s sky train system down to a tee), I’ve pulled together a few of my favourite vegan Bangkok restaurants (and how to get to them) …
UPDATED IN JAN 2023

Veganerie

Address: Multiple locations across Bangkok
If vegans in Bangkok had a mothership, the Veganerie would be it. The chain is one of the original plant-based offerings in the city; they built their reputation on an incredible range of sweet treats, and more western-style menus.

Presentation is definitely the strong point of this Bangkok eatery. The restaurants all have very modern feels to them, themed with hastags and crawling vines just perfect for our little nature-loving souls. Their menus have progressed a lot since my first visit to them almost 10years ago – and now you’ll find pages of waffles, pancakes, milkshakes, as well as more traditional Thai foodie favourites.

May Veggie Home

Address: 738 Sukhumvit 101 Alley
This restaurant used to be conveniently located only a few minutes walk from Sukhumvit’s busy Soi Cowboy. However, with a boost in popularity, it has now moved to a large (less convenient – in my opinion) unit away for the more obvious tourist locations. Hankering for a traditional Thai dish? May Veggie Home serves all of the traditional Thai meat offerings you see around the city – but in vegan form.

I ordered so much stuff here that I couldn’t move. Please try The Kaeng Som (a Thai sour and spicy curry/soup) and the mushrooms wrapped in ‘bacon’. By far one of the top restaurants in Bangkok for authentic Thai food, regardless of whether you’re looking for vegan options or not.

May Kaidee Bangkok

Address: 54, 1 Soi Samsen 5, Wat Sam Phraya
May Kaidee’s original Bangkok unit was where I took my first ever Thai cooking class, and so the brand will always have a special place in my heart. A 15 minute walk from Khaosan, this is (dare I say it, one of the best restaurant in Bangkok for vegan food).

May Kaidee serves loads of traditional Thai dishes with tofu and soy meats replacements. Try anything that has their peanut sauce accompaniment. Their Massaman curry is also one of my favourites.

As an added bonus, May now has a restaurant Chiang Mai too – so you can hop from one city to the other without missing her flavoursome grub.

Baan Ying

Baan Ying’s location is pretty ominious, you’ll find it tucked away on the 4th floor of (what looks very much like) and abandoned mall. The restaurn is completely plant-based and has loads of Thailand’s favourite dishes – I tucked into fried chicken and basil.

Perhaps one of its most exciting menu pages is the drinks selection. It’s rare to find a vegan restaurant that puts a focus on all of the weirdly wonderful novelty drinks of South East Asia, but Baan Ying has taken this bull firmly by the horns. I sampled the electro pink plant-based milkshae. Goodness knows what kinds of food colouring were in it but, quite frankly, I didnt care!

Arawy Vegetarian Restaurant

Address: 152 Dinso Road – near Democracy Monument
Arawy is a casual street food located about 10-mins walk away from the Khao San area of Bangkok. The menu features a variety of traditional Thai dishes, including curry, stir-fry, and noodles, all made with plant-based ingredients. Standout menu items include their range of mock-meats (which look so realistic that travellers mistake the restaurant for a regular Thai meat vendor), and the gaeng khiao wan (green curry), made with a homemade curry paste and a variety of vegetables.

Potions are big and Arawy is a great option for those looking for a traditional and affordable vegan meal.

Broccoli Revolution

Address: 899 Sukhumvit Road
Broccoli Revolution is a casual vegan café and juice bar serving a variety of sandwiches, salads, and smoothies, as well as a selection of raw and gluten-free options. Standout menu items include the “Broccoli Burger,” made with a homemade patty of broccoli and other vegetables, and the “Green Juice,” made with a variety of fruits and vegetables. The restaurant also offers a selection of vegan desserts and ice cream.

If in doubt…

Two years living in Thailand taught me that it was just not in the culture to consider animal welfare alongside their food (I appreciate I’m generalising heavily here). Meat is, traditionally, a bit part of their diet. For that reason, I was often told something was vegetarian, only to find it had fish sauce in it. To avoid this, it’s worth learning how to explain that you don’t eat any animal products.

For a long time, the only way to guarantee an animal-free dish was to suggest that you were ‘kin jay’. This translates to ‘eat no animal products’. Being jay actually comes from the Chinese Buddhism ritual of not eating animal products. The practice is about keeping the body pure and clean and often negates things like onion (and other smelly foods) from the diet as well.

However, with the popularity for veganism amongst both tourist and locals on the up (especially in the big cities), the correct word for ‘vegan’ (Mạngs̄wirạti – pronounced, mung-sa-wee-rat) is widely accepted and understood.