Best vegan restaurants and places with vegan menu options in Hong Kong, from Veda to Yat Tung Heen and Kyoto Joe
- Ahead of World Vegan Day on November 1, we ask Hong Kong residents where they go for their favourite plant-based snacks and meat-free meals
- The city has a range of full vegan restaurants, such as LN Coffee, as well as places that serve vegan dishes, such as Veda and Chilli Fagara
Transforming classic meat and dairy recipes into vegan dishes without compromising on taste and texture has been a major challenge for the plant-based food movement.
Vegan cafe LN Coffee (118 Second St, Sai Ying Pun, tel: 2858 3898) has done just that, with dishes normally found in cha chaan teng, traditional Hong Kong-style cafes serving affordable Western food at a frantic pace.
“LN Coffee has successfully ‘veganised’ Hong Kong’s staple desserts, such as egg waffles and the cha chaan teng French toast,” says Hong Kong resident Chantelle Sullivan.
Today she’s tucking into the cinnamon and apple flavoured French toast, made with vegan bread, oat milk, organic flour, peanut butter, cinnamon, agave and apple. An original French toast version is also available. Both come with oat milk tea.
It might surprise some that LN Coffee has created a crunchy-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside vegan version of what is traditionally a dairy-heavy recipe of egg and milk-soaked fried toast served dripping in butter.
Israeli Zen chef shares her food philosophy before Hong Kong monastery visit
Its secret sauce? Sweetened condensed oat milk, says one of the staff, plucking a tin from a shelf. The cafe also stocks a range of vegan produce.
“The barbecue pork rice with sunny-side-up eggs is also delicious,” says Sullivan of the dish served with a home-made toona sauce and which includes tofu, pumpkin, agave, vegetables and quinoa rice. “If you want something sweet, the mille crepe cakes are incredible.”
November 1 is World Vegan Day, a time to celebrate those whose philosophy excludes the consumption of animal products to limit animal cruelty and exploitation. It’s the main reason why animal-lover Sullivan went vegan three years ago.
“Trillions of animals are killed each year, animals crammed into small areas where many don’t see daylight … slaughter methods that value efficiency over minimising pain and suffering.”
09:00
‘Vegan dumpling queen’ an online hit with meatless recipes with a Malaysian twist
“Anyone contemplating a vegan lifestyle should read How Not to Die by Dr Michael Greger and Becoming Vegan by nutritionist Brenda Davis,” she says.
Sullivan’s partner, Hongkonger Jenghis Lui Chin-pang, is a recent convert.
“We love visiting new places and sharing vegan dishes,” says Lui. “We recently discovered Mayse Pizzeria (5-11 Woosung St, Jordan, tel 95352907). Its sourdough charcoal truffle pizza is so good.”
Lui says his “smooth move” to a vegan diet was motivated not just by his partner, but also by films such as Seaspiracy, the 2021 Netflix documentary spotlighting the impact of commercial fishing.
With climate change dominating global headlines, switching to a plant-based diet, the biggest way to reduce one’s impact on the planet makes sense – vegan diets result in less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use.
US-born, Hong Kong-based Andrea Richey did it in 2015. “For my health and for the health of the planet,” says Richey, executive director of the Hong Kong Shark Foundation.
At Hometown Dumpling (418 Queen’s Rd West, Sai Ying Pun, tel: 2803 0887) Richey orders favourites such as vegan dumplings and the “iron-rich” Shandong-style marinated kelp. “I also love the rice noodles smothered in peanut sauce.”
Mrs Bi, 72, and her 80-year-old husband, originally from China’s Shandong province, have spent decades operating this family-run favourite, serving up mostly meat dishes but with vegan options.
This is the complicated landscape vegans in Hong Kong must navigate. With few purely vegan restaurants to choose from, dining at places with vegan options is the next best thing.
Our jackfruit tikka masala with pickled pearl onions and kaffir lime cream is a crowd favourite
Sonalie Figueiras, founder of Green Queen, the city’s go-to platform for all things plant-based, agrees. “There are very few pure vegan restaurants left.”
For a spice hit, Figueiras heads to the Michelin Guide-recommended Chilli Fagara (7 Old Bailey St, Central, tel: 2796 6866) for mouth-numbing Sichuan dishes. It has vegan options such as chilli vinegar dumplings and crunchy lettuce cups.
Raul Tronco, executive chef at vegetarian/vegan restaurant Veda (Ovolo Central, 2 Arbuthnot Rd, Central, tel: 3755 3067) says vegetables get his creative juices flowing more than meat.
“Our jackfruit tikka masala with pickled pearl onions and kaffir lime cream is a crowd favourite,” says Tronco, a vegetarian himself. The recently added Indian taco dish made with aloo paratha tortilla, tempe achari, and avocado is also a hit.
Tam Tung, chef at Yat Tung Heen (Level B2, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Rd, Jordan, tel: 2710 1093) is adapting to changing times and tastes with a plant-based degustation menu featuring dishes such as double-boiled matsutake mushroom soup with cordyceps flower, morel mushroom, bamboo pith and assorted fungus, and deep-fried OmniPork-stuffed morel mushroom and pomelo peel, topped with black pepper sauce
“I’m amazed by the quality of alternative meat products,” says Tam. “It’s made it relatively easy to adapt traditional Chinese dishes into plant-based dishes.”
Adapting took time, but was worth it.
“Alternative meats release water in a different way to meat, so it was a process to develop recipes that maintain the same textural balance as the original dishes, says Tam. “But I’m pleased with our vegan and vegetarian menu items. They are very popular.”
More vegan recommendations
Sullivan loves Kindness Gather (8/F, Mody House, 30 Mody Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 5122 0223) for its tempura fried tofu with mango sauce and steamed beef balls with fresh yuba (tofu skin). “I didn’t like this dish when I ate meat but I love this.”
Figueiras recommends Africa Centre’s (12/F, 21 Hillwood Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 9260 6185) Ethiopian vegan buffet dinner for tasty wats (Ethiopian curry-like stews) and home-made injera (teff fermented flatbreads).
Kyoto Joe’s (23/F California Tower, 30-36 D’Aguilar St, Central, tel: 2804 6800) all-you-can-eat vegetarian/vegan menu (HK$530) is a must, says Richey. “The vegan sushi rolls are fantastic,” she says of the fungi rolls with black fungus, carrot, cucumber and miso sauce.
At Indian restaurant Woodlands, (with branches including 1/F, Dennies House, 20 Luard Rd, Wan Chai, tel: 2129 2188), Sullivan can’t resist the pani puri, eggplant curry and vegan mango lassi. “Its HK$188 (US$24) weekend lunch buffet is also great … the mushroom rogan josh is my favourite curry from the buffet.”
Sullivan and Lui rave about Veggie Kingdom’s (7, VIP Commercial Centre, 120 Canton Rd, Tsim Sha Tsiu, tel: 2366 3233) dim sum staples such as siu mai and har gow.
Richey’s burger cravings are satisfied at Veggie4Love (10/F, 11 Stanley St, Central, tel: 2177 9477). “I also love the laksa cha cha cha and the gado gado”.
Po Lin Yuen Vegetarian Food (604 Queen’s Rd W, Sai Ying Pun, tel: 2543 8981) “is a lovely hole-in-the-wall place run by the sweetest Buddhists,” says Richey. Its extensive takeaway menu includes black fungus with fried tofu and mixed vegetables and lotus root with mushroom and bean curd.
Mother Pearl has “addictive” boba tea drinks, says Figueiras. “They make everything in-house, including the boba and the vegan mylks … and their vegan mochi cookies are the bomb.”
Moono (shop B201-C02, B2/F, K11 Musea, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 6848 8375) makes the only vegan macarons in Hong Kong, says Sullivan. Tempting flavours include black sesame, yuzu sea salt and crème brûlée.
And there’s more …
Relatively new is Wanaka (8 King Sing St, Wan Chai, tel: 6080 8251), by the same team that opened The Park by Years (132 Yu Chau St, Sham Shui Po, tel: 5336 4000) – both serve vegetarian and vegan dishes, while Black Window (Man On Building, 79-85 Tai Po Road, Sham Shui Po, tel: 9747 8914) has a frequently changing blackboard menu of vegetarian and vegan dishes.
Pure vegan restaurant 2084 (5 Sha Tsui Path, Sai Kung, tel: 6420 8456) for Peking wraps, Rajasthani curry, malai kofta, momos, aloo gobi, and Thai larb wraps; and vegan private dining restaurant Sow Vegan (Hung Tat Industrial Building, 43 Hung To Rd, Kwun Tong, tel: 9029 3009) has gluten-free and raw options.
Spices (109 Repulse Bay Rd, Repulse Bay, tel: 2292 2821) has a vegan and raw vegan menu, while grab-and-go favourite Treehouse (locations including Shop 1, H Code, 45 Pottinger St, Central, tel: 3791 2277) is a hit for its sourdough flatbreads wraps, burgers and salad bowls.
