Ẩm Thực Chay: Delightful Vegan Cuisine in Đà Nẵng, Việt Nam

Ẩm Thực Chay | Vegan

🌏 Đà Nẵng, Việt Nam

Vegan Food in Vietnam?

As someone who eats mostly plants, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I accepted my friend Khải Hoàn’s invitation to visit his home country. Vietnam was entirely unknown to me; I hadn’t even discovered my favorite bánh mì stop yet! All I had to work with was Khải Hoàn’s compassionate promise to adhere to vegetarianism alongside me. 

But as it happened, we had very little to worry about.

Although many traditional Vietnamese dishes feature meat, in the cities, it’s not terribly uncommon to find vegan/vegetarian dining options. This may be due in part to the country’s large concentration of Buddhist devotees. While Buddhism isn’t intrinsically linked to vegetarianism, its first precept is to refrain from killing—hence the general lean towards plant-based eating.

Tip: If you’re hoping for a plant-based meal in Vietnam, seek out restaurant and dish names with the word “Chay.” (Vietnamese for “vegetarian”!)

Ẩm Thực Chay: A Vegetarian Gem

Our experience at Ẩm Thực Chay was exceptional in more ways than one. To dig into what made the hospitality so special, read this article.

Even beyond the hospitality, though, my friend Khải Hoàn and I were thoroughly impressed with this restaurant. It’s a humble gathering place on the main floor of a family home, set with long tables for a communal feel. 

The menu is quite large, which makes it all the more impressive that every item is plant-based. What’s even more wonderful is that here, going vegetarian did not mean a sacrifice of quality or flavor. In fact, our meal was so vivid and flavorful that it felt soulful and healing.

Beverage & Food Review

To start, I sipped on a cup of “Detox” water to cleanse my aching throat. The fresh lemongrass and ginger were pungent, cutting through my heat-exhausted mental haze to work wonders on my symptoms. 

We listened for a while to the familiar coziness of a family bustling in the kitchen. Soon, they served our cashew salad and mushroom vermicelli, setting both dishes between us to share.

The cashew salad (Salad Hạt Diều) was a bounty of color. Its crisp lettuce, variety of peppers, peanut sauce, and crushed cashews made it a robust dish that outpaced many house-salad types. As with most of the eateries in Vietnam, the produce tasted markedly fresh, and the flavors were bright. Ultimately, the salad’s only fault was the veggie-to-sauce ratio; the peanut sauce felt excessively dominant. 

On the other hand, our mushroom vermicelli (Bún Nam Dặc Biệt) was a dish worth calling home about. The silky tofu and fresh noodles augmented aromatic plant-based “meat” slices and lion’s mane mushrooms, which themselves were as rich and decadent as butter. Basil leaves accented the broth, enhancing the flavor as they continued to steep.

To demonstrate just how delicious the mushroom vermicelli was: I ordered another round as takeaway!

Closing Thoughts

Altogether, Ẩm Thực Chay delivered a wholesome experience when Khải Hoàn and I stopped by. I have since followed them on Facebook, where they regularly post photos that further confirm their heartfulness. 

The food here was sensational. Even the next day’s reheated soup made my taste buds sing! My only markdown is for the peanut sauce on the salad, which felt dense based on its proportion. 

Such exquisite welcomes and flavors seem to be ubiquitous in Vietnamese culture. Even by forgoing the country’s meat dishes, visitors are sure to be wowed with the plant-based options available.

Ẩm Thực Chay was only one such example for us, but those other reviews are being saved for another day. (>ᴗ•) !

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