Delicate courses in Hum Vegetarian. Photo by Hum Vegetarian

Coming to Ho Chi Minh City, you will set your feet on the land that offers the best dining spaces for plant-based people. There are hundreds of vegetarian eateries and restaurants across the city, however, if you seek not only quality food but also a pleasant space to rest your body and mind, these restaurants listed below will fulfill your experiences.

1. Hum Vegetarian

Open space in Hum Vegetarian – District 2. Photo by Hum Vegetarian

Address:

Café & Restaurant: 32 Vo Van Tan, W.Vo Thi Sau, D.3, HCMC

Lounge & Restaurant: 2 Thi Sach, W.Ben Nghe, D.1, HCMC

Garden & Restaurant: 32, D10 St., W.Thao Dien, Thu Duc City, HCMC

Opening hours: 10 a.m – 10 p.m

Fanpage:

Phone: 0 89 918 9229

Cuisine: Vietnamese, Southeast Asian, Fusion

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Drinks

Photo by Hum Vegetarian

The first thing that impresses you when entering Hum (in all three locations) is the tranquil space that closely connects to nature, especially the lotus flowers. The name ‘Hum’ originates from the Sanskrit mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum”, which means “the Jewel in the Lotus”. So the word ‘hum’ could be understood as ‘lotus’, which is the symbolic Buddhist flower and also is Vietnamese national flower.

The restaurants offer the state of mind, the peacefulness that comes from the delicate, nurturing food, and also from the nature-human connection. Hum creates the atmosphere for customers to have the chance in the present moment with the beloved one, with personal sensations, and being aware of the nature of the food they eat.

Coming here, you can expect a Southeast Asian-inspired plant-based menu, in which Vietnam cuisine’s spirit is central. The harmony of the dishes comes from the thoughtful combinations of local fresh ingredients, the just-right spices for the dishes, the balance of tastes, and the aesthetic decoration. Hum guarantees the freshness and originality of vegetables and ingredients, no MSG is used and staying true to our eco-friendly and health-centered principles.

Photo by Hum Vegetarian

Besides the foods, special clear drinks here are the perfect accompaniment for the meal. They are mostly detox drinks made from mineral water mixed with fresh herbs and/or seasonal flowers and fruits.

1. Prem Bistro & Cafe

Cozy space of Prem Bistro. Photo by Prem Bistro

Address:

204 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City 700000 Vietnam

Opening hours: 9 a.m – 10 p.m

Fanpage:

Phone: 028 6279 9920

Cuisine: Indian, Vietnamese, Asian, Mediterranean, Fusion, Western, African, Mexican

Meals: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner & Drinks

Cheesy Baked Mushroom Rice Bowl. Photo by Prem Bistro and Cafe

Prem is notable and distinctive from its colorful bohemian interior design to its unique dishes in a vast menu.

Introducing themself as the home for avid travelers, and they seriously meant it! The menu in Prem is various and specially selected dishes from across the globe. If you want universal Western cuisine, Prem offers you various selections of soups (such as pumpkin and vegetable soup), salads, bean-based burgers, pizzas, appetizers (such as garlic, pesto bread), and side dishes (such as baked sweet potato).

Exotic food from all over the world including:

Indian plates like Dal soup (Indian lentil soup), Paneer tikka (chunks of paneer marinated in spices and grilled in a tandoor), samosa (fried or baked pastry with a savory filling, including ingredients such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas), Chana masala (chickpea in spicy onion tomato gravy);

Medditean cuisine such as legumes based- soup and salads;

Middle east dishes, including vegan falafel, hummus dishes, banana Kofta; and even African ones such as shakshouka (eggs poached in tomato sauce).

More popular choices are Thai food with many types of curries, pad Thai, and Mexican ones such as enchiladas, quesadilla, tacos.

Grilled eggplant rolls with spinach and cashew nuts. Photo by Prem Bistro and Cafe

Prem dedicates a vast wall to showing memories of customers and tourists coming and visiting the restaurant. The space is cozy and casual but peaceful with the warm paint color and family-like atmosphere. They offer three different dining areas, including an outdoor terrace with garden seats, an open-air area with high tables and chairs with no air conditioner, and floor-seating sofas and cushions with air conditioners.  

1. Chay Garden Vegetarian

Dinner in Chay Gardern. Photo by Chay Garden

Address:

Opening hours: 10 a.m – 10 p.m

Fanpage:

Phone: 089 885 56 67

Cuisine: Asian, Vietnamese, Western, Fusion

Meals: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner & Drinks

Baby morning glory with seaweed and white sesame. Photo by Chay Garden

Chay garden is in the center of Ho Chi Minh city, a convenient place for escaping the bustling city life. It’s a spacious restaurant with a vast garden and an in-house dining space. Stepping inside Chay garden, the city life will leave behind the door, you will slowly steep into a relaxing mode by the gently quiet garden (customers keep their volume loud enough within the table, so the place is busy but relatively quiet), good table service and delicious food.

Dedicating to making the dishes that well-preserved the nutritional content of each ingredient and its authentic flavors doesn’t mean Chay Garden compromises on the tastes. The beauty of each ingredient will shine within the harmony of the whole, each ingredient is interdependent to others, yet help complete the whole dining experience. They deliver a diverse, flavorful collection of courses with a focus on Vietnamese and Asian cuisine.

Glass jelly sweet soup & Water chestnut & lotus seeds sweet soup. Photo by Chay Garden

The should-try plate is ‘baby morning glory with seaweed and white sesame’. This dish is one of the creative plates featuring the rustic and local common ingredient, morning glory, the familiar ingredient of many Vietnamese generations. The simplicity of morning glory is kept intact and is further transformed creatively into a delicate and much more nutritious version. Chay Garden uses the baby morning glory instead of the grown ones and mixes them with the creamy sesame sauce for the perfect tropical refreshing salad.

You should also try their Vietnamese dessert menu, in which the ‘glass jelly sweet soup and ‘water chestnut & lotus seeds sweet soup’ are the featuring ones.

1. Here & Now Vegetarian

Rustic Vietnamese meal in Here & Now. Photo by Here & Now Vegetarian

Address 1:

Here & Now vegetarian restaurant & coffee:74/1 Phạm Viết Chánh, phường 19, quận Bình Thạnh.

Opening hours: 7a.m – 9:30 p.m

Phone: 028 2253 8183

Address 2:

Here & Now vegetarian open kitchen & chill: 220/12 Nguyễn Trọng Tuyển, phường 8, quận Phú Nhuận.

Opening hours: 9 a.m – 9:30 p.m

Phone:  (028) 6292 6669

Fanpage:

Cuisine: Asian, Vietnamese

Meals: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner & Drinks

Dinning space in Here & Now vegetarian restaurant & coffee. Photo by Here & Now Vegetarian

Two locations of Here & Now offer two styles of dining, one in Binh Thanh District is spacious and formal, another one in Phu Nhuan District is cozy and casual. However, in both places, the natural-connecting element is centric in the design of their dining space. The open kitchen space in Phu Nhuan District will bring you the feeling of a local, cozy small late-dining place in Japan, ones that you see in the Midnight Diner series on Netflix.

Simplicity and rustic are the keywords in describing the cuisine style here. The menu offers selected authentic Vietnamese and some Asian dishes (Japanese and Thailand). The spirit of each dish is kept intact to its origin and be prepared as simply as possible. The menu is large enough to satisfy your food’s preference but small enough to keep you from being overwhelmed by options.

Vegetable Brown Rice. Photo by Here & Now Vegetarian

The must-try Vietnamese dishes in Here & Now are Mushroom Spring Rolls and Steamed Vegetable Brown Rice. This dish contains five main ingredients, which includes nutritious organic brown rice (they use the red variant of brown rice, which is rich in antioxidant content, fiber and packed with B1, B6), simple local vegetables such as carrot, broccoli, green beans, and the key ingredient, lotus seed. The use of five ingredients within the dish is based on the Oriental study of energy in food. Five ingredients represent five elements: fire, water, wood, earth, and metal.

Another noticeable dish is plant-based Ramen. Once started, you cannot resist the natural sweetness of the soup, which is full of flavors, creamy, hearty, and not as heavy as the meat-based version. If you don’t want eggs, kindly tell the chef when ordering this dish.

1. Zeroism Cafe

Peaceful space in Zeroism. Photo by Zeroism Cafe

Address:

50 Nguyễn Cừ, Thao Dien, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City 700000 Vietnam

Opening hours: 9 a.m – 7:30 p.m

Fanpage:

Phone: 081 916 8368

Cuisine: Asian, Vietnamese, Western, Fusion

Meals: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Pastries & Drinks

Vegan cinnamon rolls. Photo by Zeroism Cafe

Zeroism is an ideal cafe and light dining place that features both Western and Vietnamese cuisine, especially their vegan cafe and vegan pastry menu. Coming here, you can expect a cafe that is suitable for working and/or relaxing purposes, knowing that the customers around will keep the space quiet.

The name shows its core value, striving to make zero impact on the surrounding community and the environment. They deliver 100% vegan products, from food to bakery and beverages using selected fresh local ingredients.

Photo by Zeroism Cafe

As a cafe, they offer a wide selection of healthy drinks, including slow-pressed juices, smoothies, kombucha, fruit teas, coffee, and vegan-milk based beverages. The bakery menu is various, which offers signature vegan sweets to handcrafted wholegrain sourdough such as baguettes, burger buns, bagels, sandwiches. Many brunch dishes, including poke bowls, burgers, and main dishes such as spaghetti, rotini, salads are also on their menu.

Selections of Sourdough Vietnamese Banh My are interesting fusion dishes to try in Zerosim, as they use sourdough instead of the traditional Vietnamese baguette while keeping the authentic Vietnamese fillings.

Each place listed above will bring you a distinctive dining experience, but they are surely among the best plant-based places in Ho Chi Minh City. Enjoy your healthy meal!