Chiang Mai, Thailand: A Veggie Paradise

Our adventures began in Chiang Mai, a small city in northern Thailand.  We met here on a surprisingly chilly February morning. The great thing about Chiang Mai is that, aside from its numerous cultural sites, it is a fantastic place for vegetarian travellers.  

We reckon there are more than 40 vegetarian or vegan restaurants around the city.  We know that Thai cuisine is diverse and delicious - but we had a specific mission: to find the best vege pad thai and tom yum dishes in all of Chiang Mai.  

Sadly, we didn't get to experience all 40+ vege restaurants.  Partly this was because we found fantastic food at some places and had to go back to them, and partly because we just ran out of time.

Taste from Heaven

We visited the Taste from Heaven Vegetarian Restaurant twice during our stay.  The food here is magnificent - and Mr Herbivore  especially recommends the Mushroom Satay (his culinary highlight of the trip!).  

We ate well here, with delicious pad thai, spring rolls, and Mrs Herbivore's obligatory tom yum as well as the legendary mushroom satay.  We weren't so thrilled with the deep fried mushrooms, which were a bit oily for our taste - but some may prefer that.  

The restaurant has wifi, it was clean and the service was friendly.  Mr Herbivore was very happy with the coffee here, although it was a bit strong for Mrs Herbivore's tastes. 

Overall though, we thoroughly recommend this restaurant, scoring it a 9/10.  One note of caution however is that many other people seem to like it too. 

In the evenings, it can be hard to get a table, so we advise you to go early!  You can find Taste from Heaven on Ratmakka Road, next to the Lost Book.

Bubbles Live

After we failed to get a table at Taste from Heaven for a romantic dinner on Valentine's Day, we stumbled upon the Bubbles Live restaurant one night.  This cafe, at 5 Ratchamanka, soi 2,  wasn't busy, but was brightly lit, colourful and had a healthy organic menu rather than traditional Thai food. 

On our visit here, we had an avocado, tofu and eggplant salad platter, that came with whole bread. The people were really friendly, and the food was tasty.  We scored it 8/10.

Aum Cafe

Aum Cafe, a vegan restaurant opposite the Thapae Gate beside Black Canyon Coffee, is a place not to be missed (although it can be difficult to find - look carefully for the small wooden building). We searched it out having read reviews from other vegetarian travellers and can confirm the recommendation.  

While the building looks old, and it's fairly dark inside, the food is fantastic.  Seated on the floor at a low traditional table, we feasted on a traditional Chiang Mai Khao Soi noodle soup, along with another pad thai. 

We really liked the coconut flavours of the Khao Soi, and the fresh veges.  We scored Aum Cafe 9/10.

Thais That Bind

Thais That Bind was a surprise find for us nearby our hotel and opposite Wat Chedi Luang.  While not actually a vegetarian-only restaurant, it was vege-friendly.  The service here was exceptional, the food was really yummy and well-priced.  

On our various trips to this restaurant, we ordered fried vege rice, sticky rice and of course our staple tom yum and pad thai. We rated this place a 9/10 also.

Phon Non Cafe

We visited the Phon-Non Cafe twice.  Easy to find near the Thapae gate, with the wonderful view of old architecture around. 

Our first trip was there for brunch.  We enjoyed a spicy Tom Yum soup and Pad Thai, watermelon juice, pineapple juice and coffee.  

On our first visit, the food was spectacular, fresh, delicious and warming on a not especially hot day.  To be honest, our second visit, later in the week for dinner, was not quite so good. 

The service seemed slow and less friendly, and the food seemed to lack the spiciness and fresh flavours of our first trip.  We think perhaps a different chef in the evenings might not be as liberal with the ingredients.  

Nonetheless, Phon-Non is well-priced, conveniently located, and has the advantage of good wifi services, so perfect for checking those emails.  On balance, we score the Phon-Non 7/10.

Pacamara Coffee House

We didn't actually eat at the Pacamara Coffee House, but we did drink coffee there. We were really happy with our caffe lattes, and scored it a 9/10.

Café de Siam Coffee House and Restaurant 

We breakfasted one morning here , with toast, croissants and coffee.  We sat outside watching the squirrels scampering in the trees across the road.  The toast and croissants were pretty average, but the coffee was okay.  We gave Café de Siam a score of 6/10.

We did eat in other places too, but these were the restaurants that stood out to us as being worthy of mention.  Next time we're there, we will revisit some of our old favourites (we can't wait to get back to the Taste from Heaven's satay mushrooms) as well as seek out new places.