How To Eat Vegan Traveling Around Southeast Asia

When you have dietary restrictions or any “alternative” lifestyle it can be difficult to eat out or find what you need. I say alternative lightly because there’s is a whole lot of info out there about benefits of being vegan etc. BUT if you’re traveling to Southeast Asia and might be concerned if you will have a hard time, look no further! I’ll go over all of your options and how to find Vegan/Vegetarian eats all over.

Cuisine

Traditionally in most Asian cuisine there are a lot of vegetables and coconut influences in each dish. Depending on where you are traveling you might be able to find a few to many different options. When I was traveling through Thailand and Cambodia I had a good selection to choose from.

Sweet Green Curry, Red Curry, Yellow Curry, Massaman Curry, and Panang Curry are all Vegan made with a coconut milk base. Most of them will have an assortment of vegetables and rice. Now if you aren’t a spicy eater then ask for it to be NOT SPICY. That part is very important because if you don’t mention it you will get the full kit and caboodle. For a Vegan take on Cambodian food check out my Food Guide to Phnom Pehn. 

Stir Fry/Veggies, Fried Rice/Veggies (No Egg), Pad Thai/Veggies (No Egg), Spring Rolls are your other options for Thailand, Cambodia and other surrounding countries. However if you can make it to Bali, Indonesia you will be in food heaven! So many different restaurants to choose from and variety of cuisine. You could say that Bali caters to the healthy lifestyle and Vegan population. Check out my post 6 Affordable Vegan Cafe’s In Bali for locations to check out!

Eating Out

Eating out can be challenging in any part of the world being a Vegan. As long as you let the waiter/waitress know your dietary needs they will point you in the right direction. For the most part when I was eating out and I said No egg and ordered veggies they would ask if I was Vegan/Vegetarian before I could mention it. Just make sure that they do know though because some of the sauces have fish in them.

Bring snacks for long trips traveling between cities. If you take a bus the rural towns don’t have as many quick bites to eat. I had a bus ride from hell in Cambodia and not being able to eat anything all day long was just the cherry on top. So come prepared for anything!

Happy Cow

Sometimes it can be overwhelming to hunt for restaurants on Google but I found an amazing app that can help with finding the perfect place. Happy Cow has both a free and paid version to see the vegan/vegetarian restaurants, shops, cafe’s, etc. Search for an area or turn your location on and it will find the closets options.

I have used this many times both at home and traveling which I love! It saves you so much time especially if you are someone that gets hangry like me haha.

 

Traveling as a Vegan can seem difficult but it doesn’t have to be! With apps like Happy Cow and researching the local cuisine you’ll be prepared to travel and eat out anywhere.

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