I love a really rich, decadent hot chocolate, so thick you almost need a spoon to get into it. The ones at Mamacoffees are not that thick, but they’re definitely the best vegan hot chocolates in Prague, in my opinion.
Mamacoffees is a chain of cafes dotted around the city. Most branches are small with limited seating, except for the central branch near Karlovo Namesti which is quite big (but usually packed).
I’m not a coffee drinker, but I believe their coffee is good. Dr HH always buys his coffee beans there, and they will happily process them for whatever brewing set up you have at home. But for me, it truly is all about the hot chocolate. The servings are tiny, but I honestly couldn’t handle any more!
That’s not to say I don’t get a little sweet treat to go alongside the drink occasionally! There are always a few clearly labelled vegan options in the sweets counter.
The pumpkin and cinnamon snail is probably my favourite. It’s really coconutty, and a nice fluffy bake.
The chocolate bundt cake is nice, but can be a little dry for my taste. It’s the only chocolatey vegan option, so sometimes you just have to get it anyway.
The loaf cakes are generally better baked. This one is the carrot cake, which is nicely spiced and really soft. Further up this post was a slice of lemon cake, which is always good and zingy.
In the main branch there is a more extensive menu, though I believe the only vegan options are hummus and some porridge, so I would never go for an actual meal. But for a baked good and the best hot chocolate in town, I’m always ready for a visit!
The arrival of properly delicious vegan pastries in Prague has been majestic! For the first few years I lived here, there were a few bready croissants available and a very rare good pastry popping up as a special. And then finally Krafin arrived and made all my dreams come true!
Krafin is a small bakery and cafe that is owned by the same people who run Chutnej and Hot Plants. It sells hot drinks and desserts alongside its excellent assortment of pastries, all made in the bakery on the premises.
While they make a range of pastries (including the pain au chocolat above which they make with three lines of chocolate instead of just two), the real star of the show is of course the croissant/muffin hybrid which gives the bakery its name.
There is a whole range of krafin flavours, including some fruity and creamy panna cotta ones alongside chocolate and nut varieties. They are all quite generously filled with whatever flavour you have chosen, such as the pistachio above, and they have a lovely crisp bite to the outside.
There are some reliable classic fillings, including caramel, chocolate hazelnut, and raspberry panna cotta, alongside some seasonal specials that change. This month they introduced the Dubai krafin. This trend had bypassed me until now, but it was absolutely sensational – filled with pistachio cream and tahini and topped with delicious chocolate, pistachio, and kadayif pastry. I hope this one is a permanent addition, because it’s amazing! (So far, this is only available in the cafe, not on the delivery app.)
Alongside the krafins, there are also standard croissants, which are flaky and buttery. (You can see us here heating ours up at home – unfortunately they don’t serve them warmed up if you eat in the cafe.)
Another new addition is this maple and pecan plait (which translates to pecan bagel on the delivery app, but it’s definitely no bagel). This has become a fast favourite of mine, with its crisp layers and perfect seasoning.
There’s also a cinnamon snail (again, not available for delivery, only in the cafe) which has a lovely sweet topping.
There’s also a good selection of savouries, including croissant sandwiches with various fillings – they’re not my cup of tea, so I’ve never tried one, but they certainly look enticing and generously filled. I enjoy their savoury tarts, which I think change flavours fairly regularly too. These are a couple of older ones, no longer on the menu this year I think.
And the savoury Danishes are great when they’re available. This cheese and tomato one is a perfect little snack. Again, it’s best heated up at home.
Every Christmas, Krafin also offers a few seasonal specialities. This festive bread is a Czech tradition, so it’s nice to get a vegan version. It’s a great, fluffy bake and lightly spiced.
They also offer the traditional box of mixed biscuits. Last year was our first time trying them at Krafin, and they were good fun, a really nice variety. However, they suffer the same problem as our previous sources which is that we just can’t get through a box before they start getting too soft. I think they’re meant to be shared by more than two people, or eaten in fewer sittings!
From these seasonal specials to the regular menu, Krafin is an absolute joy and my most-visited spot in Prague. The staff in the cafe are really great, and it’s a nice bright space if you do opt to eat in. Additionally, they have a regular stand at the JzP market and provide their wares to Chutnej (the main restaurant) and several other cafes around town. It truly is a great time to be a vegan in Prague!
The vegan pizza scene has really evolved over the nine years I’ve lived in Prague. As well as an all-vegan pizzeria, there’s also a decent selection of restaurants with respectable vegan options. Third Coast Pizza is one of those non-vegan spots with vegan options, but it sets itself apart from the crowd by only serving Detroit style pizza, which is quite the novelty here. This means the pizza has a really good thick base. It also doesn’t really leave a crust around the edge, so the cheese goes all the way to the sides and goes a little chewy and delicious.
There are only two veganisable options on the menu, along with your option of creating your own. I always order the vegan Dominik Hašek, which is a simple cheese and tomato that I might usually consider a bit dull, but the quality of the tomato sauce really elevates it to something special. It’s so rich and flavoursome. I’m not used to the sauce being served in smaller stripes like this, but it’s easy to spread around and is generally enough.
The same cheese and tomato sauce are used on the other veganisable option, Finch, which is Dr HH’s preferred pizza here. This one has caramelised onions, cherry tomatoes, and black olives, which all sound great…but also pineapple. Controversial stuff! It’s not for me, but Dr HH is a big fan.
I’m not sure what vegan cheese brand they use on their pizzas, but it’s unobtrusive and melts nicely, so no complaints from me. And that base is just excellent! It makes it an extremely filling pizza, so half of one is enough for me.
That’s especially true because I always order a basket of mixed fries too. There’s one option on the menu which is clearly labelled as fried in tallow (which I believe is quite common in the Czech Republic), so make sure to order the other one! I don’t know anywhere else in Prague serving curly fries and waffle fries, and I love a novelty potato shape, so these are very pleasing. The seasoning on them is excellent too!
Third Coast Pizza is a really nice spot for dining in, with excellent and friendly service. It does get quite busy, so we always make sure to reserve a table when we’re going. They also do delivery, and the goods travel well. The only downside is that the vegan options are sometimes unavailable to order online – presumably they’re out of cheese. So I try not to get my hopes up too much when we’re thinking of ordering. But when they’ve got the vegan options on, it’s a dream come true!
In my early days as a vegan, I used to eat quite a lot of falafel and hummus. It is more of a rarity now, which speaks well of all the other vegan options springing up all over the place. When I am in the mood for hummus and falafel, Bistro Habibi is probably the best spot in Prague to try.
This is a small and very welcoming Jordanian restaurant. It serves meat, but it does label vegan options on the menu. While there are quite a few suitable dishes to try, we always get the same one, which is a veganised version of the vegetarian plate. Make sure you do clearly request that it’s veganised! The dish as stated on the menu contains labneh, made with dairy, but it you ask for it vegan then the owner will switch the labneh for some zatar and olive oil instead.
The dishes in the plate are: hummus, makdous, zatar and oil, and falafel. We rate this hummus as the best in Prague due to its excellent seasoning. There aren’t too many vegan-friendly places serving makdous, so these are always a treat. These tiny stuffed aubergines are so good, we always want to order more but are just too full. I could eat zatar by the bucket load – we once had a really delicious zatar bread in Jordan and are constantly on the lookout for something similar. The falafel is crispy and very well seasoned.
The plate continues with foul, baba ganoush, walnut dip, and tabbouleh. The foul is the only warm element besides the falafel, and it’s tasty. The baba ganoush is good, on the right side of that bitter taste you sometimes get. The walnut dip has real depth of flavour. The tabbouleh is a bit too herby for me, though that’s a complaint I have about all tabbouleh.
The pitas are served warm, and they’re really fluffy and delicious. It feels like you need more bread in order to mop up all the tasty dips, but to be honest one is enough to leave you feeling full so the serving size is correct. It does leave you free to try some unadulterated dips too!
There can be a bit of a wait for food sometimes as it’s a small operation and the owner does a lot of the work himself. He speaks perfect English and is always happy to have a chat with diners and share a bit of his story. He is also very thorough in his service as well, even calling his suppliers one time to check if any of the pastries on offer were vegan (alas, they weren’t).
The decor is very charming and cosy, and it’s quite spacious. It’s not in the city centre, but it’s in a good spot not far from the river or from Vysehrad (a nice church and viewpoint over the river), so even for tourists it’s not a massive detour. You certainly won’t regret it if you go!
Langkawi was the final spot in our long trip to Asia last summer. We really ended the trip on a high in terms of the beautiful nature we saw. Food-wise, it was quite hard work because there is not a lot of Happy Cow action, meaning that there are few recent reviews and many listings look out of date and labelling on menu looks vague. We did find some great spots and enjoyed some really delicious meals though, so I think a bit of effort paid off.
Pegaga
We visited all-vegan Pegaga three times during our stay in Langkawi and really enjoyed it. It’s quite quiet, and most other guests appeared to be hotel guests at Ambong Ambong, but non hotel guests were welcome too. All three times we visited, the windows were open so you could see the sea and nature. One time we saw some monkeys playing in the trees (they stayed well away from our food).
We had breakfast there twice. There’s quite a few dishes on the menu. The French toast was too blackened for us the first time we had it, but improved on the second visit. It’s a nice thick, soft bread served with purple dragon fruit, toasted almonds, and a pot of maple syrup.
The avocado toast was topped with mushrooms and tomatoes, and felt more like a mushroom toast than an avo one, with a good assortment of mushrooms. The bread was quite good but was a bit soft and could have done with being a bit firmer. It was possibly a bit oily, but still recommended.
The nasi lemak was excellent! The rendang was spicy and fragrant rather than super hot from chillies. The tofu and tempeh were great.
From the lunch/dinner menu we also tried a couple of dishes. The rainforest curry was ok. The sauce of the green curry was good, but the flat rice noodles it was served with did not feel like a good match for us. They were also served on a separate plate and we weren’t quite sure how the dish was intended to be eaten. It was very spicy!
The rendang was both more straightforward and more delicious overall. There was loads of tempeh and that nice fragrant sauce from breakfast. A minor quibble is that the pickled vegetables were too sweet, but that always seemed to be the case on this trip so perhaps that’s just the Malaysian way.
The chocolate smoothies were fantastic, thick and cold and not too sweet.
Service was generally fast and friendly. On one of our visits it was quite busy, and we were given a fruit plate while we waited and more staff were brought in to speed things up.
While in Langkawi, we struggled to find food that we were confident was vegan and would taste good, so this spot is highly recommended.
Fat Cupid
This is a nice restaurant connected to a hotel, but you don’t need to be a hotel guest to dine there. We went for dinner and really enjoyed it.
We shared the spring rolls to start, and found them crispy and tasty. There were two rolls each.
My partner had the lontong and loved it. It was nicely seasoned with lots of good vegetables and tempeh. There were also two bits of crispy bean curd skin which were fun. The only downside is that it used vermicelli noodles, and could have done with a more robust noodle, but that may be personal preference. It was very spicy!
I had the rendang, which was tasty but a bit too spicy for me. There was loads of tempeh in it, which I loved, and some fried tofu on the side that I liked too. There were some vegetables on the side seasoned with sesame oil, they were very enjoyable.
Vegan dishes are clearly labelled on the menu, but note that the laksa is labelled vegan but the description refers to egg noodles, so I’m not sure about that one. We were pretty confident about the other labelling though. Service was friendly and fast, and it was a really pleasant spot for dinner.
The Fat Frog
We went to The Fat Frog for dinner one night – yes, two restaurants in a row with the word “fat” in the title, I’m not sure what’s going on! The website was adamant that you need a reservation so we booked and arrived at an empty restaurant. It did steadily start to fill as we ate but it looked like everyone was a walk-in. The dishes on the menu that can be made vegan are clearly labelled and you have to specify when ordering.
We got some potato puffs to start with, which were essentially little samosas. These were well fried with a good crispy coating. The filling was plentiful but a little bit under seasoned. They came with a mustard dip which I didn’t think really worked, maybe I’m just conditioned to expect a tamarind dip with my samosas.
For mains we both got the mushroom rendang and it was very tasty. It was made of oyster mushroom pieces in a well flavoured and spicy sauce. There was a little pot of seasoned tempeh pieces which tasted good, but I would have preferred a bit of a crispier texture as I have had in other restaurants. The pickles were a disappointment, as always. They mostly just tasted sweet. The spinach on the side was nicely seasoned and not just some limp wilted spinach. The rice was well cooked and it all made for a good sized plate of food.
We both got sticky toffee pudding for dessert, and were positively giddy to see it on the menu. These were nice little cakes with a good texture and flavour. They came with a coconut custard poured over the top. It was a tasty pudding but it wasn’t anything like a sticky toffee pudding, more’s the pity.
This is quite an expensive spot, and for us the quality of the food didn’t really live up to the price. It was an enjoyable meal, but not one that blew us away. The restaurant is located in the grounds of a golf course, so it felt a bit like we were paying for the location rather than the food. But it’s slim pickings for vegans in Langkawi, so if you go in with the right expectations, it’ll be fine.
Nian Cafe
Given the limited options, we were excited to try an all-vegan Japanese restaurant. We came here very hungry at lunchtime one day.
The mushroom kaarage was good meaty chunks of oyster mushroom coated in a crispy and well seasoned batter. They came with a mayo that tasted like it had a bit more of a citrus flavour to it, it made for a good dip and I’m not a particular fan of mayo.
The agedashi tofu came as a couple of big blocks of tofu that were well battered in a light coating. The broth was quite good but it could’ve had a bit of a stronger flavour. It was a tasty plate.
For mains, Dr HH got the Assam sambal fish rice bowl with a miso soup and green tea. The soup was tasty with a few quite big pieces of tofu and some wakame. Smaller pieces of tofu might be better, but that’s just a minor complaint. The tea was fine and free refills were included.
The main topping in the bowl was excellent. The fish was well seasoned and had a decent fishy taste and texture. The coating was good and crispy.
I got the mushroom tempura rice bowl (with the miso soup and green tea, too). The tempura mushrooms were enoki mushrooms and they were well coated and seasoned as well as drizzled with more of the mayo from the starter.
The rice for both of us wasn’t sticky short grain as I’d usually expect from a Japanese bowl, so it was a bit tricky to eat with chopsticks but I have no issues with the taste of a different rice. There was a bit of a dressing over the rice which had a strong taste of keffir lime leaves, it was just enough to stop the rice being boring. Both of our bowls were also topped with some vegetables, these were a bit dull. There wasn’t any flavour or seasoning on them and the bowl would have benefited from having some pickles rather than just plain vegetables.
A few of the smaller details weren’t quite there for us, but the main elements of all the dishes were fantastic, and I definitely recommend this spot. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to be close to anything of interest (for us, at least), so it might be a bit of a mission to get there – but worth it for a good vegan meal!
Activities in Langkawi
We organised a few tours in Langkawi, starting with a mangrove cruise. The mangroves here are a UNESCO site, and it was really interesting to learn about them and the wildlife in this area as we sailed around. There was some spectacular scenery. The majority of mangrove cruises feature a feeding session where the boat staff throw meat overboard to attract birds of prey – this is terrible for the birds, as you can imagine, so definitely look around for one of the providers that does not engage in this practice. Some also stop at fish farms, so make sure to steer clear of those as well.
We also took a rainforest after dark tour, which didn’t yield much wildlife for us unfortunately – but that’s the risk you take unless you have a dodgy guide who will use meat to lure the animals to you. We did see a couple of interesting birds and lots of monkeys, and really enjoyed the spectacular view from the top of the hill.
The highlight for us was a birdspotting tour, in which we saw over forty different types of birds in one morning! It was fantastic. We were driven to a few different locations and just wandered around with our binoculars looking out for different birds. We saw several different types of kingfishers, which kept us very happy indeed!
And of course, one of the main attractions in Langkawi is the beach! We are not really beach goers, and there was a lot of rain during our stay, but it was still nice to have a little paddle in the sea.
George Town was listed as a must visit on every Malaysia two-week itinerary I looked at when researching our trip, so we added it to ours…and kind of wish we hadn’t! It’s mainly mentioned as a great source of street food, which is not really relevant for vegans. We found some tasty food in the restaurants, but were generally underwhelmed with the sights and found the street food totally off limits to us. Here’s the good food we did find…
Pinxin Vegan Cuisine
This is an all-vegan restaurant that we visited twice and got some variation of nasi lemak both times. The first time we both got rendang nasi lemak. The rendang was delicious, it had a good strong flavour and there was lots of tempeh, lion’s mane mushrooms, and (we think) some tofu. The accompaniments on the plate were good additions, with some good textures coming from the cashews and pickles, and some good flavour from the sambal. The rice was well cooked and the poppadum was a fun addition.
On our next visit, Dr HH got the kurma curry nasi lemak. The curry sauce was tasty with a bit of chilli kick but nothing too spicy (according to him and his high tolerance levels!). There was plenty of tempeh and bits of mushrooms in the sauce.
I got the satay nasi lemak. The satay skewer was made from lion’s mane mushrooms, so it had a great texture. The satay was good and nutty but didn’t pack the same exciting flavours as the rendang.
We both had ice milk teas and enjoyed them, they were quite sweet and exactly what we were looking for. We ended up having quite a few of these throughout our time in Malaysia. I never usually drink iced tea, but these milky versions were truly excellent!
This restaurant was a big hit for us, the menu had lots of fun dishes we wanted to try, and service was fast and friendly.
Kommune Eko-Deli (The Habitat Cafe)
This little cafe is located at the top of Penang Hill, within the gift shop building at the back entrance of the Habitat (more on this below), outside of the ticketed area. If you enter Habitat from the entrance closest to the funicular and walk right the way through, you will find this when you exit through the turnstile, before taking the shuttle back to the funicular.
We each had a curry puff. The filling was well seasoned and fairly generous, and the pastry was good and flaky. It felt like it had just been heated up in a microwave because the pastry was a bit soggy rather than nice and crisp. But it was good, and I’d definitely have it again.
We also tried a slice of cake each, I got carrot and walnut and Dr HH had black forest cake. Both slices were huge, we were thrilled! The black forest cake was quite moist and chocolatey, with good amounts of cream and fruit.
The carrot and walnut cake was really beautifully spiced and light. Generally, this trip to Asia was light on proper sponge cakes, so this was an unexpected delight.
We also got a couple of iced chocolate milks, which were not too sweet and very refreshing on a hot day.
It was a really welcome spot when we emerged from our walk, highly recommended if you’re going to Habitat.
Kommune Lebuh Victoria
This is a partner restaurant of the cafe above – this time, it’s a proper restaurant in the heart of town.
We both ordered the rendang with flatbread and we enjoyed the dish. Most of the rendangs we tried in Malaysia used tempeh or mushroom as the main ingredient, but this one featured courgette. The courgette pieces were well cooked and the sauce was nicely seasoned, but it didn’t really wow us. There were some herbs and bits of pickled papaya on the plate which added some different textures and flavours. The meal was tasty without being truly great and it may have benefitted from some more sauce. The flatbread was generally quite well made, but it was maybe a bit thick and I thought it tasted just a little bit sweet.
We also got a plate of inche kabin. These were marinated and fried hericium mushrooms served with rice crackers and a tangy sauce. These were delicious! The mushrooms tasted great and had wonderful texture. The rice crackers and the sauce combined with the mushrooms made for a great bite with different textures and flavours.
We got lempeng for dessert. These were coconut pancakes topped with passion fruit, mango, and a scoop of coconut ice cream. I really enjoyed this, but Dr HH wasn’t so keen on the flavour of the pancakes. I wish they’d been a bit bigger, it was quite a small portion.
It wasn’t a total success for us, but I really liked the restaurant and what they were trying to do, so I would certainly visit again and recommend it for anyone visiting the area.
Lily’s Vegetarian Kitchen – Georgetown
This was a cheap and cheerful vegetarian spot, seemingly popular with locals. We sat down, looked through the menu, and then filled in the slip of paper indicating what we wanted. The menu labels with L anything that isn’t vegan. We took the paper up to the counter to place our order and paid in cash (they don’t take card) and waited for the dishes to be brought to us. There’s a self service station where you can collect cutlery, but there were no napkins unfortunately. They bring each dish to your table as it’s ready.
We shared the satay for starters. The satay sauce was delicious, with a bit of heat and ginger. The texture of the chickeny chunks was good.
Dr HH had the mee goreng, which was a noodle dish. It had some good peanuts on top, but needed something more for texture. The tofu and potatoes were good.
I had the Penang char koay teow, which was fried flat noodles. The noodles were good and there was some fun tofu, but not enough for my liking. There was a bit of heat in the dish, but it wasn’t too spicy. Everything tasted slightly charred. This dish is a local specialty which was veganised at this restaurant. I tried to find out afterwards if it’s supposed to be a bit charred, but couldn’t really be sure.
It was cheap and pleasant, and I’d happily go back and try another dish.
Every Fresh Bar
This was our breakfast spot while we were in George Town. There’s a variety of bowls to choose from, and for each you can choose the base as yoghurt (not vegan), oatmeal (vegan), or smoothie bowl (vegan).
The first time we went there was table service. The second time we ordered using the QR code on the table. Both times we paid at the counter at the end of the meal. The WiFi password is on a piece of paper at the counter, if you need it.
I had the tropical berry oatmeal and paid extra for peanut butter on top. It was topped with strawberries, banana, mango, blueberries, and grapes, plus granola. The oatmeal was warm and filling, and overall it was enjoyable.
On our second visit, I had the mango banana oatmeal, with added peanut butter. It only had those two fruits on, which was fine by me. I’m not convinced by the mango and peanut butter combo, but it was still nice and I really wanted the peanut butter for added nutrients.
Dr HH had the purple pitaya smoothie bowl and also paid extra for peanut butter on top. It had lots of purple dragon fruit on, making it extremely pretty. It was cold, refreshing, and enjoyable, with a generous amount of fruit.
On our second visit he had the berries tropical smoothie bowl and also enjoyed it. There was a good selection of fruit.
Overall, it was a convenient breakfast spot. Neither of us is that into smoothie bowls or fruity oatmeal, so we were never going to be totally dazzled by the menu, but it kept us well fueled and seemed very popular with tourists.
Activities in George Town
Kek Lok Si temple, which is the biggest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, was easily our highlight of George Town. It’s a huge complex of buildings with so many beautiful details to see. There’s also a nice view of the hills nearby and the city below. It’s well worth a visit.
We also took the funicular up Penang Hill to visit Habitat, essentially a nature trail through some fun forest (you have to pay to get in). In truth, it was a bit underwhelming – we didn’t see a single bird, and parts of the forest walk were closed. But we did enjoy seeing this fun monkey, and the café at the end made it more or less worthwhile
We also took ourselves on a self-guided walking tour of the street art and main sights of George Town, but came to the conclusion that they were a bit underwhelming. There were some nice temples (burning the largest incense sticks I’ve ever seen!), but lots of colonial architecture which we are not really into, and then lots of tourist traps. To be honest, I wouldn’t hurry back to George Town. At least the food was good though!
This post features a lot of dishes but only two restaurants! We had a couple of meals at two sister restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and tried quite a lot of dishes there. They both had fun menus with interesting veganised local dishes, which is very much what we were looking for as our trip came to an end.
La Gula by The Hungry Tapir
We visited this spot twice for breakfasts – it’s not open super early, but it was fine for days when we had time for a lie in or a late start for travelling. On our first visit, Dr HH had the see-food sambol croissant. This had bits of mock prawns and konjac squid that were coated in batter and in a sweet and spicy sauce. This was all stuffed into a heated sliced croissant. It was an enjoyable dish, He liked the textures of the mock sea food, but didn’t think there was a huge difference between the two types. The croissant was good and flaky and a bit sweet. The whole thing was very tasty but just a touch too sweet. I was tempted by this dish, but knew it would be too sweet for me. I’m hoping to recreate the seafood sambol and serve it with something more neutral at home.
I was powerless to resist the LaGula big brekkie and it lived up to its name. The sausage was excellent, it was well fried with a good crispness to the outside and was delicious and meaty. The ricotta cheez we think was in a square croquette form and tasted very much like a smooth potato filling (it was tasty, but not really cheesy). The scramble was pleasant, not particularly eggy but it had a good texture and taste. The mushrooms were good, they were well cooked and seasoned. The beans didn’t really work very well, they were very heavily flavoured with dill and that didn’t really fit with that rest of the dish. Also, I hate dill.
On our second visit, Dr HH had the rendang croissant and really enjoyed it. The rendang had loads of mushrooms and the sauce was creamy and flavoursome. The croissant was flaky and crisp on the outside. Of course it was a little sweet again, but by this point in our trip we were all in on rendang and had it at almost every meal!
I had the sunny days bagel, which contained a fried egg, ham, and cream cheese. I was worried the cream cheese might be a little sweet, but it wasn’t at all and didn’t overpower the other flavours. The meaty slices were excellent. I loved the texture of the fried egg, but wish it had a yolk and an eggy taste. It felt like it only really contributed to the texture. Overall, it was really delicious and I only wish it had been bigger!
On the drinks front, Dr HH had a mocktail, the cranberries, which he really enjoyed, it was fizzy, fruity, and sweet. I had the oat of this world smoothie, which is thick and tasty but could have been a bit colder. In general we were pleased with the drinks selection.
We also got a bit bag of takeaway loot for one of our travel days. The no bacon or egg pie was the highlight. It was a big hearty slice generously filled with lots of pastrami and cooked onions. We didn’t really get much of an eggy flavour or texture to it though, unfortunately. It’s a shame we had it cold as I’d really like to have seen how it was when warm and a bit crispier.
The Cheez sausage with croissant probably would have been better if heated too. The sausage was tasty but there didn’t seem like much cheese, maybe on heating and melting it would have seemed more plentiful. This was tasty but the filling was just concentrated down the centre so most of it was just plain croissant. Maybe it would have been better to be sliced and have the sausages put in more like a sandwich.
The biscoff croissant was good. The croissant is well made and flavoured, and it was sliced and filled with a layer of biscoff spread. (Apologies for the blurry photo.)
The almond croissant was similar, it had a sweet almond spread on top and inside along with lots of flaked almonds – it was a bit too sweet overall.
The pain au chocolat was too bready and didn’t have a good pastry texture, unlike the other baked goods. There wasn’t a lot of chocolate filling so most of it was very dry. This was a bit of a let down.
The cinnamon bun wasn’t great either. It could have been a bit flakier or crispier, but it was all very soft. The flavour of the filling had a bit of a strange taste so it didn’t work for us.
Just when you’re thinking the sweet options here might not be that great – I also had a slice of chocolate mousse cake on one visit, which was basically a chocolate cheesecake. It was rich and delicious! I wish the biscuit base had been a little thicker, but no real complaints.
It was a really nice eatery, but we had one significant complaint which was that the music was too loud, at one point it felt like the bass was reverberating through my body. It’s not the experience I’m looking for during day time! Besides that, service is great and it’s a really light and airy spot.
The Hungry Tapir
We also visited this spot twice and really enjoyed ourselves. It’s owned by the same people, but has a different menu and is more of an evening spot – quite dark inside like a bar rather than a restaurant.
We tried two of the sharing plates. The fried cheeken was really tasty – battered and deep fried oyster mushrooms. The batter was crispy and well seasoned for a good savoury taste. They weren’t really much like chicken, but they were excellent fried mushrooms.
The satay was also excellent. There were six skewers. The mushroom chunks were tender and succulent, and the satay was spicy and well seasoned without being too hot from chillies.
We both loved the roti canai. This was the only time we saw a labelled vegan version of this dish during our two weeks in Malaysia, and I ordered it on both occasions because it was so good. The breads were perfect, really flaky and buttery. The sambal had lots of small pieces of tempeh in and was quite spicy. The dahl was well seasoned and quite mild. Our only complaint is that it was quite a small serving of dahl.
Dr HH also tried the jackfruit roti jala, which was a bit disappointing. The breads were fine, but the net-like style meant that they were missing the flakiness. The coconut raita was nicely flavoured, but the jackfruit curry was underwhelming. Despite this one not quite hitting the spot, we still rate this restaurant really highly.
There’s an extensive dessert counter, so I had the brownie which was rich and chocolatey but very much a cake rather than a brownie for me.
Dr HH had the banoffee pie which was sweet and creamy. The caramel was especially good, but the pastry could have been crisper.
We reserved a table for both visits, just to make sure we got in – especially recommended for the weekend as it was busy on Friday evening. We thoroughly enjoyed this restaurant!
Activities in Kuala Lumpur
Like most visitors to Kuala Lumpur, we went to see the Petronas Towers. We didn’t pay to go in, but enjoyed the view from the street below.
We also went to the Petrosains museum, which is about what you would expect from a science museum owned by an oil company! Online reviews suggested it was a fun destination for adults, not just for kids – but there were so many kids in that we couldn’t even get close to any of the hands-on exhibits, which is a shame. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone without kids, to be honest. But it’s a fun opportunity to learn about how great the oil industry is!
Malaysia was the last country we visited on our summer 2024 trip. We spent a few non-consecutive nights in Kuala Lumpur, in between trips to other parts of the country. Our meals were a bit haphazard – some Malaysian dishes, some from other cuisines. But generally, they were tasty!
Sala – Avenue K
On our first night we wanted something quick and easy close to our hotel, so we tried this place. Dr HH got a pulled jack burrito and enjoyed it. It contained BBQ jackfruit and well-spiced beans that gave a really good flavour. There was a good zingy flavour from the salads and sauces as well. Dr HH always complains with burritos that when you bite into the side with the hot fillings everything is nice and warm, but then the salad side is ice cold. Has anyone worked out a way to solve this? The crispy bits of fried bread on the side were a nice addition.
I was in the mood for something local, so I got the laksa and it was excellent. The sauce was creamy, spicy, and really well seasoned. It was a little bit too spicy for me, but Dr HH thought it was great as he slurped down my leftovers. It was well filled with lots of noodles, vegetables, and tofu.
We got some lemon cake too and this was a bit disappointing. It wasn’t very lemony and the texture wasn’t great. It was a bit dry and not quite the sticky moist cake we were hoping for.
All in all, it was a fast food place in a mall and we got what we expected, more or less. It was a handy place for a late meal after being on the go for a while.
Kusa Japanese Vegan – Bukit Bintang
This is a stylish looking vegan restaurant with extremely attentive service and a fairly long menu of Japanese dishes. We didn’t necessarily want Japanese food in Malaysia (though there was quite a lot of it around!), but this was close to where we were staying and convenient.
We shared a couple of starters, the popcorn mushroom and crunchy tempura. The popcorn coating was not very crispy, unfortunately, but it has some decent flavours from the mushrooms and seasoning.
The crunchy tempura was extremely lightly battered and did not appear to be seasoned at all. The dipping sauce was also extremely bland. It’s hard to mess up tempura, but they just about managed it.
I had the jjajiang ramen, but my expectations were not met when it was served as a plate of noodles with mushroom sauce. The lighting in the restaurant was too dark for me to see in the photo in the menu that it was brothless. I should have paid more attention, but I didn’t even know that brothless ramens existed! The sauce was very tasty and absolutely packed with mushroom flavour, but it really wasn’t what I was in the mood for, unfortunately. I still cannot accept this dish as a ramen!
Dr HH had the kusa ramen, and was happier with his dish, which was an actual ramen with broth. The noodles were good. The broth was creamy and spicy, but really the chilli overwhelmed any other flavours. The toppings were fine but a bit unexciting and didn’t really add any flavours.
Overall, it was not really for us. It has consistently great ratings on Happy Cow, so perhaps we were just unlucky with some of the seasoning not quite being right on the day.
Minf Houze Vegan Cafe
This vegan restaurant is on the top floor of a quite small and slightly run-down mall. We were the only guests when we visited for an early dinner on a weekday, but it is well reviewed on Happy Cow so presumably business picks up later. Staff bring menus and an ordering slip (and pencil) to your table. You mark your choices on the paper, then take it up to the counter to place your order and pay. They bring the food to your table when it’s ready.
We shared a couple of the snacks, and really enjoyed them. The satay Malaysia didn’t look too appetising to me with its weird strands, but actually the taste and texture were really good. The satay sauce was fantastic too, with a good nutty flavour and decent but not overwhelming chilli kick.
The fried vege yuba maki rolls were even better. The rolls were quite crispy and the meaty texture inside was great. We liked the occasional crunch of water chestnuts. The dipping sauce here was just ok, we preferred dunking them in the satay sauce.
For my main, I had the nasi lemak special, which was blue rice, pickled cucumber, roasted peanuts, mushroom bits, poppadoms, and some sauce, with a pot of potato curry on the side. It was a fantastic array of tastes and textures. Everything was nicely seasoned, but not too spicy. I would definitely order this again, and went on to order nasi lemak in other places at every opportunity I had!
Dr HH had the asam laksa soup and was not so keen. It had pineapple in it, which he had overlooked on the menu, and it was quite a dominant flavour which he felt didn’t enhance the dish at all, unfortunately. The noodles were a bit overcooked. The fishy tofu was excellent though. Even though it wasn’t the dish for him, he said he would happily return and try something else.
This was our first proper Malaysian meal of the holiday, and overall we really enjoyed it. It really inspired us for the rest of the trip to come.
Activities in Kuala Lumpur
We didn’t spend too much time sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur, but we did take in a few spots. We visited the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, which was a nice change from the other places of worship we’d seen on our long trip. It was colourful and had lots of interesting details in the artwork.
We also visited the Islamic Arts Museum, which was impressive. It was quite large so we ran out of steam a bit, but we enjoyed what we saw, especially some beautifully illustrated and written old texts. Again, it was quite different from the sights we’d seen earlier on our trip, so a very welcome change.
Alongside the multi-dish feasts mentioned in last week’s blog post, we also had some lighter bites, baked goods, and other treats. Here’s everything else we ate in Hong Kong!
Omusubi
While trying to find a quick and easy lunch, we grabbed a few rice balls to take away from Omusubi. There were just a few vegan options, which were clearly labelled.
First up was a Kinpira Renkon Omusubi. The first one had a mix of vegetables (lotus root, konjac, carrots) in a chilli and sesame sauce. The texture of the vegetables gave a nice crunch and the flavours were fine.
We also tried the Nozawana Greens and Soya Bean Mixed Rice. There were a couple of different textures in there from the greens and the beans, and it was fine.
We weren’t dazzled by the flavours of either of these, so I wouldn’t be rushing to buy them again, but they were handy for a convenient on the go lunch.
TREEHOUSE – H Code
We generally tried to avoid western food on our trip, but sometimes we just had to go for convenience, which is why we ended up at Treehouse, where we got a couple of sourdough wraps.
Dr HH got a large musella wrap. This promised spicy tofu with mushrooms, green beans, and a miso dressing. It was fine. The seasoning on the tofu was quite tasty, but not really spicy. The textures of the whole thing were pretty good. The sauce was okay, but not incredible. The bread was good, nicely crisped on the outside and a good thickness.
I got a half sized snowdrop wrap. It was tasty, but it had lots of broccoli rather than the advertised cauliflower. There were tempeh and mushrooms which were tasty and added good textures. There was some excellent tender melty aubergines too.
These wraps were perfectly fine but they didn’t really wow us with the flavours. Unless you’re desperate for some fast food or craving a wrap, I wouldn’t make a special detour for this place.
Maya Bakery & Bar
We were thrilled to find a mostly-vegan bakery with rave reviews – bakeries had been serving us very well on this trip so far! It turned out there was just one non-vegan item, and possibly dairy milk for drinks as well, so it is very vegan-friendly indeed.
We got two things each for breakfast along with a milky drink and it made for a good hearty start to the day. Dr HH got a chocolate chip crookie and an egg custard tart. I got the chocolate croissant and the peanut butter crookie. Everything but the croissant were warmed up in the oven for us before being served.
Dr HH really liked the egg custard tart, which is something we think neither of us had ever tried before, either vegan or otherwise. He enjoyed the texture of the thick set custard, and it had a good sweet flavour. The pastry kept a bit of crispness which is good considering the filling.
He also tried the chocolate chip crookie, which was great. The pastry of the croissant was good and crispy on the outside and nice and light and fluffy inside. There was some generous filling inside and on top that made for a tasty treat.
The peanut butter crookie, which I tried, was similar. There was a layer of peanut butter and chocolate on top and good filling on the inside too.
I also got the chocolate croissant, which felt a bit more like a bread than a pastry and wasn’t as good as the others. Maybe it suffered from not being heated up (everything else was served warm). There was a good generous chocolate layer on the top but no filling.
Happily, this spot continued our trend of finding excellent vegan baked goods on this trip!
So Coco
We were excited to see an all vegan ice cream spot, but a little disappointed in the range of flavours – besides two of them (passion fruit and Thai tea), they overlapped with the flavours we are usually able to get in other places, including Prague (pistachio, coconut, chocolate, matcha, salted caramel).
We each got a double cup, I had chocolate and salted caramel. The chocolate was nice but not rich, unfortunately. The salted caramel was sensational, probably the best salted caramel ice cream I’ve ever had, with great flavour and balance.
Dr HH had Thai tea and coconut. The Thai tea tasted like tea, but we weren’t sure where the Thai element came from. The coconut was fine, but a bit unexciting (our fault for choosing it).
Generally, the texture was nice and creamy, but we each had a couple of hard, icy spots in our scoops. With the underwhelming chocolate as well, this place fell a little flat for us. They did have an extensive menu of shakes and drinks too, so it may well be worth experimenting with it a bit more.
NUTTEA – Causeway Bay
We saw a lot of NUTTEA branches around the city, and were excited to give it a try. We were a bit overwhelmed by the menu and not sure what to order though. We both went for the earl grey tea with chocolate cream. When ordering, we were asked what ice and sugar levels we wanted, which are questions we are not used to when ordering drinks! In case you are similarly perplexed, “standard” is the option we went for and it all tasted fine.
Our first sip with a straw was just tea, which was quite dull. Once we gave it all a good stir, it was almost like a tea milkshake. The cream was so thick and decadent, it was really delicious. It was pleasant, but I’ll not be desperately seeking it out again in the future.
Activities in Hong Kong
When we were not hiking around Hong Kong in blistering heat, we were taking in some of the big tourist hits, starting with the Star Ferry. This is basically a commuter ferry that runs all day, but it’s fun for tourists as well as a cheap way to enjoy the skyline and being out on the water.
We got the tram up to the Peak, which offers this impressive view of the city. It’s a bit of a scrum trying to get onto the tram, and a total tourist trap up top, but if you can battle through to the viewing platform it’s worth it.
We had a leisurely stroll through Hong Kong Park (where LockCha Tea House is located) and particularly enjoyed the terrapins basking in the sun and splashing around the ponds.
I’m a huge fan of Nan Lian Gardens, where Chi Lin restaurant is located. It has some really beautiful buildings, well-tended gardens, and the lovely contrast of traditional and modern.
We thoroughly enjoyed the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery (which neither has 10,000 Buddhas nor is a monastery), which has actually more than 10,000 statues of Buddhas in various poses. When you climb the hill, there’s also a nice view of the city. Beware though, we encountered a wild boar on the way up!
One of the big attractions in Hong Kong is the Big Buddha statue, accessible via cable car. It is indeed a massive statue. The cable car journey is terrifying for anyone with a fear of heights, but apparently very enjoyable for everyone else!
I was really happy to spend a few days back in Hong Kong, where I lived for a couple of years in my twenties. I remembered it being a very vegan friendly place, because I used to attend Meat Free Monday get togethers with a huge vegan group, where the organisers would order loads of dishes to share at a different vegan friendly restaurant every week. We ended up revisiting a few of the restaurants I attended with the group back in the day. But sadly, I found that while there were lots of vegetarian options, a lot of restaurants were not super vegan friendly and not nearly as good at labelling the vegan options as they were in Taiwan.
Three Virtues
This is a big traditional restaurant with lots of dishes that can easily be shared. We got three main dishes to share between two of us and that was plenty of food.
The deep fried vegetarian squid and cuttlefish shreds with spicy salt was probably the best of the dishes. The fishy bits had a good bouncy calamari texture, great crispy coating, and were well seasoned. The two types of fish on this plate were quite similar but you could definitely tell they were different.
Sticking with the fishy theme, we also tried the fried vegetarian fish made with bean curd sheet and laver. I remembered Hong Kong being good for mock fish dishes like this. There was a flakiness on the fish and the skin had a good crispy texture. There wasn’t much fishy flavour though. The sweet and sour sauce was fine, it’s never going to be my favourite sauce but I enjoyed it. There were lots of pine nuts in the dish too for a bit more texture.
Finally, we had the deep fried vegetarian chicken roll in Fukien style. The chicken looked very promising and had a lot of exciting textures going on. Crispy pastry, crunch from water chestnuts, good chewy mushrooms, and a great mock meat texture on the chicken. Sadly, it didn’t really taste of much. Dr HH ended up slathering them in sweet and sour sauce from the fish as the dipping sauce that came with it was a bit insipid too.
Dishes using egg are clearly labelled on the menu and some dishes that use honey clearly state it in the name of the dish, so this was quite easy to navigate for vegans. We almost walked right past the entrance on the street – the restaurant is on the first floor, so it’s easy to miss!
Chi Lin Vegetarian
I always used to enjoy combining a walk around Nan Lian garden and Chi Lin nunnery with a meal in this restaurant. We made a reservation – the restaurant wasn’t super busy at 6pm, but did fill up quite a bit after that, and I believe reservations are always recommended. We met up with some old friends, so we were a group of four and ordered four main dishes and one side to share, plus dessert.
We ordered the braised porcini with “water ghost” bean curd casserole from the chef’s recommendations section of the menu. I really loved all the mushrooms and tofu in this, and it tasted delicious.
The Singapore noodles were not very spicy at all, to my surprise. They were standard Singapore noodles, not mind-blowing but perfectly pleasant.
The braised bean curd patty filled with enoki mushrooms was tasty. There were four little parcels in the serving. They were generously filled, but a little tricky to bite through. There was some broccoli on the side of this dish too.
Our favourite dish was the braised eggplant and wheat gluten with sweet and sour “Yan nim” sauce. The eggplant was cooked perfectly so it was nice and tender. Usually I don’t enjoy sweet and sour sauce, but this was really flavoursome and well balanced.
We also got a side dish of bok choy, which were pleasantly small and tasted fine.
The steamed brown sugar and ginger cake was really tasty and not at all what I expected when my friends suggested ordering it! It’s not a sponge cake, it’s quite gelatinous in texture. The ginger taste is so strong, it’s got a really great kick to it. I loved it!
The menu is in English and staff were attentive and helpful. There were quite a few dishes on the menu that I’ve never tried before, so it was a fun opportunity to try something a bit different. There’s no vegan labelling on the menu, you just have to hope that only the dishes that obviously list cheese/egg in the menu are non-vegan, or ask the staff for clarity.
LockCha – Admiralty
We had a good meal at LockCha but were frustrated by the lack of clear labelling. There were a couple of symbols that popped up next to some dishes but there was no key explanation of what they were. A small number of items clearly said they were vegan but the vast majority said nothing. Some things had egg or cheese in the name so we knew to avoid those. We found an online menu on Deliveroo which had more things labelled as vegan so we generally used that as a guide. After guessing our way through some orders, the staff had a look over and confirmed everything we ordered was vegan but we would have much preferred a clear menu rather than having to guess.
The food was worth the effort though! The bean curd rolls were excellent. They had a good crispy outer and were well filled and flavoured.
The fried taro cakes were also great. They had a bit of a potato like texture with some good crunchy bits in there too, again the seasoning was very good. These were our favourites and we ordered extra plates of each of these. I loved all the taro we got in Taiwan and Hong Kong!
The Shao Mai with black truffle were very good. They had a good meaty texture and and were well flavoured. The truffle on the top was a good addition and there wasn’t too much of it – I’m not a big truffle fan.
The fried mushroom bun had a good soft texture and a nice bit of crispness on the outside. The bun was a bit sweet and the flavour of the filling didn’t really shine through – my permanent complaint about this kind of bun, I don’t know why I can’t resist ordering them!
The fried dumpling had a meaty filling and generally tasted better than the mushroom one. We were also given a vinegar sauce to dip these in which I think would have been welcome earlier to be able to dip other things into as well.
The steamed lily bulb dumplings were a bit bland and isn’t something I would want to order again. It sounded so exciting and unusual that we couldn’t resist trying it, but it’s possible that there’s a reason lily bulbs aren’t a big feature on many menus.
And inspired by the previous night, we got some steamed ginger cake to finish. This was tasty but not as good as a similar one we had at Chi Lin. I’m on the lookout for a recipe that will help me recreate this at home!
We got some Lapsang Souchong tea to drink too which we both enjoyed. It has a good smokiness to it and went well with the food.
Overall, it was a good meal. Not everything really hit the heights we were hoping for, and the menu labelling was perplexing at best, but the good stuff was very, very good!
Kung Tak Lam – Tsim Tsa Tsui
This was our favourite place we ate at in Hong Kong. The menu was quite extensive and all of the dishes we tried were a hit and well seasoned. We were meeting another friend there, who took the lead with the ordering, and we shared all the dishes between three of us.
The five fortune cold platter was a lot of fun. There were a few cold noodle and salad bits that were fine. The silken tofu was nice and slippery. The mock meat was cold and slightly sweet, but went nicely with the edamame and black fungus. The crispy bits in the middle had a fantastic crunch and intriguing sweet and spicy sauce.
The soya bean/pork fillets were really meaty with a good crisp coating. The black pepper sauce on the side was thick and delicious.
The fish looked really spectacular – after I took my photo, the staff sliced it up for us at the table. Sadly it didn’t have a particularly fishy taste or texture, like in Three Virtues. Both cases seemed to be style over substance to me, which is a shame when there are some quite easy ways now to mimic the rights flavour and flaky texture.
The braised vegetarian chicken with black mushroom and chestnuts in casserole was good. It had a good helping of mushrooms. The meat bits felt like a chopped up veggie sausage to me, rather than a nice chicken chunk, which was a bit of a shame. But it was tasty.
The fried rice with seaweed and pine nuts was really tasty, perfectly seasoned and with a nice crunch from the nuts. I keep meaning to recreate this one at home, as it seems fairly straightforward.
This branch has really impressive views of the harbour, and it’s definitely a good spot for tourists. The menu is in English and clearly marks items that contain eggs or dairy. Staff were friendly, and service was quite fast. Again, I would probably recommend reserving a table in advance to be on the safe side.
Activities in Hong Kong
Despite the continued high temperatures and humidity, we committed to a few outdoor activities, with my two favourite hikes from when I lived in Hong Kong. The Lamma Island family trail was a quite short and not too strenuous walk across the island – the climb isn’t particularly tough, but the heat and exposure made it quite hard going. Still, we enjoyed the views very much.
The Dragon’s Back hike on Hong Kong Island was longer and tougher, but actually more enjoyable. Again, the climb wasn’t too bad at all and the views were really spectacular. We set off early enough that the sun wasn’t high enough to be too punishing. The descent was a little boring, but we enjoyed a little paddle in the sea at the end of the trail. I really wanted Dr HH to be impressed by the views of this hike, and he was, so it was a great success!
Herbivores' Heaven 