Lamma Island Hong Kong – a vegan paradise

A whirlwind tour of the vegan possibilities on Lamma Island, and a little of Lantau Island, too.  It was a pure coincidence that we decided to go to Lamma Island. Actually we were supposed to go to Macau that day – turns out if you’re trying to get a ferry ticket to and from Macau on a National Holiday, you really do need to book in advance. So we were left, at 10am on a Monday morning, with no plans for that day. What to do? Of course we went to Mana Slow Fast Food and ate (everywhere is closed at 10am on a Monday!), but after that we really did need some plans. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the beach seemed like the best idea. Back to the ferry, and on to Lamma Island for some exploring. Don’t be put off by the number of seafood places when you arrive, you’ll soon be onto a lovely walking trail that will take you round the island. The beach was a disappointment – it was small, a bit dirty and very crowded – so we headed off to find some find some vegan food. As we neared the little village Yung Shue Wan, we noticed that the shops were becoming decidedly more Western in look, or hipster, or arty, or whichever phrasing gives you an accurate enough impression. Lantau Island, in comparison, is much more what I would expect a small island in Asia to be like, even though it’s far more touristy. Local shops, local food, not much English. At least the parts we went to.

A disappointing beach

A disappointing beach

Bookworm Cafe We were advised to visit Bookworm Cafe. This was, personally, my biggest disappointment from the whole trip. Not only that, but they’re really not vegan suitable, despite being advertised as vegan friendly. Of all the cafes that had veggie/vegan options, bookworm looked the best and had the most recommendations. It was totally packed and there was a queue to wait (we were there over the holiday weekend). We talked to the woman a little while waiting there and she was very nice but stressed and busy, as might be expected. She was interested in the vegan Happy Cow HK ice cream which would have been perfect there, I hope they followed up and made the call. Post on ice cream to follow. When we were seated and saw the burger bread on someone else’s plate, it looked like it had an egg glaze. No one could tell us. There were several different stories about whether the egg had bread. The burger on the menu, which used that bun, was labelled vegan. Then we found out the bread does have egg, and ordered it on a different bread. It came out on the burger bun with egg. We got it sent back and finally it appeared on toast, by which time the fries were cold, and they were freezer fries and soft and limp. Not very appetising, and I couldn’t finish them. And I love  anything potato. The burgers (tofu and bean, we tried both) were okay but nothing special, and after the mix up about the egg neither of us were sure we trusted the cafe knows what a vegan diet does and doesn’t include.

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Bookworm cafe, and a glimpse of the queue.

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We paid a small fortune… for this. Left half is bean, right half is tofu. Tiny patties.

The staff were far from apologetic, rather they seemed annoyed and the initial friendliness disappeared fast. The whole experience left me pining for the Western service industry, where if this had happened they would have at least omitted the service charge from the bill. I felt very unwilling to pay what the bill came to.The one redeeming feature was the soy latte, which was really good. We heard other people complain about the vegan cake, so we didn’t try that. The mix up would have been more forgivable in an omni restaurant, but not one which labelled its food as vegan. Please take note: if you’re going to say you serve vegan food, you need to know what’s in it, know that it’s vegan, and make sure at least one member of staff knows! Very disappointed and concerned other vegans may visit and not know. What we absolutely loved though was… The health food shop next door Also known as ‘their sign is too bright to see in the pictures and I can’t remember the name’. But it’s right next door to Bookworm Cafe. This is like a blend of a UK health food shop and an American one. There were so many vegan options I haven’t seen since I moved to Asia, or simply haven’t seen at all like Tofurky. There were just so many things I don’t even know where to start, but needless to say we skipped around the shop like children in a candy store, squealing at each other in excitement. P1030048 P1030050 P1030052 P1030053 P1030056 Doesn’t all of that look amazing? And back on the mainland of Hong Kong, here’s what you can find in City Super: P1030083 P1030082 Just look at all of that Silk and Field Roast glory! Actually I’ve never seen Field Roast before, I’m just told it’s good. If we were staying there longer I would have tried some. Lantau Island Just a little note to say that, because it’s the island with the big Buddha, most of the places surrounding it are veg friendly. Be careful of the food, though, because again like in Bookworm, the people serving it will give you a different answer to ‘does this contain milk and egg?’ depending on who you ask and how they’re feeling. And we were asking in Cantonese, so it wasn’t a language barrier thing. It’s just safer not to trust them: if it looks like it might have egg, don’t eat it. Lantau island is really pretty, though, and has cows freely roaming around that are wild, so it’s worth a visit. P1030162 P1030150 P1030129 Left to right, top to bottom: misc. buffet food, a big buddha, and Josette making new friends. Lantau island is possible to see in about 5 or 6 hours, unless you want to do a hike, so we caught a bus and went there the morning of our flight. The bus was also cheaper, albeit less pretty, than the gondolas. Our flight was late evening and we were left with several hours skulking round an overpriced outlet mall. To get to Lamma island, take a ferry from the Central Harbour area. It’s quick, easy, and reasonably cheap. Then please buy a load of vegan stuff from the shop there, and post it to me. Taiwan vs. Hong Kong, Vegan-off I’m pretty impressed with both places for being vegan in. Hong Kong wins for Western Vegan food and produce, Taiwan for local vegan food and availability. Hong Kong wins for main meals if you want to eat out, Taiwan definitely wins for desserts (have you seen my Instagram yet?) Cost wise, Hong Kong is EXPENSIVE to eat like a Western Vegan. If I lived there, my savings would be gone within the month. Final conclusion though, is that it’s like almost everywhere I’ve been. You’ll hear that it’s bad for vegans, and then you go, and you look, and you ask around, and you find delicious food. Go travel, now.

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Vegan adventures in Hong Kong – Hong Kong Island & Kowloon

“What are you going do in Hong Kong?”

“Eat.”

And eat we did. Goodness food is expensive in Hong Kong compared to Taiwan! There are so many vegan options though, we barely made a dent in the restaurants we wanted to visit. Here’s my rundown of the dos and don’ts for vegans in Hong Kong – these were all in the space of two days, so we didn’t get to try as much as we’d have liked. Our stomachs simply didn’t stretch that big.

Mana – Slow Fast Food (Vegetarian)

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Raw coconut cake

Chocolate Cake Mana

Raw chocolate cake

mana wrap

Gluten free wrap

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with lots of avocado

This is the only place we visited twice (partly because they’re one of the only places open before 12pm on a Monday). They have a fast slow food concept, so you can eat out or dine in. I loved the flatbreads, really generous with the fillings and lots of flavor. The place itself has a really nice atmosphere and a great playlist, and the staff were friendly, helpful and polite. Almost everything is vegan, except for some fillings. The desserts were slightly disappointing – very small slices and the coconut cake tasted like cashews not coconut, I would have preferred it more coconut creamy. It would be nice to have a price difference for the fillings too – for example, the cucumber was the same price as avocado.

Food waste gets turned into compost, and they use paper only packaging and make an effort to recycle. What confused me was that there is only the option of disposable packaging. I would have rather seen less packaging and more re-useable containers. Other than that I loved Mana and will definitely go back if I’m in Hong Kong again.

MTR: Central

Do or don’t visit?: Do

Taste – 4/5

Value – 4/5

Atmosphere – 5/5

Facebook; Happy Cow

Life Organic Health Cafe (Vegetarian)

The disappointing tofu cake

The disappointing tofu cake, with thighs to show scale

Before we arrived in Hong Kong Life Cafe was highly recommended to me, so when we found it we were both kind of disappointed. The food was a little uninspiring (salads, samosas, falafels, and desserts) and I would have asked about the menu which looked more interesting, but the staff were unfriendly and unapproachable. When we ordered a piece of cake, I thought that they were trying to tell us to go away because they were closed. Turns out she just wasn’t the eye-contact and smiling type.

The only thing I tried was the vegan tofu chocolate cake, but it was bland, expensive and just tasted of tofu – it didn’t encourage me to try more, but maybe I’d go back and try a lunch and the coffee. Maybe. The other customers were friendly and smiley at least.

My other quibble is that their packaging was all disposable and just went in the same trash can – there was no option of sorting for recycling. This disappointed me for somewhere that otherwise claims to be environmentally conscious.

MTR: Central

Do or don’t visit?: Don’t for the desserts, if you try the mains let me know.

Taste – 2/5 for the cake

Value – 3/5

Atmosphere – 3/5

WebsiteHappy Cow

Mana Raw – Wild Juicery

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Celery root ‘vushi’

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Inside Mana Raw

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Collard Wraps

This is a raw branch of Mana just across the street and down a little way from Mana Slow Fast Food. I was (and still am, I think it’s summer coming!) really craving raw food so I talked Josette, my vegan travel companion, into going for lunch. It’s my usual complaint about raw vegan places – small serving sizes. I had the celery root vushi and it was delicious, but there were only 6 pieces. Josette had the collard green wraps, which were a little less creative. I felt like they were something I could have whipped up at home without much thought, which isn’t especially what I go to raw vegan places for – I go for the innovation and creativity they usually bring to their creations. I didn’t get to try the juices or desserts, which was a shame. Overall I would like to see more creativity in their menu.

The staff were really friendly and helpful and we talked for a while. Something curious about all the more ‘trendy’ dining places of Hong Kong is that the menus are only in English, unlike in Taipei where they’re all bilingual. I asked why, and they said that all their customers are Westerners – but the staff are local or Filipino. They told me that there’s a large number of vegans and healthy eaters in Hong Kong. This is very different from Taipei, where there aren’t enough expats alone to keep somewhere like this in business and there are far more locals who eat at the vegan restaurants. Something about this situation in Hong Kong didn’t feel quite right to me after living in Taipei for the past 9 months.

MTR: Central

Do or don’t visit?: Only if you’re craving raw food, but I think there are better raw places we didn’t make it to on this trip.

Taste – 3.5/5

Value – 3/5

Atmosphere – 5/5

Facebook; Happy Cow

Loving Hut – Wan Chai

BBQ Char Sui steamed buns for breakfast

BBQ Char Sui steamed buns for breakfast

BBQ Char Sui meal set

BBQ Char Sui meal set (with a vegan egg)

Caramel latte, all prettily decorated

Caramel latte, all prettily decorated

'Egg and Cheese' sandwich.

‘Egg and Cheese’ sandwich.

Laksa Soup

Laksa Soup

Happy Cow HK Ice Cream, I dream of this stuff

Happy Cow HK Ice Cream, I dream of this stuff

I told a lie, we went here twice too, once for lunch when we first got to HK and once for breakfast the next day. If I lived nearby I’d go there for breakfast every day (except they only open at 11). If you go, you have to try the Char Sui BBQ Soya Slices. The egg tarts were a little flavourless and I’d have liked more vanilla to give more of a custardy taste, or some lemon to make them more interesting. The coffee was excellent and had a pretty pattern on it, and they do a surprisingly realistic sunny side up egg. The staff were friendly and there was even a live music act when we were first there.

They also stock Happy Cow HK ice cream, which is made from coconut cream and sugar and is amazing. There will be a full blog post about ice cream to follow.

MTR:  MTR Wan Chai Station, Exit A3

Do or don’t visit?: Do

Taste – 4/5

Value – 5/5

Atmosphere – 4.5/5

Website; Happy Cow

Branto Pure Indian Vegetarian

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Masala Dosa

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Idly Vada

Slightly awkward to find as it’s hidden away in an apartment building, we went here for a snack on our way to the light show – we had approximately twenty minutes. I wish we’d had time for a full meal here as it was certainly far less of a disappointment than the light show was. Actually, it wasn’t a disappointment at all. We only had two of the appetisers, a masala dosa that was the hands down winner, and an Idly Vada that was also pretty good. I would have happily stayed and eaten everything vegan they had to offer. It’s somewhere I’ll be going back to. The service was fast and efficient, and the place filled up at dinner time with all the local Indian population, which is always a good sign.

MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui

Do or don’t visit?: Do. Skip the light show and eat here till your stomach puffs out poppadom style.

Taste – 5/5

Value – 5/5

Atmosphere – 4.5/5

Website; Happy Cow

Gaia Veggie Shop

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Taro ‘fish’, a traditional veggie dish

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Fried noodles, with vinegar and sugar to add

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What I call Beef Wellington, because that’s what it tasted like

Hidden away in a large Mirimar (a mall for anyone who doesn’t know), we visited here for dinner later on the same night as the Indian. Their menu is huge, and what’s vegetarian not vegan is clearly marked with an egg symbol next to the dish. I tried the taro fish, the fried noodles with sugar and vinegar, and what was a sort of veganized beef wellington. All strange sounding, but delicious! The prices were very reasonable (not cheap but not too bad) and it came to around 100HKD each for a filling meal. The provided tea, pickles, and a complimentary mung bean dessert. I could happily have gone back and tried different things, too.

MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui

Do or don’t visit?: Do. It’s something more traditional to try while in HK.

Taste – 5/5

Value – 4/5

Atmosphere – 4/5

Happy Cow

…………

We also tried a local place around Sam Shui Po that will appear in the Hong Kong videos on my YouTube channel (search Plant-powered Nomad), a local breakfast place and a dessert place. I don’t have the names or addresses of them, but there was some good food! A handy reminder that asking locals and leaving the comfort of Happy Cow is always good, too.

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Complimentary Cantonese curried wheat gluten (seitan)

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Black fungus soup

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Tradtional breakfast of rice tubes in peanut sauce.

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Sweet potato and ginger dessert

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Vegan chicken satay. It was delicious.

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Mango sago

We also tried the Lok Chai Tea House but it was 60HKD each for tea! The Dim Sum looked good but was 40HKD for each small plate, so we put the menu down and scurried out to spend our pennies elsewhere.

As a final note, the supermarkets in HK are awesome for vegans and you can get a lot of the Western vegan food like Tofurkey and Field Roast that isn’t available in most of Asia. Again, check out my YouTube in a few days for a video tour. There are so many more places we didn’t get to that I want to try next time I’m in Hong Kong, as usual if you’ve been anywhere you love, let me know.

Happy eating!

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