News from Chiang Mai’s Vegan Scene: April 2018
There has never been a better time to be a vegan in Chiang Mai. Last year, there were only a couple of fully vegan restaurants that existed in the city. As of April 2018, there are now as many as ten fully vegan restaurants here. These are all western style restaurants. They aren’t Thai style cafés that only have buffet food and close early. These are all sit down and order restaurants with long opening hours.
The first vegan restaurant to open was Vegan Heaven around one or two years ago. Then Free Bird Café went from cutting out all dairy options to all egg dishes as well. Reform Kafe then made the switch from vegetarian to fully vegan.
Things got even more exciting towards the end of December 2017 when two brand new vegan restaurants opened within days of each other! Reform Kafe opened their sister branch Goodsouls Kitchen which has now certainly become Chiang Mai’s most famous and popular vegan restaurant. Since then, they have also extended their opening hours and introduced lots of new items on their menu including a whole breakfast menu.
A day or two after Goodsouls opened, Pure Vegan Heaven Chiang Mai opened a branch in Chiang Mai. This restaurant is very unique compared to others in Chiang Mai and is also deservedly popular.
Another interesting addition is V-Secret Homemade Vegetarian which is a street cart in the night market selling creative, inexpensive dishes from a street cart during the evenings.
The most recent addition to the scene is Moreganic Vegetarian which is a classy, high-end restaurant that has opened up in the very swish Away Thapae Resort. Along with Reform Kafe’s Green Tiger House, they are the second fully vegetarian accommodation in Chiang Mai.
There are lots of various vegan-related events happening each week in Chiang Mai, from social lunches, yoga and meditation events as well as advocacy events such as the peaceful demonstration: Cube of Truth. The program is now in full swing in Chiang Mai with an event usually happening around every two weeks. To get involved, please join the AV: Chiang Mai Facebook Group.
As well as all this there are of course over fifty vegetarian restaurants now listed on HappyCow which all have extensive vegan options. There are around a further fifty restaurants that are vegetarian-friendly which all have vegan options indicated on their menus. More and more restaurants are introducing more and more vegan options making veganism even easier for everyone. There are also many blogs being written regularly about veganism in Chiang Mai which I will always share on my site.
Don’t forget that Songkran is being held this month from the 12th-16th April. If you are staying in Chiang Mai for the festival, before visiting any restaurant please check their opening hours. Some of them may take this opportunity to take a vacation and close for a few days. Please check the restaurant’s Facebook page for any update. I have also added the closures I know about to the events calendar.
Whatever you’re doing this Songkran, I hope you have a joyful time! I will be in Burma so you might see a few off-topic posts over this following week, I hope that’s OK!
Happy vegan eating and living,
Dee
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