Introduction
A couple of days ago was the full moon (15th Day) of the 4th Lunar month, which is traditionally celebrated as Vesak Day/Buddha Purnima in Buddhist Asian countries like Vietnam and India, commemorating the Shakyamuni Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana.
Traditionally, in many countries it is considered to be a “vegetarian day” where Buddhists refrain from eating slaughtered animals out of respect for Buddha’s teachings. According to Thanh Nien , on the occasion of Buddha’s birthday, many restaurants give away free vegetarian dishes, hoping that people will happily come and receive them if they need them, see online report here. “Vegetarian Week” happens globally on the third week of May annually (from 19th May 2025).
Also, at the United Nations Vesak 2025 event (6-8 May 2025) as I wrote about here, I presented a paper on the Buddha’s teachings that forbid for monastics (other than in very strict circumstances) and strongly discourage the consumption of animal flesh as food, especially if the animal has been slaughtered for that purpose. Also, how not consuming animals as food has become even more essential for protecting and caring for the environment and natural resources, like conserving water, land and food etc.
This short review article is my own contribution to the vegetarian Vesak Day ideal, which should really be done every day of the week, right? Wanton and needless killing is killing regardless of the day it is done. I profile and highlight three vegan/vegetarian (inexpensive) restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City that I have visited and particularly admire for various reasons, including the motivation and circumstances in which they were founded. I met and spoke to the owners of the restaurants and it was interesting to hear their stories about them.
The first is called Rao O’i, set up and owned by a lovely Vietnamese man, who I have met before last year, and who told me about how the restaurant came into being with his wife, during the COVID lockdown times. The second and third are two different branches of Shamballa, a Vietnamese owned, but Tibetan themed, lovely (and more expensive) vegan restaurant/teahouse and a lounge/restaurant, owned and founded by a Vietnamese woman whom I was able to speak to for a while and find out more about her life and reason for creating these gorgeous Tibetan-themed havens in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. I discovered that her Tibetan guru, Humkar Dorje Rinpoche (whom she has followed for years) recently passed away, and was moved by her sheer devotion and emotion towards him.
There are a few other vegetarian restaurants in HCMC, including Bong Sung, which also has great surroundings, is very central and good prices. I had a delicious vegetable Vietnamese curry there, with baguette bread, but I have not had time to try most of them out. I also tend to stick with what I know is good too 🙂 Not that big a “foodie” person either.
Some vegetarian places listed in HCMC are very local, almost like stalls, that serve vegan options, but also meat. Also, I am writing about them due to my having personal eaten at these restaurants, and being a vegetarian myself, I want to support and promote them, so I do not accept payment or receive gifts in exchange for any content on the website.
In any case, the presence of affordable, beautifully designed, vegetarian and vegan restaurants in HCMC makes one wonder why would any Buddhist need to eat slaughtered animals anyway? With that rhetorical question, there really is no good reason at all, certainly not from the Buddhist context, or even animal-lover, environmental context either. For more of my original research and writing on Buddhism and eating animals, see the website section on Buddhism and Vegetarianism here.
For several video clips I created of my Buddhist root guru, the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa speaking about why he took a life-long vow never to eat animals, which I also took with him together with several hundred people under the Bodhi tree, Bodh Gaya, India in 2006, see here.
For my podcast interview with scholar-translator, Dr. Geoffrey Barstow about his interesting work on the presence of Tibetan Buddhist masters who were all vegetarians pre-1959, see here.
For a video and transcript of well-known Buddhist nun, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo speaking about why she doesn’t eat her friends/animals, see here.
Enjoy the photos and some shots of the food below! Here’s to Buddhists following in the Buddha’s footsteps and being a voice for the voiceless animals and decreasing suffering and increasing compassion for animals and our precious planet and natural resources with our diet.
Music? Om Mani Padme Hum compassion by Gtashi and KKush, Rape of the World by Tracy Chapman and Meat is Murder by the Smiths.
Written and compiled by Adele Tomlin, 14th May 2025.
Vegetarian Saigon (District 1)
1) Rau O’i
The name of this restaurant, Rau O’i means “Dear Vegetables” and billed as a ‘sanctuary for the senses;. This is one of the first vegetarian restaurants I visited last year when I was in HCMC and it is still one of my fave places for Vietnamese vegetarian food. Here are some photos I took while I was in HCMC recently of the restaurant and with Alfred.
It is tucked away on a quiet street, in a really elegant and funky part of the centre of HCMC with great cafes, restaurants, salons, art galleries and quaint boutique shops and small hotels. The interior design is airy, and vibrant and colourful decor, and has a great energy. I was told by the kind and friendly owner, Alfred was inspired by his wife’s originally delivering bouquets of vegetables to customers. This then developed into a restaurant.
The owner Alfred (an his wife) told me that the restaurant grew from their delivering meals to dosctors and nurses for free during the COVID lockdown in Vietnam. He said it was inspired by seeing the work they were doing and that they were not getting great or healthy food. At one point, he told me they were delivering 200 fresh meals per day with three people arranging and cooking it. From that, he said they then started doing deliveries of the vegan food, and then it grew into a restaurant itself.
The restaurant subtly educates on vegetarianism too, for those customers who may be wondering, the menu on the first pages details the health benefits of vegetables, and also why vegetarian diet is important in other respects. Despite the fact the Buddha clearly taught in many sutras about not deliberately killing, or actively supporting the killing of any sentient being, especially to eat!
The menu is vegetarian and vegan, and has mock meat as well as just vegetable dishes. The food is Vietnamese food, and they also serve Vietnamese coffees, and drinks hot and cold. So it is a great place to try different Vietnamese dishes, without having to eat slaughtered animals in the process! Prices are not expensive either, about 900-110 000 VND (around 4 USD) for a main course, and 45-60 VND for an iced coffee or drink.
The Rao O’i restaurant also do set lunches. The service is excellent and it is generally open until 21:30. Alfred (who speaks fluent English) and I spoke quite a bit about how meat is still eaten in so many places, not just in Vietnam but all over SE Asia, particularly in Buddhist countries/cultures, even being served recently at the United Nations Buddhist Vesak Day 2025 event. Despite the fact the Buddha clearly taught in many sutras about not deliberately killing, or actively supporting the killing of any sentient being, especially to eat!
2) Shamballa: Vegetarian Restaurant and Tea House
Another of my favourite restaurants in HCMC (for food and location), but slightly more “upmarket” in terms of decor and higher prices is Shamballa Restaurant and Teahouse, a Tibetan themed restaurant with both Tibetan and Vietnamese vegetarian food available.
The external appearance is beautiful, with a vintage wooden door and tree outside, with red flowers hanging over it. There is also a sign saying next to the main door, saying “Welcome to our peaceful haven!”.
In fact, as one walks inside it is peaceful, with some gentle Tibetan Buddhist mantra music, or singing, in the background, and felt very relaxing and “peaceful”. For those with a Tibetan connection, like myself, it is like “coming home” a little. Inside the same dark wood and red theme is present, as one goes through the door, there is a Tibetan Buddhist mandala painting, making me feel instantly like I am back in the Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and places I have spent years in India and Nepal in!
As you go into the main restaurant there is are two trees facing you, with Tibetan lanterns hanging from them. A wonderful way to decorate a restaurant, for those who love trees, like myself!
The staff were all Vietnamese, and they told me the owner/manager is too (who was not present) but that she had once visited Tibet and fell in love with it, so to speak. The password for the wi-fi was nying-je (compassion in Tibetan) which made me smile.
Prices are a little higher here but not too expensive either, a main course ranges between 100-300 VND, coffees, fresh smoothies from 75-120 VND. I think the energy and menu of the restaurant is more suitable for evening meals (open until 22:00), whereas Rao Oi is suitable for morning, lunch and evening meals.
The restaurant serves starters, snacks, mains and also Tibetan Tashi Delek tea set, with Butter Tea and Tsampa cookies (see photo)!
The classic Tibetan dish momos are made with different variations, but there is also a choice of Vietnamese food too.
The food was tasty and beautifully presented but I did not try many dishes there. They also had side dishes of brown rice.
Also, the restaurant website has a commitment to protecting the environment by not using plastics, and say:
“We believe in serving not just delicious food, but also a sustainable future.. that’s why we are committed to eliminating plastic from our operations.”
3) Shambhalla Lounge: spontaneously meeting the inspiring Buddhist Vietnamese owner and her story of pilgrimage to Tibet and near-death experience there
The Shambhalla restaurant also has another lounge and restaurant in District 1, nearer to the Saigon Cathedral, and luxury hotels and shopping malls.
I went there for the first time yesterday, and although the exterior and interior decor is very similar to the other one and they are both stunning, I actually preferred the more spacious design and layout here, there is a pond and garden area outside where people can sit, and the inner seating area is more spacious too.
When I arrived there, I was immediately welcomed by staff and sat next to a table with a Vietnamese woman and two younger men. I spoke to them briefly about the place and Tibet, and asked them where the owner was, then the woman told me she was the owner, Yip/Jade. This was music to my ears, as I had asked at the previous place if the owner was around to speak to, and they had told me she was not. So to bump into her here was karmic causes and conditions coming together for sure. She told me she was just about to leave before I came in too!
Anyway, we spoke for an hour or so about her life-story and how she came to set up the Shamballa restaurants in Vietnam is an interesting one (they have another one in Danang too). First she told me she went to Tibet and met her Tibetan guru, the recently passed Humkar Dorje Rinpoche, who has recently passed away. I was not aware of this Tibetan Rinpoche before, but only a couple of days before, someone had briefly mentioned there being some controversy about him in a message to me, in terms of the circumstances and place of his passing away. More on that in another post perhaps.
In any case, she went to Tibet, a few times, and almost died there once in 2012, she told me. She was very emotional (and clearly devoted) about her guru’s recent passing just under 49 days ago. However, as we spoke and shared our stories and experiences, as well as my being in HCMC presenting a paper on Buddhism and vegetarianism, she warmed up and was smiling and laughing more. Her son was sitting at the next table to us, as was the Vietnamese artist friend, Long, a young male friend of her son who had painted the stunning Tibetan artwork and symbols on the walls of the place (see photos).
In any case, it really is a welcoming and peaceful “home” and the decor is stunning and similar to the previous restaurant. However, this one has a huge original Kalacakra Mandala painting, that Jade told me had been hand painted by a great Tibetan Buddhist master.
The menu seemed to be the same as the other restaurant, as were the prices. It was a very beautiful and peaceful environment, again with mantras and Buddhist music playing in the background. Here are a few photos I took of the place, and the owner.
A National Vietnamese Treasure
While there chatting to Jade and her son, I decided to spontaneously give an exquisite photobook gift “National Treasures of Vietnam”, which I had been originally given by the Vesak event organisers. It was a beautiful gift indeed, and one I did not want to part with most of all, but as I was travelling light and I already wanted to donate it to a worthy place/person and the Shamballa owner and restaurant was just that. They had a few books there for customers to read but not many.
It was also my way of saying thanks to the owner for providing such beautiful vegetarian and Tibetan Buddhist themed restaurants and cafe in Vietnam for all to enjoy peaceful havens without deliberately torturing and killing defenceless and voiceless animals. These restaurants and its founder, are also a Vietnamese national treasure for sure!
Before I left, the owner gave me a beautiful red fan from Shamballa lounge restaurant. They are on sale in the shop there. It is also much needed in hot and humid Saigon/HCMC and spreads a beautiful message with every waft of the fan wherever you walk around. Compassion to all beings, including animals. May we not kill and support others to kill them to eat when there are so many more compassionate and healthier alternatives. ❤️ 😘🙏❤️🔥