Looking for great vegetarian or vegan food in Hong Kong? Look no further. We look at three of the best restaurants including Lock Cha Tea House, Grassroots Pantry, and HOME: Eat to Live. This post briefly looks at each restaurant. For a more in-depth look at each place, click their names for a full review.
Lock Cha Tea House: Vegan and Vegetarian Dim Sum
Lock Cha is a vegetarian dim sum restaurant with an extensive tea menu. Although they don’t bill themselves as a vegan restaurant, I believe at least half of the dishes are actually vegan. There are about 20 dishes offered and perhaps 50 types of tea available. About 10 dishes change day-to-day. They also are open for dinner with a slightly modified menu, but you should definitely go for breakfast or lunch. Beware, on weekdays the restaurant can be packed at lunchtime.
Lock Cha has a wide variety of dim sum, which are perfect for sharing.
They also sell a wide variety of tea and tea accessories, including some very cool cups and bowls.
Lock Cha is located in the K.S. Lo Gallery in Admiralty’s Hong Kong park. You’ll want to take the escalator from Pacific Place, or take a taxi directly to the British Council.
Lock Cha: The Verdict
Lock Cha is a must-visit if you are vegetarian but want to have Cantonese dim sum. If you’re actually a meat eater, then you could just get regular dim sum, although I have to say the interior of Lock Cha is so relaxing that it’s hard to pass up this place. Less westernized, for better or worse, than Grassroots Pantry or HOME.
Grassroots Pantry: International Vegan and Vegetarian
Grassroots Pantry offers an eclectic mix of different cuisines from around the world–although if you had to group it into a category, it would definitely be hipster western food. It offers both vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, all of which are clearly marked. Not only is English spoken well here, it is in fact the only language their menu is in. That should tell you something about the clientele. For that reason I would recommend Lock Cha for the tourist looking for an “authentic” experience–although given Hong Kong is a truly global city, who is to say what is authentic anyway?
The Indian Tikka Flatbread with hedgehog mushroom, tikka spice rub, curry pine nut cream, mango chutney, and cilantro mint pesto. This was very good and surprisingly versatile. Savory and sweet but not too much of either.
This is their Thai green curry, which was excellent.
Their take on popcorn “chicken” which was actually quite good.
Grassroots Pantry: The Verdict
Grassroots pantry is perfect if you want to get your smoothie on, get your brunch on, or generally vibe out with healthy vegan meals. It’s not the place to go if you want something Chinese. If you want a relaxing brunch, it’s arguably the best spot on the list, but I really cannot overstate how much I love Lock Cha.
Location
HOME: Eat to Live
Home is a vegan and vegetarian restaurant in Central. In many ways its very similar to Grassroots Pantry, except it’s more of a quick eats or to-go sort of spot, while Grassroots Pantry is more of a sit down or brunch type of place.
HOME is famous for their bowls. They start with a rice base and allow you to add toppings and sauces to customize them. This allows them to be either veganor vegetarian.
This is the “Northern White Rhino” burger, with a side of sweet potato fries (they’re huge!) and a salad. Pretty good. But nothing beats that view! Yes, there is a couch seat surrounded by windows which gives you absolutely no privacy, but, a great view of the crowds of Central. Decent trade eh?
The “Silky Sifaka” which is basically just vegan pho with avocado. It was good. The avocado was surprisingly not terrible in soup broth, and the kelp noodles were actually quite tasty. This is probably an underrated dish here.
There are actually two floors of HOME, and they both have the same hip Brooklyn vegan vibe.
You can build your own salad bowl with these ingredients.
HOME: The Verdict
HOME serves very good vegan and vegetarian food. The quality is roughly similar to Grassroots pantry, while the price is a little bit less. The primary difference is that HOME is closer to fast food while Grassroots pantry is more of a sit down restaurant. Both have their place, and luckily, both are very healthy. HOME can’t really be compared to Lock Cha except for the fact they both serve vegetarian food.
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If you’re a vegetarian/vegan traveling around the world check out our guides to the best vegetarian/vegan restaurants in Seoul, Stockholm, Santa Cruz, and Auckland.
What are your favorite vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Hong Kong? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Veggies is the best by far 🙂 Awesome staff and it’s a social enterprise!
Thanks for the tip Dave!