Finding vegetarian food while travelling

Finding vegetarian food can be a challenge while travelling.

I am not vegetarian for religious reasons, so I am not so strict about use of non-vegetarian sauces when I can't find pure vegetarian places.

However, sometimes, I do find the taste of non-vegetarian sauces or stock quite offending. In Cambodia, I quite grossed out by the meat stock used in the fried vegetable noodles. In Laos, some fishy paste used in the papaya salad was too overwhelming for me.

In general, Indian restaurants would offer some vegetarian options and Italian restaurants would also have at least a vegetarian pasta dish. As stir fry is quite common in Southeast Asian and East Asian countries, it is always easy to ask for a stir fry vegetable dish.

But it is a lot more difficult if you want to try the local stuff. So I am always delighted to find vegetarian local food.

I like Thai food and in Changmai (Thailand), I was so happy to find quite a number of vegetarian stalls. In Vietnam, it was delightful to find all sorts of roadside stalls selling various vegetarian stuff on days which the locals observe vegetarian diets. If you do not dare to eat roadside fares, there are small local vegetarian stalls around. You just of to just to locate them.

This blog is meant to share some of those adventures looking for vegetarian food while I travel.

Typically, I travel on a shoe string budget, which means I normally eat cheap and only treat myself to nicer restaurants occasionally. I also like local fare and not adverse to eating at the roadside hawkers. So you will find that most of the eating places mentioned are local stalls or mid-range restaurants.