I was happy to find that Hanoi is a place where it’s pretty easy to be a vegetarian, or even vegan. I could almost always find something vegetarian to eat at a given restaurant and there were a number of exclusively vegetarian/vegan restaurants as well. One, or rather, at least two, of these, was Loving Hut Hanoi.

Loving Hut Hanoi – Vegan Food

My First Introduction to Loving Hut

While I didn’t know about Loving Hut for a long time, if you are vegan or vegetarian living in a major city, you probably know it as one of the few vegan chains out there. I have been a vegetarian for a long time and first found out about it when I was in college.

I would regularly feed the homeless with a group – though a couple times it was just me – starting my freshman year and the local Loving Hut would regularly donate food for the feedings. Thus it would usually be a stop on the way to downtown.

Unique Spirituality

While waiting, I would occasionally watch their strange television programming. I thought it was just some Asian religion which they used as the basis for their beliefs. This, in fact, was true. I have since discovered that the founder of Loving Hut, Ching Hai, developed her own sort of spiritual method (the ‘Quan Yin method’) and has her own tv channel which plays in many Loving Huts.

Anyway, despite the television programming featuring the founder, I’m not sure I even realized that it wasn’t just a local restaurant until several years later when I saw one in another state. Since traveling, we have found out that Loving Huts are all over the world (there are something like 138 locations) and the founder, Ching Hai is actually from Vietnam.

Two Hanoi Locations

We went to two locations in Hanoi. The first place we planned into our itinerary on one of our first outings in Hanoi. We did not yet realize how veg-friendly the city was and wanted to ensure that I would not go hungry as we were planning to do a lot of walking that day. The second we just stumbled upon.

Loving Hut 1:

192 Quán Thánh, Ba Đình, Hà Nội, Vietnam

On our first stay in Hanoi, we were staying a bit farther up/away from many of the more touristy activities. One day early on we were walking in this direction to see Chùa Trấn Quốc and to buy tickets to the Water Puppet Theater.

We almost missed the restaurant as it was a little off to the side. Not surprisingly, the relatively small – it maybe had 6-9 small tables – restaurant primarily contained other westerners. Vietnamese will sometimes be vegetarian for religious reasons but it did not seem to be very common.

A board to the right showed various famous vegan people and the extensive menu contained many dishes with fake meat ranging from chicken and beef to tuna and shrimp. There were vegan versions of many local Vietnamese dishes.

I personally tend to not be much of a fan of the fake meats seeing as I have absolutely no taste or interest for real meat but there were plenty of other options too. I don’t remember the name of the dishes but I think we both ordered normal veganified Vietnamese dishes and they were good. Our meals together cost 65,000VND (~$2.91).

Loving Hut 2:

Loving Hut, 33 Bà Triệu, Hàng Bài, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Not only was this the nicest Loving Hut I’ve ever been in, but it was probably the nicest restaurant in which Kyle and I have dined, ever! After finishing up at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, we were hungry. All we had to do was walk down the street, though and we saw a Loving Hut sign. Yay! 

As we walked towards it, we could not discern the location of the restaurant, though. It looked like there was just a Loving Hut grocery store, something which I didn’t even realize existed. We were a little disappointed as we wanted to eat right then but then I saw another sign which said restaurant.

I asked a guard who was standing outside and he said “Yes, right this way,” or something along those lines and escorted us into an elevator. ‘Uh-oh!’, we thought, both in the elevator and as we stepped out. I’m pretty sure the restaurant had only been open a couple months (if even) when we visited (March 2016).

Super Fancy

The waiters were wearing tuxedos and the decor was elegant. I would have taken more pictures (which don’t really do it justice) but we were pretty much being watched the whole time so I tried to be discreet. We were worried we might not be able to afford anything but we couldn’t really turn around now as there was a guard/escort at the elevator and it would have been rather embarrassing.

Presented with the menu, we were reminded that, while a very nice restaurant, we were still in Vietnam. Prices for many items were a little high for our very tight budget at the time, but it was all extremely reasonable. Especially considering the great quality of the place, service, and food.

We ordered a single green tea to share in case water was not complimentary – as we have found is the case in most restaurants in Asia. I think we may have received water, though. Because we were quite hungry, we also ordered an appetizer to share. We both opted for meals which were at the lower price-end of their dishes, with me getting the fried eggplant and Kyle ordering bun chau him chay.

Very Personal Service

Each time the waiter brought a dish, another waiter would stand alongside. They would lift up the special platter covering thing – or that’s how I remember it – serving us. I think they might have even had on gloves. I remember being just a little uncomfortable from feeling under-dressed (though they did not treat us in this manner) and because I did not know any further etiquette I should have been practicing there but the food was well-presented and delicious.

Fancy Meal Cheap Fare

Our meal at this fancy vegan restaurant which included: one appetizer, one drink, and two meals came out to 205,000VND (~$9.19). We were given a discount due to International Women’s Day. Though it was not technically on the day – but that was great! This reduced the price to 185,000VND and we ended up paying 200,000VND.

Tipping is not typical in Vietnam but with the discount and quality, we had to do so. I think we thought about giving more but did not have appropriate bills to do so. Plus, we were still on a budget. We had decided to call this a sort of anniversary meal even though it was a little early.

They provided us with a coupon for a future visit and we did think about returning. But we did not have a ton of time left in the city and it was not close to us so we did not make it back. I would still highly recommend the place though. If you don’t go to the cafe at the Vietnamese Women’s museum, it’s a good option for a place to get food afterward.  

Be Sure To Check Out Loving Hut

From what I can tell online, there may be at least one more Loving Hut in Hanoi as well:

Loving Hut Nguon Coi Restaurant, 3 Ngách 10, Ngõ 121, Phố Chùa Láng, Quận Đống Đa, Hà Nội, Vietnam.  

I cannot verify anything about it as we did not visit this location.

• If you are looking for more delicious vegan/vegetarian food in Hanoi, also check out: Bo de Quan
• For good vegan/vegetarian food on Cat Ba island (just a few hours from Hanoi), check out: Buddha Belly
• And finally, for a nice vegetarian restaurant in Ho Chi Minh, take a look at Hum Vegetarian