Eating vegetarian on Cat Ba is easy in town and easy at our table if you tell us when you book; eating vegan needs one more sentence, about fish sauce, which we explain below. We cook dinner for our guests every evening in Viet Hai, and a kitchen in a village with no shop works best with a little warning, because anything we do not grow comes across the bay by boat. This page covers what we cook, what Vietnamese food hides inside it, and what to know about eating in Cat Ba town.
Vegetarian and vegan on Cat Ba at a glance
| At Lan Homestay | Vegetarian dinners are easy with notice; vegan works with a day’s notice. Tell us when you book. Breakfast is included in the room |
| The catch | Fish sauce (nuoc mam) is in most Vietnamese dishes by default, including vegetable ones; “no meat” does not remove it. Say “an chay” and “khong nuoc mam” and you are understood |
| Cat Ba town | Ordinary restaurants will usually cook tofu and vegetables without fish sauce if you ask; picture menus and a phone translation help |
| On the day boat | The full-day boat lunch is cooked on board; vegetarian dishes are available on request, so ask when you book |
| Allergies | Tell us before you arrive, not at the table; shellfish especially. We plan the dishes around what you cannot eat |
| Cost | Family dinner 150,000 VND per person; breakfast included in the room |
The fish sauce problem, explained once
Nuoc mam, fermented fish sauce, is the salt of northern Vietnamese cooking. It goes into the dipping sauce, the stir-fry, the soup stock and the marinade, and a cook who hears “no meat” will leave out the pork and keep the fish sauce without a second thought, because to them it is seasoning, not fish. So a vegetarian who does not mind fish sauce can eat almost anything meat-free on the island with no fuss. A vegan, or a vegetarian who does mind, needs to say so clearly: the phrase is an chay (vegetarian, in the Buddhist sense, which in Vietnam usually means no animal products at all) and, to be safe, khong nuoc mam (no fish sauce). Said together they are understood in most places, and most kitchens then switch to soy sauce and salt. Shrimp paste and dried shrimp turn up in some dishes too; the same two phrases are the starting point.
What we cook for vegetarians and vegans
Our dinner is family style: five or six dishes in the middle of one long table, rice and soup, and everyone helps themselves. This is a farming valley and half the table is vegetables anyway. For vegetarian guests we cook without fish sauce when we know in advance; vegan guests need a day’s notice so that we can plan the dishes. What you get depends on the season and on what is ready in the garden that day, but these are dishes that appear on our table and how they work for each diet.
| Dish | Vegetarian? | Vegan? | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stir-fried garden greens | Yes | Yes, cooked with soy sauce and salt instead of fish sauce | Say so at booking |
| Tofu simmered with tomato | Yes, the dish vegetarians ask us the recipe of | Yes | Day before |
| Fresh spring rolls with herbs from the garden | Easy to make vegetarian | Ask us; the dipping sauce is the question | Day before |
| Canh, the clear soup | Yes, when made without fish or pork | Ask us; the stock is the question | Say so at booking |
| Steamed rice | Yes | Yes | Always |
| Fish, pork and other dishes for the rest of the table | No | No | Not for you |
Breakfast is included: eggs and bread, pho or fried rice, coffee and fruit, so a vegetarian needs nothing changed. Between meals a quick-food menu runs all day with 20 minutes’ notice, including fried rice, noodles, eggs and fruit. The page on what to eat in Viet Hai describes the normal menu, and the family dinner explains how the evening works.
Why we ask for notice
Viet Hai has no shop. Vegetables come from the plots you can see from the lane, and anything else comes across the bay by boat from Cat Ba town. If you tell us at booking that you are vegan, we can plan the dishes before you arrive. If you tell us at dinner, you will still eat, because greens, rice and soup are always on the table, but the choice will be narrower than it could have been. The same applies to allergies: tell us before you arrive, not at the table, because the one thing a kitchen cannot do is remove an ingredient from a dish that is already cooked.
On the bay
Lunch on the full-day Lan Ha Bay boat is a Vietnamese lunch cooked on board, with grilled fish, squid, local vegetables and rice; vegetarian dishes are available on request, so tell us at booking and we pass it on. For vegan, or a strict diet, ask us first and we will check with the crew what is possible before you commit. The floating fish farms and fishing with the villagers are, obviously, about fish; vegetarians still come along for the boat and the bay, and nobody is obliged to eat the catch. If you are paddling on the half-day kayak trip, ask us what is included in the day you choose.
Eating vegetarian in Cat Ba town
Cat Ba town is a different story from the village: it has restaurants with picture menus, so ordering without Vietnamese is easy. The things to know: a “vegetarian” dish in a mainstream restaurant will have fish sauce unless you ask; check opening hours on your map app the same day, because small places change them; and the harbour-front seafood restaurants are the wrong place to be a vegan, however good the view. Our budget guide lists what a meal costs, and splitting a stay between town and village explains how to combine both.
Useful words: an chay (vegetarian/vegan), khong nuoc mam (no fish sauce), khong trung (no egg), khong thit (no meat), dau phu (tofu), rau (vegetables), com (rice). Written on your phone they work better than spoken, because the tones are hard to get right.
Allergies and other diets
Tell us before you arrive, especially for shellfish: we need to know when you book, not at the table. Soy sauce contains gluten, so for a coeliac guest we cook with plain rice, rice noodles, fresh fish and meat, vegetables and fruit, and keep soy sauce, wheat noodles and bread away from the plate; pho can be served without soy or hoisin sauce, and we ask the guest to remind the cook on arrival as well. Soy is also in tofu, which is one of our main vegan dishes, so a vegan who cannot eat soy should say so at booking. Families should read Cat Ba with kids for what children usually eat here, and what to pack for the snacks worth bringing from town, because the village has no shop.
How we handle special diets
Tell us at booking: vegetarian, vegan, allergies, anything you do not eat. We note it for the kitchen and plan the dishes with you. For the bay day we tell the crew in advance. If something is unclear we ask rather than guess. Message us with your dates and we will reply with what is possible.
Questions about vegetarian and vegan food on Cat Ba
Are there vegetarian restaurants on Cat Ba?
In Cat Ba town most ordinary restaurants will cook tofu and vegetables without fish sauce if you ask, and picture menus help; check opening hours on your map app the same day. In Viet Hai village there are no restaurants in the town sense; we cook.
Can Lan Homestay cook vegan meals?
Yes, with notice. Tell us at booking or at least the day before and we cook without fish sauce, using soy sauce, tofu, vegetables from the valley and rice. Without notice you will still eat greens, rice and soup, but the choice is narrower.
Does Vietnamese food usually contain fish sauce?
Yes, almost always, including in vegetable dishes and dipping sauces. “No meat” does not remove it. Say “an chay” and “khong nuoc mam” and most kitchens switch to soy sauce and salt.
Can you handle allergies like shellfish or gluten?
Tell us before you arrive. For gluten we cook with plain rice, rice noodles, fresh fish and meat, vegetables and fruit, and keep soy sauce, wheat noodles and bread away from the plate. For shellfish, say so when you book, not at the table.
Anything else, send us a message and we will answer from the village.
Read next
- What to eat in Viet Hai village
- The family dinner in Viet Hai
- Cat Ba island budget guide
- Things to do on Cat Ba island
