Eating vegan in Thailand? Why not hit up some of my favorite spots while you’re there? Here are a few of the places I visited while there this past February. 

I wanted to do a short and sweet blog post on some great vegan spots I ate at in Thailand. Although I was in Thailand for two weeks, I actually didn’t go to that many specifically vegan places because first off, I was traveling with a meat-eating friend, and second off, the majority of restaurants in Thailand have an entire vegetarian menu, so going to a vegan spot is not as crucial as it is in the US or Madrid or wherever.

If I had gone to more places, I would have made a city-specific blog post (which obviously would have made more sense, I realize), but here we go anyways!

Eating Vegan in Thailand: My Favorite Restaurants and Cafes

Bangkok

The Dream Hotel // Bangkok

Gluten-Free Spinach Wraps (corn, carrot, spinach)

I stayed at The Dream for my last three days in Bangkok before heading home. I’ve hung out at their NYC outpost enough to know I liked their style, and it was still relatively affordable (around $70 per night) considering the accommodations. We also loved the food there. Not only was their breakfast buffet the best out of all four hotels we stayed at in Thailand (all of which were about the same price point), but they also had vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free items on their menus.

My favorite item, pictured above, were the gluten-free spinach wraps with corn, carrot, and spinach. I don’t know exactly what these were or how they were made, but they were so, so good. They also offered a veggie sandwich, broccoli and zucchini nuggets, and lots of Thai options that could be made vegan if you asked for the dish without fish sauce.

You can eat in their traditional dining room, but we opted to eat at the pool bar for the majority of our meals.

May Kaidee’s // Bangkok

Everyone told me I should try a cooking class while in Thailand, and I’m so glad I did! May Kaidee’s offers specifically vegetarian and vegan cooking classes (they’ll ask you in the beginning if you are vegetarian or vegan to cater your class to you).

We chose to do a half-day class, the Express Thai Cooking Class, where we made three dishes (Massaman Curry, Pad Thai, and Tom Yum Soup) plus got a mango sticky rice dessert without the hard labor. At first we were a little surprised to see that we were the only ones in the class, so it was essentially going to be a personal class (not bad for $40/person!). This was good because we got all the attention and things moved at our desired pace, but maybe wouldn’t be ideal if you’re trying to meet people (I assume more people do the full-day class). Our instructor was so energetic, funny, and helpful—and I totally am going to try making Massaman curry at home soon.

If you’re not keen on doing the cooking class, you can stay downstairs in their restaurant and just eat.

P.S. They also offer classes in NYC!

Tom Yum Soup by yours truly

Mezzaluna // Bangkok

Polenta “Crispy Fried” (red cabbage, renkon radicchio)

Okay, this restaurant is not technically vegan, but considering it’s a 2-Michelin-starred restaurant that offers an entire prixe-fixe vegetarian menu, I figured I’d include it in this list.

Mezzaluna is situated on the 65th story of the Lebua Hotel, right next to Sky Bar, which you may recognize from the second Hangover movie. The views are insane, and honestly reason enough to visit (and the reason many people do). Eating with that view was even better.

As for the food we were eating? My friend, who got the regular,  non-vegan prixe fixe seven course menu was a big fan. I was less impressed. This might have been because I had a vegetarian seven course meal, but also because I have higher standards when it comes to food. Speaking of vegetarian, I told our server that I don’t eat dairy, and I’m pretty positive a lot of my food still contained dairy (I mean, the dessert came with ice cream)—but I didn’t feel sick after, so maybe they were just sneaky like that.

Anyway, the views and the service were freakin’ amazing. It was a great experience eating there for sure, and it’s very rare to find such a fine dining experience for vegetarians and vegans (at least in the US—although Elizabeth’s Gone Raw in DC is an exception). But, for $200+ per person, you might have higher expectations for the food.

Here’s a portion of the menu I ate when I went:

Chiang Mai

ImmAim Cafe // Chiang Mai

ImmAim was by far my favorite cafe I visited while in Thailand. I ended up here when I was having a not great mental health day, so I decided to grab my laptop and go sit in a vegan cafe and write/have some alone time. Not only was the food great (pictured above is a spicy dip with potato naan, I also had the Grilled Pesto Veggie sandwich), but the atmosphere and service were stellar.

There were lots of expats like me, chilling on their laptops, and there was even a rooftop-esque area upstairs.

When I ordered my food, I wasn’t asked to pay up front, so I ate, chilled, ordered some more, chilled, then talked to my mom on the phone and headed out. When I was about ten minutes away I realized that I never paid. Because I had really liked the place and felt guilty, I ended up walking back to pay. The man at the register (possibly the owner) was like, “it’s free.” I was like, “what?” And he said, “it’s Monday! It’s free.” I was literally probably just staring at him for ten seconds when he was finally like, “Just kidding, what did you have?” And proceeded to tell me my total. When I found out they took cash only, I wasn’t sure I had enough, and he told me I could just pay it next time. I did eventually find enough cash to pay my full balance, but the attitude they had towards paying was so easy-going and nice, it really added to the good experience I had already had at their spot.

P.S. Their wifi was also great!

Krabi

Cafe 8.98 // Krabi Town + Ao Nang

Aubergine + Hummus Sandwich (artichoke, avocado, basil pesto)

After hiking up the Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea) we were hungry, and to be honest kind of sick of Thai food. Thankfully we discovered this gem somewhat nearby in Krabi Town.

My friend was extremely excited to get a burger and milkshake, and I was excited to see lots of vegan and gluten-free options. I got the aubergine and hummus sandwich on gluten-free bread, which included artichoke, avocado, and basil pesto. As you can see, it was a mouthful for sure.

I didn’t have my laptop at the time, but this would also be a great place to chill and get work done. As for as eating vegan in Thailand goes, there aren’t a ton of vegan specific places in Krabi area, so this is one of your best bets!

If you are planning on eating vegan in Thailand and looking for more a more extensive list of vegan spots in Thailand, check out my friend Diana (a.k.a @vegansbaby)’s blog post on 10 vegan restaurants to try in Bangkok. OR, join her on her vegan tour of Thailand in October!

Vegan restaurants in Madrid? Could it be?

If you know anything about traditional Spanish tapas, you can’t blame me for assuming I’d have to be a little lenient with my mostly vegan diet during my trip to Madrid.

But, after connecting with @vegansbaby about where to get good vegan food while I was in Vegas prior to my trip to Spain, she also informed me that there are plenty of great vegan restaurants in Madrid!

Needless to say, I was pumped and wasted no time making a list of vegan restaurants in Madrid to try during my trip. Vogue has a decent list, but I also visited some spots based on recommendations I got while in Madrid, and based on good ‘ol Google maps telling me what was within walking distance.

P.S. I’m sorry in advance for the photo quality, I took these all with my iPhone 6 and didn’t really plan on writing a blog post about this until I realized I needed to share these gems with the world.

Here Are My Favorite Vegan Restaurants in Madrid…

1. Viva Burger

While looking up this place beforehand during my research on vegan restaurants in Madrid, I couldn’t find the menu because I didn’t realize that it was under the portion of their translated website titled, “letter.” I ended up going anyways on my last night in Madrid, and I’m so glad I did. The burgers I had (my friend and I got two burgers and split them), were definitely in the top 2 of vegan burgers I’ve ever had.

I asked the waiter for his recommendations for pretty much everything (in my high school Spanish), and we ended up getting the “Pincho de queso curado” (essentially a vegan baked brie), the BLU Burger, and the Ahumada Burger. We also got the giant chocolate chip cookie before dessert, because if you know me you know I can never resist a chocolate chip cookie.

The pincho de queso was probably some of the best vegan cheese I’d ever had, it tasted just like baked brie. I wish I’d asked what it was made with. And, as I mentioned before, the burgers were so unreal (and the fries were good too). I would go there a zillion times just to try all of them, because I feel like they’re all equally amazing.

The cookie is where it fell a bit short, it was one of those vegan dessert items that you could tell was vegan, if you know what I mean. And it was hard and crunchy, not soft and gooey.

My recommendation is to stuff yourself on burgers and skip dessert, but to definitely check out this spot!

Pincho de queso curado, tomate asada, cebolla caramelizada y canónigos, 4.95€

The BLU burger and the Ahumada burger, 13.90€ each

The Ahumada Burger, 13.90€

Cookie gigantesca de avena y chocolate, 3.60€

WHAT TO ORDER: The BLU Burger, 13.90€

2. Urban Orchard

One awesome thing about this place? It was literally a ten minute walk from my Airbnb (maybe less). Another awesome thing about this place? The owner, Elliot, handmade my food right in front of me and provided awesome conversation during my entire meal. I didn’t even have to divert to my phone like I normally do when I’m eating alone!

I got the zucchini ravioli (as recommended in the Vogue article), and I was not disappointed. I’m going to borrow the description of the dish from Vogue here, because I was busy eating and not taking notes, oops:

“The ‘dough’ is made up of thinly sliced green zucchinis, then they’re stuffed with a homemade kale pesto made from sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds), kale, lemon, pink Himalayan salt, and garlic. It’s topped with dried Inca berries and pomegranate seeds.”

For dessert, I chose one of the chocolate brownie-cakes sitting in the window, and it was ridiculously rich, but not too rich. I ate the whole thing.

WHAT TO ORDER: Zucchini Ravioli

3. Delish Vegan Donuts

Regardless of them being vegan, these were the best donuts I’ve ever had in my life.

Also, probably some of the richest donuts I’ve ever had in my life. I got two (plus a matcha latte — horrible idea because I was sweating when I arrived) because I wanted to try more than one flavor, but I could hardly get halfway through the second after eating the first. Definitely get the speculoos cookie donut — it’s legit the perfect donut, topped with an Oreo and stuffed with cookie butter. I’m glad I chose to eat this one first because the cookie dough one was also good, but not as good. Honestly writing about them right now is making me miss them.

WHAT TO ORDER: Cookie Butter Donut

4. Tiyoweh

While vegan food almost always makes me feel better than non-vegan food, it’s still eating out and can make you feel super full or sluggish, especially because I was eating two or three course meals at some places since I wanted to try everything (not to mention the donuts). Tiyoweh, which was recommended to me by Elliot, the owner of Urban Orchard, is perfect for the person looking for vegan food that is closer to a home-cooked meal.

The way they set up their dinner menu is that they have a “Plato Tiyoweh” every evening, which is essentially a big plate of various side dishes that they curate every night (Tiyoweh Salad + Cream or Soup of the day + Carbohydrates + Vegetable Protein). You don’t know what you’re getting, although I’m sure you could probably ask — I just didn’t because I’m not picky.

Again, I was busy eating instead of asking the waitress what exactly I was eating (worst food blogger ever), but here’s my best description of what was on the Plato Tiyoweh for the evening: avocado mash, sesame crusted mushroom, whole wheat bread, some type of soup, a summer salad topped with sprouts, some sweet potato, and a scoop of some quinoa/onion dish. Everything was really tasty and I cleared my plate. Because there weren’t any small tables available, I ended up sitting at the community table, but nobody joined me so I essentially had a giant table to myself.

For dessert, I was eyeing the Lemon Ginger cake. Unfortunately they were out of it, so I tried the carrot, orange, and raisin cake which was actually really good and not too sweet.

WHAT TO ORDER: Plato Tiyoweh, 10€

5. Zoco Comidero

When I transferred from my Airbnb to a less centrally located hotel, my options of vegan restaurants in Madrid within walking distance was extremely limited. I used my limited Spanish to ask for a vegetable toast at one place (which was surprisingly delicious), and then Google helped me find this place for an afternoon snack.

They were about to close, but they were able to whip up this vegan toast for me super quickly and I legit inhaled it. It was so good and exactly what I was looking for. The roasted tomatoes were heavenly and the seats at the window made for good people watching!

WHAT TO ORDER: Vegan Toast: queso crema de anacardo, tomates asados y pesto de chorella

6. Bunny’s Deli

This was actually the first place I ate after arriving in Spain at 7 AM because most other vegan spots are not open for breakfast on the weekdays. They open at 10, and I was the first one in there with my giant suitcase, ready to feast on some vegan toast.

WHAT TO ORDER: Sourdough Toast Cashew & Tomato Cream with Fresh Cucumber, 6.5€

I hope you’ve found some awesome vegan restaurants in Madrid that you want to try when you visit! If you have other recommendations I didn’t get to…feel free to comment! I have a feeling I’m going to want to head back there soon…

Looking for the best cheap eats in Denver? Well, so was I when I went to visit a friend there back in September. Thankfully, I asked for recommendations from my Zipkick crew and a few travel FB groups I’m a part of, and they delivered!

So, alas, nearly four months after my trip to Denver, I am going to highlight some of the best food I ate there  — all of which are definitely budget (and Instagram) friendly!

On the bright side, maybe those of you heading to Denver to ski can benefit?

BTW, the dollar signs next to each spot are based on their $ rate on Yelp, so it’s out of four $ signs, a.k.a all these places are super affordable!

So, without further ado, I present to you:

The Best Cheap Eats In Denver That Will Also Look Good on Instagram

1. Boss Lady Pizza ($): For Your Cheat Day 

The only thing than I love more than a boss b*tch is cookie dough pizza. I was alerted to this dish after spying a post from my friend @the_hunger_diaries. Did I enter into a major food coma after ingesting these two giant slices? Yes. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. I honestly wish I had the capability to eat more, because there were so many delicious looking flavors. As an added bonus, they were pet-friendly and have vegan, GF, and vegetarian options. Win-win!

2. Voodoo Donuts ($): For The Instagram Foodie 

Again, donuts and slightly sexual puns are a winning combo for me. Their slogan is “The Magic Is In The Hole.” If you’re a foodie on Instagram (or just on IG in general), you’re sure to have seen someone posing in Voodoo Donuts’ cute, pink storefront before. And now, that person is me.

This is another great place that offers a lot of vegan options — which meant I could eat three donuts for dinner without feeling like I was having a stroke! Although I included this on my list of best cheap eats in Denver, Voodoo Donuts has a couple of other locations throughout the mid-west and west coast!

TIP: Don’t make the mistake I did and plan on getting a dozen donuts at a discounted price. The cashier alerted me that the special was only if you didn’t pick which donuts were in the dozen, and by that point I was already in too deep to say no. My friend and I spent about $30 on donuts. Oops.

3. Chuburger Rino ($$): For All-American With a Twist

I’ll admit that this isn’t typically the kind of place I’d pick, but I was low-key obsessed with it after I had their ginger ketchup. Also I don’t know what inspired me to order a hot dog, but I also was not mad about that. The portions were big, the flavors were big, and their Rino location had nice outdoor picnic table seating that was perfect in the evening. Also, I got drunk off one craft beer, wooh!

4. Avanti ($$): For The Group With Different Tastes

If you’re an east-coaster, Avanti is basically the Smorgasburg of Denver, but smaller (or the Reading Terminal of Denver, or Union Market of Denver). On a Friday night, it was a good place to get a quick (and delicious) bite, have a drink, and potentially mingle if you’re not antisocial.

There were probably at least 10 food booths to choose from, and I ended up going for an arepa spot. I’d never had a seafood arepa before, but the cashier convinced me it was a good choice (I think it was a special) so I went for it. I also added plantains to what was already included, because why not? At first glance it might look a bit small for $17, but it definitely filled me up (so much that I didn’t even need 2 am pizza). Although salmon, avocado, plantains, and arepa might seem like an odd combo — it worked!

If you’re slightly less adventurous, there were also many Italian spots with pasta, or places to get a burger. There was also a nice rooftop area, although it was a little too cold when I visited.

5. City O’ City ($$): For The Trendy Vegan

Although I’m only vegan-ish (I only stay vegan in my house), I love a good vegan restaurant. Primarily because they make the type of vegan food I would never be able to make myself at home (unless I had time to go to four different grocery stores and spend way too much $). So, it was only right that I included at least one vegan place in my list of the best cheap eats in Denver.

I visited this place for lunch and it was packed, but I snagged a seat alone at the bar and dove into some kimchi pancakes (sweet and savory dishes are my fave). The food was pretty tasty, affordable, and the restaurant had great vibes. I almost wished I had brought my laptop so I could’ve continued hanging out and working right at the bar.

BONUS: There’s a Buffalo Exchange outlet next door — I didn’t even know they existed until now!

6. Tacos Tequila Whiskey ($$): For The Perfect Bite 

I can honestly say these are some of the best tacos I’ve had in a while. They were also very affordable (about $3-5 each). The waitress gave us the genius idea of taking the two tortillas that came with each tacos and splitting the contents between them, which is exactly what I ended up doing. My three tacos ended up feeling like six tacos, and although small they were mighty!

We also ate outside, which was nice.

TIP: When the waitress offers you hot sauce, know that they’ll charge you for it! It also was a funky tasting hot sauce, we didn’t even eat it and were kind of bummed that we were charged.

7. D Bar ($$): For Those Who Know Dessert Is The Most Important Course

Have you noticed that half of this list of best cheap eats in Denver is focused on dessert-heavy places? I’m sorry, but I have a sweet tooth. However, along with an awesome dessert selection, D Bar also boasts amazing Brussel Sprouts, dope outdoor seating, and a cute neighborhood to walk around post-cookies. Although TBH, the dessert was the best part of this meal — next time I might go somewhere else for dinner and stop by for dessert instead.

Nothing pisses me off more than flaky people.

Okay, maybe some things do, but not many.

I’m the type of person that plans things weeks in advance with people, because I know my schedule can get crazy and I want to make sure I make time for people/things rather than being the type of person who keeps making plans and canceling them. So, when someone I’ve made plans with flakes at the last minute – it pisses me off. Maybe not because I was dying to have that person’s company or attend whatever event/restaurant we planned to meet at, but because there’s a good chance I planned my day around that plan, or missed out on other plans because I knew I had something else going on.

Something semi-similar happened earlier a couple weeks ago, but I guess I should’ve known better. I was invited to a DC restaurant opening via Facebook (which I was pretty pumped about), but it ended up being cancelled last minute because the chef wasn’t prepared. This was actually in my favor, because he rescheduled it, and this time I’d be in town to attend.

I was meeting with someone at 3:30 that day in the same part of town, so I brought my laptop and figured I’d work in a coffee shop until 5:30, when the restaurant opening began. Then, at around 4:30, I got a notification from the chef, who had posted on the event group saying he wasn’t prepared, and not even bothering to reschedule it.

Annoying? Yes – especially since it was so last minute. Night-ruining? Nope.

Instead, my dad picked me up and we went to Kinship, a modern American restaurant by Chef Eric Ziebold. As soon as we had the first course, I was immediately unbothered about the previous cancellation.

Maine Lobster French Toast: Cucumber, nectarine, and sesame mousse.

If you know me, you know I’m obsessed with sweet and savory combos – so as soon as I saw this lobster french toast on the menu I knew I had to try it. The french toast wasn’t too sweet since it was topped with a ton of lobster and submerged in a cucumber-nectarine-sesame mousse, but it still had a nice balance. And like I said, they definitely didn’t skimp on the lobster, which was super fresh.

Dolin Braised Veal Sweetbreads: With mascarpone enriched pommes puree, summer vegetables and perigord truffles.

These veal sweetbreads (if you don’t know what sweetbreads are – click here) were also amazing. In fact, I think I liked this dish even more than the lobster french toast. The meat was super thick, rich, and tasty – and the truffles just made it  more luxurious (it was on the “Indulgence” column on the menu like the lobster, unsurprisingly). This was also a nice big portion for me and my dad to share.

Aiguillette of Hudson Valley Moulard Duck: Charred spring onions, bread pudding, foie gras and peach butter.

For the main course, we got another protein heavy dish to split (are you noticing a theme here?). This duck was so tender, rare, and delicious that you could’ve told me it was steak and I would’ve believed you. The sweet tooth in me loved the bread pudding on the side, and who doesn’t love foie gras?  The parker house rolls, which were served with all the “For The Table” entrees, were adorably mini, super soft and buttery. We ate them all no problem.

Look at those cute little parker house rolls!

We debated dessert, since we were pretty stuffed, and my dad tried to blame me for wanting dessert as he usually does – but he ended up choosing the berry cobbler (which was listed as a “For The Table” dessert – so it was $20 and huge). I was definitely stuffed afterwards, but we nearly finished the entire dessert because it was just that good. The berries were warm and flavorful, the shortcakes were light and sweet, and the muscavado ice cream added a nice cool element to each bite. Muscavado is a dark brown sugar with a flavor derived from molasses syrup, BTW.

Market Berry Cobbler: Brown sugar shortcakes and muscovado ice cream.

Ready to feast!

You might not be able to tell from this photo, but I was super happy with my experience at Kinship and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone visiting the DC area. If you didn’t pick up the hint from the $20 dessert, it’s definitely on the pricy side (dinner for two will run you about $200 if you do three courses), but unlike lots of bougie restaurants they actually give big portions so you won’t leave hungry and have to stop at Chipotle on your way home. Also, as expected, the service was excellent and the atmosphere was nice – although it did get a little noisier by the time we left around 8 PM or so.

Definitely remember this spot if you’re looking to celebrate an anniversary, birthday, or whatever in the DC area. I honestly can’t find a bad thing to say about this spot.