Vegan Guide to Malaysia
Updated February 2025
Here’s our Vegan Guide to Malaysia, a country with a fabulous mix of cultures where the food has influences from India, China and Europe creating some of the best vegan food in the world. We’ve spent a lot of time in Malaysia on our Vegan Food Quest to find, eat and write about the best vegan food in the world, mainly because it’s a total paradise for the food loving vegan traveller. Since 2023, Malaysia has been our HQ, so we are therefore in the perfect position to update all of our vegan guides.
If you’re looking for good vegan food in Malaysia and you can’t visit everywhere then our top places to visit for exciting vegan food are Georgetown, Kuala Lumpur and Johor where we are currently based. Our ultimate vegan guide to Malaysia starts with some of the most popular Malaysian dishes, which if you know where to look can be enjoyed as a vegan, and then lists our vegan guides to some of the most popular destinations in this wonderful country. Please feel free to comment if we’ve missed your favourite vegan friendly restaurant and we will do our best to visit and add to our guides.
Vegan Food in Malaysia
Nasi Lemak
‘Nasi Lemak’ is Malaysia’s national dish and it’s eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Translated ‘nasi lemak’ means ‘fatty rice’, not an appetising name, but it comes from the rice in this dish which is soaked in coconut milk before being steamed (and anyone who’s tried it will tell you it’s delicious!). The vegan version consists of rice, fried peanuts, cucumber, spicy tomato and chilli ‘sambal’ (tomatoes and chillies cooked and pounded together to make a spicy condiment) and vegetable side dishes or curries. Vegan variations can mainly be found in specialist restaurants, but there are plenty of them in the main cities so you shouldn’t have to look far.
Nasi Campur
Another dish found everywhere in Malaysia is ‘Nasi Campur’ (pronounced ‘nasi champur’), which translated means ‘mixed rice’, nasi campur restaurants are everywhere and the food on offer is displayed ‘buffet style’ where you can see and select what you want. You just have a look at what’s on offer, request steamed rice and either help yourself to dishes or someone will do it for you. You pay for what you eat and the vegan options are often the cheapest which makes it a great budget option.
Laksa
No cuisine guide about Malaysia would be complete without mentioning laksa, a spicy noodle soup with ‘tofu puffs’ floating around. We had to find a vegetarian restaurant in order to get a vegan version of this in Malaysia and when we tasted it we were hooked. It’s one of those dishes with many regional varieties and secret recipes that have been handed down through generations so it often tastes different depending on where you eat it. The best we tried was tangy, sour, creamy, rich and spicy hot with chillies all at the same time, with hearty noodles and little tofu sponges soaking up the delicious soup, sometimes there’s even a few sprigs of fresh mint in there. Vegan Laksa really is vegan food from the gods.
Tahu Sumbat
‘Tahu Sumbat’ means ‘stuffed tofu’ and is a tasty little street food that you’ll find if you wander around markets and food courts; it’s made from fried tofu cubes which are then sliced open and stuffed with sliced cucumber and bean sprouts then drizzled with spicy chilli sauce.
Banana Leaf Curries
We love anywhere serving good ‘Banana Leaf Curries’ where you will be presented with a banana leaf (yes, an actual banana leaf) piled high with steamed rice, dhal and vegetable curries as well as poppadum and cucumber salad is to be cherished in our book. Most of these restaurants will happily offer ‘extra’ portions of your favourites meaning that this is not only a delicious option, but it’s great value for money and oh so filling.
Dosas
Dosas are life. we love dosas and can’t get enough of them. They are light, crispy pancakes made from fermented rice flour, filled with a spiced semi-mashed potato filling, served with sambar (lentil stew) and coconut chutney. Eat them morning, noon and night and don’t be shy with that delicious coconut chutney, spiced with curry leaves and mustard seeds. We could happily eat a masala dosa every day for the rest of our lives and never get bored of them.
Parippu Vadai
Parippu vadai are deep fried lentil cakes spiced with curry leaves, chilli and other spices. A popular Indian snack food often sold on the street, it’s common to find these vegan treats in Malaysia too, and common to find us stuffing our faces full of them whenever we see them! Maybe not the healthiest option on the menu, but you can’t always be good right?
Popiah
Popiah are spring rolls (either fried) or fresh, wrapped in a wheat flour pancake; it’s amazing to watch people making the fresh popiah ‘skins’. They are one of our favourite snacks and easily made vegan because you can see what’s being put in them and ask for any of the non-vegan ingredients to be left out (usualy egg, shrimp or meat or even lard, but also check any sauces that are added). The tastiest we had were filled with chilli sauce, hoisin sauce, lettuce, tofu, minced garlic, bean sprouts and stewed jicama (a delicious sweet turnip, but do check it hasn’t been cooked in any animal fat).
Mock Meat
Most places where there is a Chinese-Malay Buddhist population have an all vegan restaurant serving up mock meat versions of local dishes. You can find meat-free versions of Malaysian cuisine made with mock meat and tofu in abundance, as well as lots of spiced vegetable dishes, rice and noodles. No need to worry about any meat here and they’re usually really cheap too. Vegan satay sticks anyone?
Ondeh-Ondeh
‘Ondeh-Ondeh’ are little glutinous rice flour dumplings filled with ‘gula Melaka’, a dark palm sugar that turns into a delicious, runny treacle when the dumplings are cooked. After the dumplings are boiled in water, they are rolled in fresh coconut, all ready for you to pop into your mouth and wait for the explosion of warm treacly sweetness. Slightly chewy on the outside with an explosion of runny, treacly like paln sugar in the middle; we can’t resist eating ondeh-ondeh when we find them.
Goreng Piseng
Fried food is never too far away from us here at the Vegan Food Quest and ‘Goreng Pisang’, or deep fried banana fritters often find their way to our mouths when we’re in Malaysia. Made with a batter of flour and water, these little fritters are really crunchy on the outside with sweet, soft banana on the inside. It’s great to watch them being cooked in huge vats and then eating them straight away when they are hot!
Cendol
Another national obsession (just who does serve the best cendol in Malaysia?) ‘Cendol’ (pronounced ‘chen-dol’) is made from stewed, sweetened kidney beans, pandan flavoured glutinous rice noodles, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup which is all served over shaved ice, it has to be eaten to be believed and is seriously delicious.
Vegan Guides to Malaysia
Vegan Guide to Kuala Lumpur
Our Vegan Guide to Kuala Lumpur has been updated regularly and features so many of our favourite ‘tried and tested’ vegan and vegan friendly restaurants in Kuala Lumpur. With there being so many vegan options it is impossible to choose a favourite, but as we’ve got a sweet tooth and finding vegan waffles is never easy, the picture we’ve chosen is from the amazing vegan waffles at La Gula by Tapir, an all vegan restaurant that is a must visit for anyone visiting town.
Vegan Guide to Johor Bahru
Our Vegan Guide to Johor Bahru is probably our most updated vegan guide because that is where we are currently based. There are limited 100% vegan restaurants, but there seems to be a never ending selection of vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants. We are living to the east of the city close to Permas Jaya where there are 5 or 6 vegetarian restaurants in just a small block, and in Senibong Cove where we actually live there is the excellent Cove Cafe who serve a number of vegan options including this excellent bagel with tempeh, avocado and cashew cream cheese.
Vegan Guide to Penang
Our Vegan Guide to Penang is actually a vegan guide to Georgetown in Penang because that is where we always spend our time when visiting this Malaysian island. Georgetown is known as a foodies destination which it most certainly is, and rest assured that is is a vegan foodies destination too with countless vegan options to choose from. We have a number of favourites which are all listed in the guide, but we have chosen to tempt you with this burger from SUSU Vegan Mylk Bar as it was just sooo damn good.
Vegan Guide to Melaka
Our Vegan Guide to Melaka lists a number of vegetarian restaurants with vegan options located in this UNESCO heritage town on the coast of Malaysia. Veggie Planet was our favourite option so we were sad to see that it closed, but relieved to find that it re opened with a new name and vegan food that is just as delicious. Now called Botanist Cafe it offers a huge selection of Malaysian dishes which are all very good including this vegan chicken sweet and sour which we loved.
Vegan Guide to Kuching
Our Vegan Guide to Kuching lists a number of vegetarian restaurants with vegan options that we visited in Kuching. Indah House was our favourite vegan friendly restaurant and Popular Vegetarian was our favourite veggie spot. If you want to treat yourself be sure to stay at Cove 55 where you can dine at Kechala who have vegan breakfast and dinner menus available upon request. You can read our vegan friendly resort review here.
Vegan Guide to Ipoh
Here is our Vegan Guide to Ipoh which has just been published, with plenty of delicious inclusions including dosa, pani puri, nasi lemak, rendang, banana leaf curries and the most amazing spaghetti and vegan meatballs from the excellent V Life restaurant located just outside of the city centre but well worth the effort. We visited during Chinese New Year which found lots of places closed, but we certainly found plenty of vegan food in Ipoh during our staycation.
Vegan Guide to Langkawi
Our Vegan Guide to Langkawi has finally been updated and for sure lots has changed since it was first published in 2016. We have already booked a return trip as there were lots of exciting vegan options that we wish to return to, and a couple that we missed as they were closed. Don’t miss out on the excellent Pegaga Vegan Experience located at Ambong Ambong and also make sure to dine at The Fat Frog which was outstanding. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for vegan restaurants in Langkawi that we should check out when we head back then please feel free to drop us a message or leave a comment below.
Vegan Guide to Kuantan
We decided not to publish a Vegan Guide to Kuantan for two reasons. Firstly, we were only in town for 48 hours, and secondly there were very few vegan options in town. Luckily there was one and is absolutely outstanding, so when you are next in Kuantan just head to The Gather Yard and enjoy vegan versions of local Malay cuisine, a selection of Western favourites and vegan waffles with vegan ice cream which are absolutely perfect, all served by a super friendly staff team who will make you feel very welcome indeed.
Vegan Guide to Pulau Perhentian
Our trip to these incredible islands did not offer enough content to create a Vegan Guide to Pulau Perhentian, but trust us when we say our experience was nothing short of remarkable. The crystal clear waters were teaming with marine life with colourful coral, sharks, turtles and tropical fish of all shapes and sizes, literally some of the best we’ve ever seen. For most of our stay we were at Alunan Resort who adapted menu items and catered for us as vegans very well, and after that we stayed on Long Beach which was a challenge. Happy Cow suggested Chillout Cafe as ‘vegan friendly’ whereas we found it not very vegan and not very friendly, our saviour on Long Beach was the friendly team and talented Thai chef at Mimpi Hotel, who made some delicious vegan food for us on each of our visits.
Vegan Guide to Pulau Pangkor
We haven’t published a Vegan Guide to Pulau Pangkor as there were very limited options from what we could find. We stayed on the island for a few days and had a couple of meals at Nipah Deli and Daddy’s Cafe on Teluk Nipah which were ok but not very exciting. The highlight for sure was the excellent vegan banana leaf from a small stall on the road leading to Pasir Bogak. Order the day before or early on the same day and the friendly family will prepare a vegan Indian feast that is delicious and cheap. Find the location via this Google maps link Naidu Stall Pasir Bogak or check out naidumaniyam on Tik Tok where you might even find a video of us!
Vegan Guide to Kuala Terengganu
We also decided not to publish a Vegan Guide to Kuala Terengganu because we were literally there overnight and didn’t have time to explore. Luckily we found Uncle Chua Signature which had a selection of vegetarian and vegan options that were clearly marked on the menu. It was well priced and certainly hit the spot, there may be other vegan options in Terengganu, but this was our saviour when we spent the night in town.
Coming from a Malaysian, I never realized we had a good number of vegan options & they still look delicious to me!
Thanks Daniel – that’s such a compliment as I feel like we’ve done vegan Malaysian food real justice! It really is an awesome country with some awesome food… just love it there. You have any top recommendations for visiting Malaysia?
You have the usual suspects like KL, Penang, Melaka, Cameron Highlands and the East Coast island but I did write about five alternative travel destinations in Malaysia if you feel like being a bit more adventurous.
Do check it out!
https://danontheroad.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/5-alternative-travel-destinations-in-malaysia/
HI Daniel
Just had a look at your post and will certainly check out Balik Pulau next time in Penang!
Regards
Paul
Wow so cool thank you :).
We are planing to visit malaysia in october.
Not sure about weather and where to go. We have to check
Did you visit once in october?
Where where the best places to eat vegan food. Did you find everywhere something?
You know a spiritual area where is a lot of yoga, kirtan and things like that?
Your blog is so intresting. Thank you
hi Lea. apologies for the delayed response, we’ve been ‘on the road’ for the last month in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Thank you for your kind comment about our blog, it’s always lovely to get positive feedback…We have bene in Malaysia during October a number of times and the weather is fine with mostly clear skies and no rain. This can vary of course, especially depending on your plans. In fact, we will be in Malaysia end of September, start of October ourselves, in Kuala Lumpur and Penang which are both super vegan friendly and two of our fav spots. KL has everything you would expect from a huge cosmopolitan city, whilst Penang (Georgetown specifically) boasts multiple culinary influences and you’ll find excellent vegan options there too! Safe travels and stay in touch, let us know what you decide and how you get on?
That nasi campur with brinjals and sambal – be careful that sambal usually contains belacan (shrimp paste), and you would have to visit vegetarian stores for sambal without belacan.
thank you for your advice re belacan. it’s something we are aware of but it sometimes difficult to find restaurants that don’t use it. som even use a veggie belacan now which is amazing!
Oh man! I LOVED Parippu vadai! Also the deep fried banana in almost every SEA country is my go-to treat. 🙂
hi victoria – you’re so right about vadai, they are just delicious and we can’t get enough of them! love the fried bananas to, in fact, anything fried and vegan is pretty good! we just have to limit our intake of friend snacks as i’m sure you will understand!
happy travels 🙂
Going to Malaysia kl double tree next week and I will surely make a note of the names of vegan foods..was wondering if I will have to go raw. Now this blog seems promising. Do we get lemons ?
There’s plenty of cooked vegan food in KL as well as some great raw options. Not sure what you mean by your lemons question – sorry! Happy vegan travels 🙂
thank you for this post! I was thinking of travelling to Malaysia and it’s a relief that there are vegan options that are easy to come by. It really puts me at ease knowing I won’t starve haha
Hi,
You definitely won’t stave in Malaysia – especially in KL, Georgetown and Melaka – these are the places where we found the best vegan food!
Thanks for commenting, we’d love to know if you discover anything else during your trip so stay in touch.
Happy Vegan Travels
Caryl x
No proper vegetarian food available in Malaysia.
We are sorry but we do not understand your comment?
There is vegan and vegetarian food everywhere in Malaysia…
Hey
Love this blog. Honestly shows many people do care about the plant! And also my vegan tummy won’t go empty now when in Malaysia. Thanks
Thank you for loving our blog Ally! It’s great to hear from our readers that they enjoy what we create. You certainly won’t go hungry in Malaysia, there are lots of options especially in KL and Penang!!!
thanks for this post! I was considering venturing out to Malaysia and it’s a help that there are veggie lover choices that are anything but difficult to get a hold of. It truly comforts me knowing
so many vegan and veggie options in Malaysia
Lots of vegan options these days, not when we were growing up in KL 35 years ago. But I am now a plant based chef and on a quest to include malaysian dishes veganized and at the same time making them as healthy as possible.
Hello Geetha. We just checked out the menus on your website and we’re hungry now! Keep up the good work…The change worldwide has been amazing especially in the last 5 years. We are big fans of Kl and have visited since 2001, the vegan options make it even more appealing now…
I look forward to your review of Langkawi. Me and my husband will be there from end of November, and hope to find some good vegan food recommendations and restaurants.
you will be there before us so please share anything you find and where we should go!