Vegan Guide to Phuket

Updated April 2023

Phuket is the largest island in Thailand and is located in the Andaman Sea. It welcomed in excess of 30 million annual visitors pre covid, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. From luxury hotels to hostels and airbnb rooms there really is something for everyone, but despite the huge tourist numbers it’s still possible to escape the crowds. Vegan travel in Phuket is easy with multiple options for plant based dining. Our Vegan Guide to Phuket highlights some of our favourites but there are many, many more to choose from. If you’ve got a favourite vegan restaurant that we’ve missed, please leave a comment, and we’ll add it to our list for the next time we visit!

The Vegan Table

Opening Hours: 11am-9pm every day

The Vegan Table
1 Ratsada Rd
Phuket 83000

In the heart of Old Phuket Town, you’ll find this award winning ‘must visit’ vegan restaurant. Since it’s launch in 2018 they have continued to serve delicious and creative plant based food to their vegan food loving guests. Our first experience of The Vegan Table was in Bangkok, where they opened in 2022. We’ve been back a number of times and always loved it, so we had to make a visit to the original spot whilst in Phuket. We ordered sweet and sour with cashews and their own homemade ‘Chikin’ and a vegan pizza with meat balls made from Beyond Meat and homemade mozzarella cheese. Both were very good, we loved the texture of the ‘Chickin’ pieces and anything with Beyond meatballs makes us happy. For dessert we tried the apple crumble which was excellent. Hints of cinnamon flavour, light and crunchy coconut crumble and vegan cream combined to make the perfect dessert. If you’re staying in Phuket Town, you’re in for a treat, if you’re staying anywhere else on the island, then heading into town for the day should most certainly be on your agenda.

BARTELS Phuket

Opening Hours: 6am-7pm every day

BARTELS Phuket
56 Lagoon Road
Cherng Thalay
Phuket

Having enjoyed their vegan sour dough sandwiches and delightful coffees in Bangkok, we were pleased to find BARTELS Phuket located close to our hotel. We ordered a ‘Grilled Vegan Cubano‘ with vegan sausage, dijon mustard, vegan cheese from Swees Cheese and pickled jalapeños. We love their grilled sourdough sandwiches but wouldn’t choose this one again as we didn’t like the sausage. We also had a ‘Tastes Like Summer’ smoothie which was excellent and packed with banana, chia, strawberries, oats, goji and vanilla. We selected almond milk but they also have oat, coconut and soy available.

Hosay Bowl

Opening Hours: 8am-8pm every day

Hosay Bowl
Boat Avenue Mall
Thalang
Phuket

Hosay Bowl AKA The Bowl is a small restaurant in the popular tourist spot of Boat Avenue. You won’t find too many vegan options in the area so this restaurant is a great option. A selection of savoury or sweet bowls and smoothies are available with many of them vegan. They also have avo toast which we enjoyed along with a small ‘Love First’ bowl. All bowls are available on three sizes which means you can enjoy the bowl of your choice depending just how hungry you are. Our choice of bowl was acai, banana, strawberry, mango, granola, coconut chips and chia seeds which certainly hit the spot. Well worth a visit for fresh and healthy plant based options.

108 Vegetarian

Opening Hours: 6.30am-2pm every day, closed Sunday

108 Vegetarian
Soi Chern Thalay 16
Bang Tao
Phuket

Typical Thai local veggie spot located at the front of the family home. Warm welcome from the ‘mum’ who seems to be in charge and a decent selection to choose from. Veggies, tofu, mock meat, noodles and three different curries to add to your rice. As with all of these local ‘Jay’ restaurants, get there early as it’s all cooked in the morning and therefore at its freshest. Also, arriving late means items have started to sell out. Very good local option and super cheap, the plate of food below cost just 60 THB.

Vegetarian Food Amphoe Thalang

Vegetarian Food Amphoe Thalang
Amphoe Thalang
Phuket 83110

Opening Times: 9am-3pm every day

Above are the ‘official’ opening times but we visited three times during the advertised hours and they were closed. When we finally found them open, the food was kind of average and our meals at 108 Vegetarian were far better. Maybe we were unlucky as there wasn’t much choice on the day that we visited, on another day there may be far more to choose from. Staff were friendly and the food was cheap.

Ta Wai Thai Cuisine

Ta Wai Thai Cuisine
15/1 Lagoon Rd
Choeng Thale
Phuket 83110

Opening Times: 11am-11pm every day

This is a good option if you are going out for dinner with a non vegan group. The restaurant is huge and they are used to catering for groups so the service is quick and efficient. There is a vegetarian section on the menu with many of these dishes being vegan. The staff understood the difference between vegan and vegetarian which was good, and the curries that we ordered were both tasty and well priced.

Hesan Vegetarian

Hesan Vegetarian
207 Ranong Rd
Phuket Old Town

Opening Times: 7.30am – 6pm every day

One of our favourite jay (vegan) restaurants in Thailand, Hesan Vegetarian has a huge buffet selection and is super busy every day due to the proximity to Sui Bong Toon Shrine. The vegan curries, soups, mock meats and veg dishes served with white or brown rice keep the crowds coming so there’s a lively atmosphere of friendly locals. Hesan Restaurant really comes alive during the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival when they serve over 1000 customers each day!

Prime Burger

Prime Burger
Central Festival, Patong (11am-11pm every day)

We loved the vegan San Francisco burger we tried in Bangkok so decided to add their Phuket restaurant so you can all get your Beyond Burger fix when visiting the island. Served in a vegan bun with vegan cheese from Daiya and an excellent homemade vegan burger sauce it really hits the spot if you’re craving that fast food feeling from a juicy burger. Select from 1, 2 or 3 patties depending on your level of hunger AKA greediness. Highly recommended.

Ella Bistro

Ella Bistro
100/19-20 Soi Permpongpattana
Patong
Phuket

Opening Times: 7am-11pm every day

Just off the main beach road (look out for the sign) is Ella Bistro which has a number of vegan options including a tasty vegan burger served in a soft, sesame seed bun with triple cooked chips for 280 THB. The burger is made with chick pea, red bean, mushroom, rolled oats and a selection of vegetables and was a welcome change to Thai food for those who crave soemthing different… There was also a blueberry pancake with maple syrup as a vegan breakfast option for 180 THB and they offer B&B above the restaurant for anyone looking for soemwhere to stay.

Yo Green Vegan & Vegetarian

Yo Green Vegan & Vegetarian
198/9 Soi Rat Uthit 200
Patong
Phuket 83150

Opening Times: 9am-midnight every day

Having moved from Bangla Road and now in a new location, Yo Green Vegan & Vegetarian offers an escape from the tourist crowds. The mainly vegan menu has a few dishes with egg and cheese but these are mainly Western style; the majority of the Thai food was fully vegan. We enjoyed vegan chicken and cashew nuts which was 130 THB and a Penang curry with sliced meat and veg costing 150 THB, the portions were small but the taste was good. Treat the opening hours as a guide only; we went twice when they were due to be open and they were closed. Annoying.

Mae Orathai Vegetarian

Mae Orathai Vegetarian
Soi Nanai 38/50
Patong
Phuket

Opening Times: 6am-5pm every day

Mae Orathai Vegetarian is a typical Thai vegan buffet so best to get there in the morning when everything is fresh. There was an extensive selection and we enjoyed a plate of mixed curries, mock meat, vegetables and rice for just 100 THB For those of you wishing to buy something for the next stage of your vegan travel adventures you can buy many items including vegan sausages to take away.

Sai Than Boon

Sai Than Boon
117/1 Patak Rd
Kata
Phuket 83100

Opening Times: 10am – 8pm every day

A 10 minute walk up the hill from Kata Beach is Sai Than Boon which is a local style ‘jay’ restaurant with a super friendly owner and an extensive vegan à la carte menu and buffet. We loved our food especially the fried ‘egg’ that we had on top of our rice and curry!

The LifeCo Phuket

The LifeCo Phuket
75 2 Tambon Talang
Thalang District
Chang Wat
Phuket 83000

This luxury wellness resort has an all vegan, raw food menu which healthy and nutritious as well as delicious. Try the ‘eggless’ salad served with dehydrated crackers, definitely our top choice. Situated in a peaceful village not far from the airport, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that you’re in Phuket whilst dining overlooking the resort pool. We never stayed here but enjoyed a delicious meal the night before our flight home. Highly recommended.

Baba Poolclub

Baba Poolclub
Sri Panwa
88 Sakdidej Rd
Cape Panwa
Phuket 83000

Sri Panwa is a stunning luxury resort located on Cape Panwa with a price tag to match; think uber luxury multi-room villas with private pools and you’ve got the idea. For a slice of luxury why not head to Baba Poolclub for lunch or dinner and experience the first rate service and choose from the dedicated vegan and vegetarian menu?

Here is our detailed revew of Baba Poolclub.

Vegan Shopping in Phuket

Ruam Jay Vegetarian Mart

Ruam Jay Vegetarian Mart
33 Soi Phutorn
Phuket Old Town
Phuket

Opening Times: 9am – 7pm every day

Lots of dried TVP products, dried noodles and sauces which are perfect if you have a kitchen, we also bought vegan sausages and some ‘meat’ to sprinkle on top of our soups and noodles.

Phuket Vegetarian Festival

It’s hard to know where to start when it comes to the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival but if vegan travel is your thing and you love vegan Thai food then we would say you must visit at least once in your life. The festival takes place around September each year with exact dates set around the lunar calender and is celebrated all over Thailand but the festivities (and vegan food) in Phuket are bigger, better and crazier. Expect supermarkets and 7-11 stores to be stocked with vegan food and pop-up restaurants and street food carts everywhere serving vegan food in all shapes and sizes; for more info and pictures you can read our blog post called ‘Shocking Pictures from the Phuket Vegetarian Festival‘.

If you are a little squeamish please rest assured that you can avoid seeing things that may put you off your vegan food, but if like us you want to experience every element of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival head to the temples early in the morning to watch the preparations and follow the processions through town. Mind blowing.

Mango Sticky Rice

This accidentally vegan dish is available all over Thailand as a staple part of the local diet, when mango season is in full flow expect to find the price fall and the taste get even better, mmm.

Khanom Krok

We love Khanom Krok and search them our wherever we are; tiny rice flour and coconut pancakes that are sweet, salty, delcious and accidentally vegan. We can’t get enough of them and you will probably feel the same after you try them. We’ve eaten them and written about them many times including in this post called ‘Khanom Krok Addiction, My Sweet Medicine‘.

Vegan Ice Cream

As vegans we are often satisfied (and happy) when we find vegan sorbet and sometimes if we are lucky we get to enjoy vegan coconut ice cream but it is not often that you find vegan soft serve ice cream! Imagine our excitement when we found this strawberry and chocolate creamy delciousness whilst wandering the streets of Phuket Old Town during the vegetarian festival…

Vegan Tempura

Mmm vegan fried food. This crispy and freshly fried giant oyster mushroom tempura with a sweet and spicy chilli sauce was a great vegan street food snack!