Vegetarian Food in Indonesia

Are you “Saya Tidak Makan Daging”? That means are you a vegetarian in Bahasa Indonesia. Well, if you are you need to know certain Bahasa Indonesia words and also the dishes that you can eat as Indonesia is a country that fiercely loves its meat. Be it fishes, white meat or red meat, the people of Indonesia likes it in all their meals. At first, this might seem like a big problem for vegetarians traveling to Indonesia, but once you understand the system, you will also find out that they have some of the best vegetarian foods too. It is better if you as a vegetarian can consume eggs (Telor) and peanuts (kachang). If you have an allergy to nuts and are a true vegetarian, then your options will be limited.



Below are the list of vegetarian (sometimes with eggs) dishes that I have been sampling in Indonesia over the past 2 weeks in this country. Since I am a strict egg-atarian, I have had to dig deep.

1) Gado Gado: This is my absolute favorite: This assorted vegetables with rice dumplings and one egg in a peanut sauce is the best lunch I have had in Indonesia. The rice crackers and a cold iced tea (Es Teh Manis) go perfectly with it.

2) Lotek: This dish is pretty similar to Gado Gado, but is pure vegetarian and comes with more greens, tofu and no eggs. Again, this is created in a peanut and chilli paste.

3) Cap Cai (pronounced Chap Chai): This is an assorted set of vegetables and mushrooms with or without eggs in either a fried form (goreng) or as a broth (kuah). This is best had with plain rice (nasi).

4) Nasi Goreng: This is your stereotypical fried rice with vegetables. If nothing works for you, this should definitely come in handy.

5) Nasi Gudeg Telor: One needs to acquire a taste for this traditional food from Yogyakarta, Java. It is  rice and jackfruit served with egg curry. Cooked jackfruit always has an indifferent taste, but I like it.

6) Nasi Rica Rica (pronounced as Nasi Richa Richa): This is rice served with eggs in a spicy onion and tomato sauce.

7) Nasi with Sayuran and Sambal: If you wish to create your own food, then ask for Nasi (rice), Sayuran (vegetables) and Sambal (spicy onion and tomato paste). This will ensure that you have no need to consume any animal products.

8) Martabak Telor: This is a thick egg pancake that is perfect as a evening snack or on a rainy day.

9) Martabak Manis: This is a sweet egg pancake served with lots of sugar and sometimes chocolate or other flavors.

I hope if you are a vegetarian who is interested in traveling to Indonesia, this list gives you a fresh breath of life.

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Popular Shan Snacks of Burma

Everywhere I travel to, I try and taste their local food as long as it is vegetarian. While I was in the Shan state of Myanmar, I got the opportunity to taste two yummy snacks, Hin Tou and the Tea Leaves Salad. These snacks are so good that the locals seem to enjoy it every evening.


Hin Tou is pounded rice with onions and greens steamed in a banana leaf and then served with roasted garlic, oil and fish sauce. Tea Leaves Salad is a salad with some greens, tomatoes from the Inle Lake and a variety of roasted and deep fried nuts and beans that include peanuts, broad beans, soya beans and more. The salad is served with chillies, coriander leaves, roasted garlic, oil and fish sauce.


If you are a vegetarian and/or do not like the taste of fish sauce, you can tell them to skip the fish sauce for your snack. The rough cost of a plate of either of these snacks should be 700 kyat for a small plate and 1000 kyat for a large plate. These are costs of the street and hence the prices will be higher if you order them in a restaurant. Both these snacks are addictive, so be prepared to eat more than one and may be skip your dinner.

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Tamnak Lao Restaurant: Best for Lao Food!!

Unlike Thai, Malaysian or Vietnamese Food, Lao food is not that popular the world over. But, that is not because the food is not good, but that there is hardly anyone who is taking Lao food to the masses. It is only when you get to Laos and taste the food that you know it can be a cuisine on its own in an international kitchen. One such restaurant, which is a good exponent of this tasty cuisine is Tamnak Lao. Tamnak Lao is located in Luang Prabang and Vientiane where it is not too far away from the most popular sights in these respective cities.


This restaurant, which doubles up as a cooking school dishes out a great variety of Lao food and its specialties include the Lao Fish Larp, steamed Lao fish in banana leaf, Lao Salad, Bamboo Salad and more. In Vientiane, they are only open during the evenings, while at Luang Prabang, they are open both for lunch and dinner. The restaurant staff speak decent English and will ensure that you have a great dining experience. In fact, this is one of their better selling points. The food here is slightly on the expensive side, but once you get a taste of their food, you are bound to return many times in spite of it putting a strain on your wallet. In addition to their great food, they have dedicated menus for vegetarians and diabetics, which augurs well for those with special needs too.

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Coldstone Creamery: Delicious Ice Cream in Taiwan

Ice creams are a hot favorite with most of us humans and it will definitely be liked when you add really creamy ice cream, nuts, your favorite brownie, biscuit or tart to it. That is how it goes with the Coldstone Creamery ice cream brand in Taiwan. They have a pretty interesting way of making ice cream and they are fairly pricey too, but they are totally worth it in every way.


Here are some interesting points for you to think about and let your mouth water:

1) They don’t give ice cream by the scoop. Rather, they do it by weight. 100g, 200g, etc.

2) Their ice cream has some interesting flavors and is extremely creamy.

3) Their biscuits have an interesting shape and come in various flavors: plain, chocolate, rose water, mint and more.

4) After measuring your ice cream, they throw it on a plate, throw the cakes, brownies and nuts into it and mix it like how you would mix fried noodles or fried rice in a hot pan. And finally, they scoop it all up and put it into the biscuit and give you a spoon to sample the finished product.


The shop has many ice cream flavors and different sizes to suit everyone’s need and budget. But, the best way to sample their wares would be to take up on one of their ready made concoctions and just watch how it is made. You will definitely relish the final work product. If you need a second opinion, just watch the huge crowds in front of Coldstone Creamery outlets all over Taipei and it will become easier for you.

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Tokyo Curry: Some of the best curries in Taipei

Taipei has come delightful cuisines and foods, but it is very difficult to find any vegetarian options here as like Hong Kong, the concept of vegetarianism is very limited here. Hence, I was very excited when I found a couple of vegetarian dishes at Tokyo Curry, one of the restaurants in Taipei City Hall


‘s food court. And that was when my friend exclaimed, ‘I have head about this brand. They are supposed to be one of the best in Taiwan for their curries’. I didn’t need a recommendation, but it was good to get one.


I ordered a vegetable curry while my friend ordered a Chicken curry. The dish smelt really good when it arrived. In fact, we could smell it all through the restaurant. The signature dish of the restaurant is their beef curry. Our dish was of a healthy proportion and was enough to satiate the appetite of any backpacker. The curry was simply unbelievable and definitely one of the better foods that I have tasted in South East Asia so far. I am unable to place the exact ingredients of the curry, but it had some of the Indian spices in it, apart from having something else. The food is great here and the place is chic too. The only problem is that they run full more or less all through the week and hence you might have to wait a little bit to get your seat in this restaurant.

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