Being a Vegetarian in Shanghai Saturday, 05 June 2010 10:21 Written by Julia Taylor

Being a vegetarian in Shanghai can be very trying at times!  All vegetarians out there have surely been through the same things as me when trying to order food!

So I thought I would do a list of some of the vegetarian restaurants around town.  I love going to vegetarian restaurants, because for once I don’t need to call ahead to see if they can give me anything without meat and I have more than the one-token meatless dish on the menu to choose from!  Also, I don’t end up walking out of the restaurant after paying the same price as everyone else still starving, while they are all complaining about being full!

So here is the list:

Godly Vegetarian – Nanjing Xi Lu

This restaurant is 80 years old and has everything a Vegetarian / Vegan could ask for.  Their Chinese menu specializes in fake meats, vegetables, cookies and desserts.  Even though this is a Vegan restaurant it is still very traditional Chinese, so some of the food may contain MSG.  Be sure to ask them to leave it out – wo bu yao wei jing.

Price: $

Godly Vegetarian – Wuyuan Lu

This is a spin off from the original Godly Vegetarian on Nanjing Xi Lu, but with a more specialized focus.  The main portion of their menu is noodles with a small amount of fake meat.  There menu has both English and Chinese.  Open 6.00am – 9.00pm, but usually closes early.

Price: $

Lucky Zen

Restaurant is in the Xintiandi area and has a menu that focuses on Chinese home-style cooking, which results in healthier and lighter food.  This restaurant also sells books, sweets and antique reproductions.  One of the few non-smoking restaurants in Shanghai.

Price: $

New Age Veggie - Huaihai Zhong & Super Brand Mall

I have only ordered Sherpa’s from New Age Veggie and the food is okay, but not great!  It can be a little greasy and not very flavoursome, but for a cheap eat you can’t go wrong.

Price: $$

Vegetarian Lifestyle also known as Jujube Tree – GuBei, Jiang Ning Lu, Luwan

This is Vegetarian chain is one of my favourites in Shanghai!  I always stuff myself silly with all their yummy food and the price is great!  We have had a few Shanghai Dolls dinners at the Jiang Ning Lu location and the total bill per person is always around 30rmb!  The menu is in English.  No alcohol served at these restaurants, so if you are in for a beer or two you may want to drink before or plan to go somewhere after.

Price: $$

Annamaya

This is a great vegetarian cafe run by a lovely Japanese lady who knows all there is to know about having a vegetarian diet and the whole menu is based on a macrobiotic system, which focuses on balance.  If you want a really nice, healthy, clean meal with friends and a cosy atmosphere this place is for you.  Serves: Lacto, Vegan-friendly, Japanese, Macrobiotic, Beer/Wine.  I love this place!

Price: $$

These are other Vegetarian restaurants that are located around Shanghai, but I have yet to try any of them.

If you have a tried another veggie restaurant that I have not mentioned, please let us all in on the secret.

NOTE: Two other Veggie friendly restaurants that I absolutely love are Nepali Kitchen and Lost Heaven.  Both of these have some of, what I think is, the yummiest food in Shanghai!  Nepali Kitchen’s food is very similar to Indian cuisine and full of lots of spices and Lost Heaven has made me realise that my favourite Chinese food originates in Yunnan!  The style of this food is much more Thai style than Chinese.

Comments 

 

#5 RE: Being a Vegetarian in Shanghai — julia 2012-01-09 16:44

JK - sorry for the late reply... Annamaya is a vegan restaurant you could try and ask them about the yeast there. Also, since this posting KUSH has opened in Jing'an and you could ask Frank the manager there - he might be able to point you in the right direction.

Quote

 

 

#4 vegan — JK 2011-12-20 17:35

Hey great post! i was wondering if there are any vegan places? or places that sell vegan stuff, specifically nutritional yeast! thank you!

Quote

 

 

#3 RE: Being a Vegetarian in Shanghai — julia 2010-06-09 11:14

@Rachel - definitely sounds familiar!!! The reason for me not eating "anything with a face" (that is what I have to say to people to get them to understand that I only want vegetables) is that I practice Buddhism so it is about protecting life. I have discovered over here the only way all those little bits of "non-meat" will stop getting put in my food is to explain this to the staff, because they actually have respect for that and understand that you really don't want meat. If you say to them "wo xin fo, suo yi wo bu chi rou" - which translates to I believe in Buddhism, so I don't eat meat they will get it.

Quote

 

 

#2 RE: Being a Vegetarian in Shanghai — Rachel 2010-06-08 22:40

thanks so much for this post - this is how my day in QingDao played out today:

- breakfast ordered in hotel room (off one of those tick-box breakfast selections, so you'd think fairly straightforward): 1st attempt sent back as came wrapped around sausage and bacon; 2nd attempt not eaten when hash browns turned out to be meat patties (?)
- lunch in airport - Japanese noodles, ordered by my Chinese colleague explaining what I needed - arrived with lots of pork in it
- dinner in Jing An - vegetarian fried rice included lumps of ham, and yes apparently this isn't meat.
Maybe that size zero is achievable after all... :

Quote

 

 

#1 RE: Being a Vegetarian in Shanghai — flow 2010-06-06 20:59

That's a great selection and love Nepali Kitchen too.

Tried the Jade Buddha Vegetarian, but the taste of the meal prevented it from ever being finished.

Adding one restaurant + info for the Shanghai Veggie Club below:

Loving Hut | Address: 506 Guoding Lu, near Daxue Lu, Yangpu District - Vegan international restaurant chain with items on the menu from RMB 2-15 and portions are good and so is the taste, just quite far away from everything.

Shanghai Vegetarians & Vegans Club: ShanghaiVeggie@gmail .com with monthly meetups at different restaurants.

Quote

 

Refresh comments list

Add comment

JComments