Mai Linh writes of the growing numbers of people going vegetarian in Vietnam.

More and more people are turning to the greener side of the plate, as vegetarian diets become an increasingly popular way to eat healthy without missing out on the taste.

A vegetarian buffet bar.

Customers at Viet Chay Vegetarian Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City.

At 11.30 am, Nang Tam Vegetarian Restaurant at 79 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi was more crowded than usual. The restaurant was expecting to be busy as it was the first day of lunar June and Buddhists had flocked here for the best in vegetarian meals.

But as many westerners filed through the doors, it became obvious that the restaurant’s patrons were not all there for religious reasons. We ask a receptionist at the restaurant, and she told us that not all of them were Buddhists. She explained that many people come here to change their diet, follow a friend’s suggestion, or out of curiosity to see how a restaurant could serve up so many Vietnamese dishes without any meat. The restaurant is also riding on a growing trend of vegetarianism, increasingly popular in Vietnam, especially in the two big cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.

Hoang Mai, a 25 year-old receptionist at VinCom City Towers, was enjoying rice with fried fish and crab soup while her two friends were having fried chicken and beef noodle; minus the fish, crab, chicken and beef. “It tastes great,” Mai smiled. “The interesting thing is that I can eat as much chicken as I want without worrying about putting on weight,” Mai’s friend Minh Thu laughed. “It’s made of bean.”

Mai said that it was the third time they came here and they loved the food. “We are not Buddhists but we think that eating vegetarian food is good for our health,” she said. More than that, Minh Thu hopes to loose weight this way. “I am following a strict diet to loose weight,” she said. “Coming here I have many choices.”

Many local people, especially the younger generation, are turning vegetarian for a variety of reasons. “At first, I started going to a vegetarian restaraunt when I grew sick of meat, and gradually I started really enjoying vegetarian meals,” Phan Linh remembered. “Fortunately, a manager at the restaurant has suggested a suitable diet to treat my stomachache. Now I eat vegetarian food two times a week.”

Nguyen Tien Minh, manager of a fashion shop on Chua Boc Street said he likes eating vegetarian foods because it gives him “peace in mind”.

“I am a Buddhist and besides, the 1st and 15th day of every lunar month, I eat vegetarian food whenever I am under stress or pressure. At home I also often cook vegetarian food for the whole family.

According to Trinh Huong Thuy, manager of Huong Thuy Vegetarian Restaurant on Truong Đinh Street, more and more people are turning to vegetarian food. Her restaurant is often overcrowded, especially on the 1st or 15th day of the lunar month. “Many people have to order our delivery service,” she said.

To meet customer demands, other than normal dishes like rice served with tofu, vegetables, noodle with mushroom, and so on, restaurants are now making many special dishes that look like normal foods such as fried chicken, stewed steak, and noodle with beef and chicken, with some tricky meat substitutes.

Vegetarian food is also attracting people at the market and supermarket. Other than fresh foods, Vietnamese vegetarians now have an array of tinned, frozen or dried products to choose from.

Buddhist philosophy says that eating vegetarian food has many advantages such as long life, less disease, less hostility and heaven after death. But as vegetarian food gets a better rap and better taste, non-Buddhists are beginning to realize the health benefits of dropping the meat.