On your search for vegan food in Hội An it is highly likely that you’ve stumbled across Chickpea Eatery, a vegan restaurant located in the old town.
Their food comes highly rated on Happy Cow and Google so I simply knew I had to try it. Plus, being a big fan of the local noodle dish, cao lầu, I was excited to give their vegan version a go!
I first visited their restaurant in February 2023 and have paid them a few more visits since. I really enjoyed the experience of eating there and hopefully I can give you reason enough to visit them too.
The positives
Now that I have managed to grab your interest, let me take you through what I loved about my dining experience at Chickpea Eatery.
Authentic Vietnamese dishes
If you are looking for really good quality vegan versions of local dishes then you’ve come to the right place! The team at Chickpea Eatery have put together a cohesive menu with plenty of authentic Vietnamese food to try, plant-based style.
For instance, you can try their vegan cao lầu which is a noodle dish originating from Hội An. It is made using thick rice noodles that have been soaked in lye water (a specific kind of ash from a local plant), which gives them a slightly grey-yellow colour. Some of the noodles are also cut into squares, deep fried, and placed on top of the dish. It is typically served with pork, but Chickpea Eatery serve theirs with a vegan pork alternative and crispy tofu – yum! Plus a rather spicy dipping sauce on the side that was extremely moreish.
It is hands down THE best vegan cao lầu I’ve had the pleasure of eating. So if you find yourself in the area, I urge you to visit here!
On top of this, they also have vegan chicken rice, a dish from close by in Central Vietnam, and a few other typically Vietnamese dishes.
Chickpea Eatery also offer Western dishes which are also very tasty, but I would urge you to go with the local dishes to make the most out of their amazing talents!
Really tasty food
Everything that I have tried at Chickpea Eatery has been really delicious and cooked to a high standard. They have considered all of the perfect finishing touches, like the ginger strips inside their fluffy vegan bao buns and the delightfully spicy dipping sauce on the side of their vegan cao lầu.
You can tell they really care about the food that they are serving to you, which means you get to experience lots of incredibly tasty and authentic Vietnamese food. But all 100% vegan!
As I’ve mentioned, their cao lầu is the best I’ve ever tried, so I have gone back there to eat this dish itself multiple times. I don’t think there is any better compliment than that there!
Great service & atmosphere
I find Chickpea Eatery’s space to be really calming and relaxing. The team have made a really lovely space that is made up of an inside seating area next to the kitchen and a pretty outdoor space that if you are lucky, you’ll get to share with the next door neighbour’s chickens.
The chickens roam freely around the outdoor space and they are really friendly. I think it is because they know it is a vegan restaurant and that they can relax in this space!
Inside the restaurant, they are often playing Buddhist music which I personally find to be quite relaxing.
All of the staff are really friendly and chatty which helps to create a lovely and positive environment in the restaurant. They also put a lot of personality into their menu, which I hope makes you chuckle as much as I did.
The negatives
Whilst I absolutely love everything about this vegan eatery and it would easily be my go-to if I was living in the area, I do still feel there are some areas where improvement could be made. I’ll take you through them now.
Service can be slow
If you choose to visit Chickpea Eatery during their busier periods, think weekends at lunch and dinner, then you may find their service to be a little bit slow. That being said, I never found myself waiting so long that I questioned anything. The whole team obviously work very hard to do what they are doing!
Limited milk selection
If you like to slurp on a coffee during your lunch or you are visiting Chickpea Eatery for a slice of their delicious banana bread and want to pair it up with a refreshing cup of coffee, you may find the plant-based milk selection a little limited.
At the time of visiting, the offering was coconut milk. Now, I love coconut milk in coffee, but I know some other people aren’t so keen.
Considering the limited selection of plant-based milks in Vietnam as a whole, plus how pricey they are, this should come as no surprise.
The verdict
If you are in Hội An then I urge you to visit Chickpea Eatery. I love everything about this business, from the fact that it is female-founded, family-run and 100% vegan, to the quality of the food that they produce.
Their dishes are clean and healthy but also packed full of flavour. You get to experience true Vietnamese flavours, but veganised!
All of the food is done to a high standard, but I do recommend trying their local Vietnamese dishes to make the most out of their incredible talents.
The best bit, if you find yourself in Da Nang, they also have a restaurant near the beach there. You’ll find their Da Nang establishment featured in my guide to the best vegan restaurants in Da Nang. So you can continue eating their incredible food!
Visit Chickpea Eatery
Make sure you visit Chickpea Eatery in Hội An, you won’t regret it.
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