This is a brand-new vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant in Footscray, right around the corner from the train station. And it's yummy.
I like Vietnamese food, but vegans and vegetarians usually find Vietnamese cuisine a bit tricky because it can contain beef stock, pork bones, etc. during the cooking process.
And sometimes stuff gets lost in translation, where "vegetarian" in a Vietnamese restaurant could easily mean "no chunks of meat actually in the food but including animal products in the stock or sauce."
So yeah, even "vegetable pho" or "vegetarian pho" is questionable. I'm always a little uneasy eating at a regular Vietnamese restaurant for that reason.
But at a fully vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant, a lot of those concerns evaporate. Lots of times the owners are vegetarian Buddhists and will definitely not use any beef or pork in their cooking process for religious reasons. You still have to watch out for egg, but it's a lot easier overall.
Huong Viet is one of those places. Nearly all their meals are vegan, with the egg-containing meals being the exception rather than the norm. And these ones are clearly-marked as "vegetarian" on the menu, so you know you can avoid them (or request modifications to make it vegan).
I came with two friends and we shared three dishes: the Com Đo, the Tàu Hu Chiên Xa, and the Mì / Hu Tieu / Pho Xào Thap Cam (geez, giving the ol' Character Map a good workout).
The Com Đo (tomato rice, cashew nuts and sesame shredded tofu) was the least impressive. It was still tasty, but kind of ordinary. I think adjusting the spices would give it a bit more flair.
The Tàu Hu Chiên Xa (deep-fried lemongrass tofu), however, was DELICIOUS. A really nice lemongrass flavour and plenty of veggies to offset the unhealthiness of eating something deep-fried. We enjoyed this dish a lot.
The Mì / Hu Tieu / Pho Xào Thap Cam (stir-fried rice noodles with mixed mock meat) was also tasty, although not all the mock meats were that great. Mock meats are not all created equal, and some of them definitely tasted better than others. But the flavours of the dish were quite nice and I'd order it again. (Make sure to specify "vegan" on this one so they don't give you egg noodles.)
Price-wise, this isn't dirt-cheap Vietnamese but it's still very reasonably priced.
Atmosphere-wise, Huong Viet was super-clean and bright and nicely decorated (although a lot of the pictures on the wall were of European places, not Vietnamese places. I'm guessing some of this decor "fell off the back of a truck" somewhere, ha!)
Service-wise, SUPER friendly staff -- he just seemed like a really happy and cheerful guy, and positivity is contagious, so that was nice :)
Will definitely go back and try some of their other options (especially their house specials, which are $2 off at the moment). read more