Vegan in Cambodia by Paul Eyers

PAUL Eyers has been living in Cambodia this past 7 years, and travels, organises vegan tours & runs ‘Vegan Food Quest’ along with curating a luxury vegan travel blog.

Traditionally there is limited vegan food in Cambodia other than some ‘accidentally vegan’ street food snacks (which I love) but slowly things are changing. We have supported hotels, restaurants and training schools in their efforts to introduce more vegan options

I’ve been vegan for 7 or 8 years and my wife and partner in Vegan Food Quest has been vegan for around 20 years.

For me, my wife was my motivation as her passion for veganism was impossible to ignore. The environmental and health benefits were key factors too.

Siem Reap, Cambodia has been home since 2015. We left Southampton, England in January 2014 on a oneway ticket to Bangkok, with no real plan other than to not return! We enjoyed 18 months exploring South East Asia before ending up in Siem Reap where we planned to stay for a couple of months. That was now more than 7 years ago…

Vegan Food

Traditionally there is limited vegan food in Cambodia other than some ‘accidentally vegan’ street food snacks (which I love) but slowly things are changing. We have supported hotels, restaurants and training schools in their efforts to introduce more vegan options and manage an active

Vegan Cambodia group on Facebook with more than 4000 members. In our home town of Siem Reap we are Happy Cow Ambassadors and we spend lots of our free time doing anything we can to raise awareness.

Throughout the region, & not just in Cambodia, we have worked with many luxury hotels and resorts on their journeys to become vegan-friendly luxury hotels and resorts. Recently, the #1 hotel in Siem Reap and one of the finest in the region introduced a brand new vegan breakfast menu with our support that includes training for their F&B team. You can read about our partnership with Jaya House River Park here.

Hidden ingredients are a challenge. From soya milk that contains dairy milk to ‘vegetarian’ curries with chicken powder you really need to do your research. But with a little bit of help it’s easy, especially in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Out in the countryside it’s harder but as long as you’re happy with fried rice, veg and tofu you’ll be fine!

Travel Blog

For 8 years we’ve also written about vegan-friendly luxury hotels and resorts in the region for the award winning luxury travel website, A Luxury Travel Blog. This has given an excellent platform to them to showcase their vegan and plant based options.

Tours & Restaurants

When we arrived there were no vegan restaurants in Siem Reap and limited options. Pre-COVID there were 5 100% vegan restaurants and countless options. Sadly, COVID has economically devastated Siem Reap and at the time of writing, each of these vegan restaurants have closed. But there are still plenty of options in town as highlighted in this recent blog post we published.

During COVID we have partnered with the excellent Vegan Travel Asia to curate the first ever 14 day Cambodia vegan tours which will launch in December 2022. They have operated vegan tours in Asia for 18 years in

9 countries and approached us to enable them to offer Cambodia to their guests. Just this year they won ‘Asias Responsible Tourism Award’ at the World Travel Awards in recognition of their efforts throughout the region. We are very excited for this new partnership...

Veganuary

Veganuary presents some great opportunities to promote veganism locally. With our friends from Bong Bonlai and YK Art House in Phnom Penh (vegan restaurant and vegan guest house) we brought together more than 20 restaurants who have all offered promotions during the month of Veganuary.

Himalayan Vegan Festival September sees me head to Nepal and Bhutan for the first ever Himalayan Vegan Festival which will be hosted in both locations. I will be a guest speaker on a number of panels and also will be delivering workshops to F&B managers and hotel/ resort managers around becoming more vegan-friendly and the challenges they may face. This is an amazing opportunity and i’m honoured to have been invited alongside some amazing guest speakers.

Covid & Tourism

COVID has economically devastated Siem Reap. The borders closed in March 2020 and didn’t open until November 2021 which meant zero tourists and zero income. Since the reopening we are seeing a

steady trickle of new faces which is very exciting! It’s an amazing time to visit as you will have the chance to visit Angkor Wat without the crowds and explore the country in relative peace. The vaccination rate is over 90% and the infection rate is super low making it a COV- ID safe option and you only need a rapid test on arrival and no quarantine. I hope to see some of you soon!

Sadly, it will be a very tough few years ahead and i don’t see tourist numbers returning to pre-COVID rates for around 5 years. That said, it will give us all chance to rebuild and come back better, stronger and even more vegan-friendly!

Our friends at Animals of our World do an amazing job with limited resources and the incredible See Beyond

Borders are working tirelessly to improve education opportunities in Cambodia.

‘Making vegan travel in Southeast Asia easier for everyone’

Vegan Food Quest

‘Finding, eating & writing about the best vegan food in the world’

A Luxury Travel Blog

‘For those who enjoy the finer things in life’

Vegan Travel Asia

‘Mouthwatering vegan food, amazing destinations & fascinating cultures’

By Paul Eyers

Founder of Vegan Food Quest and writer for A Luxury Travel Blog