Hey Food lovers! In this post I am making a comparison between a no frills vegan restaurant Vs a very swanky, expensive a upmarket vegan restaurant. Aesthetics aside, since obviously the swanky restaurant was much more beautiful to look at, this review will compare the two based on food quality, menu, and value for money. I also made an impromptu stop at a beautiful rustic botanical garden which is always nice to see some photos of. It was a very special place, all except for the incredible number of mosquito that fed on me very liberally that day!
What did we do before google maps huh! I think discovering places used to be a mission impossible, let alone figuring out how to get there. These days, in case you didn’t know, you can just type a very specific search in to the google maps app on your phone. It also works on a laptop but you have to specify the location. So, i searched for "Vegan Restaurants Near Me", and hey presto i was inundated with options all just 10-20 Km away. I noticed one called Reach, it looked very simple and also very nearby. I decided to try it out and drove my little scooter around 15 minutes to reach it. On the way, just a few minutes away from Reach i noticed a big sign for a botanical garden so i decided i would have lunch and then visit the gardens to see what they were like. I can remember once visiting botanical gardens in Chiang Mai many years ago and it really did blow my mind.
As i approached the restaurant i noticed, yet again, a very high prominence of Thai martial arts and kickboxing rings and classes. There were super fit looking people walking up an down the road dressed in tight sportswear, and i felt suitably unfit relatively speaking but that’s another story! I do find it super cool that in Thailand at least they seem to have really figured out that eating a balanced Vegan diet is the way to go if you want to be strong, fit and healthy. I don’t know how long this has been the case, and im sure its not how things are or perceived in the west.. so props to Thailand for being so up with the times!
Reach Vegan Restaurant
So i arrived at Reach, and could see it was a very small and simple place.. no frills, basic furniture and homemade low tables so you could sit on the floor on cushions, Japanese style. I spotted two Thai people at the back in the kitchen looking busy, with the menu written out on a large chalkboard. I met the owner who was a very very lovely lady and we had a little chat about vegan food and cooking. One of my first questions to her was whether she was Vegan herself, i am just curious! Often they are not from my experience, but this lady was the real deal..
She was passionate about vegan cuisine, being healthy and curing diseases such as cancer. She told me she had trained in a dedicated school and made all her food with strictly pure natural and healthy ingredients. I believed every word of it, you could feel it in the vibe of the place, and in her smile and warmth. I was sure that i had found food that was made with Love, which isn’t always the case and to me is something i noticed right away when i eat something.
Fortunately she had run out of her vegan burgers so i got to try something different. I asked her what she recommended, since i was not sure what to go for, and she said that the pumpkin curry was a favourite, so i ordered that. I also ordered some steamed spring rolls as they always hit the spot, and then i sat down and waited for the dishes to arrive! Whilst i was waiting i picked up my phone (yes im an addict too), and had a look at the reviews and photos of the place. They looked good, and suddenly i noticed this amazing looking Mexican wrap that they had.. Suddenly i was having Mexican food envy, but the grass always looks greener on the other side doesn't it? Well this woman was special, and just a few moments later she rocks up and delivers me a small taster plate of a Mexican taco! She said it was free and for me to try. I just looked up and told her with a great smile " YOU are reading my mind!!!". Suffice to say i downed that taco in a heartbeat and it was delicious.
The spring rolls came next, looking very translucent and healthy. They were filled with glass noodles and vegetables, lettuce and carrots all very thinly sliced. It was served with a sweet dark sauce, tasting something hoisin sauce. They were very good spring rolls, and steamed not fried meant i wasn’t going to get full or feel oily after this meal.
Very quickly the pumpkin curry arrived along with some brown rice. The presentation was ordinary, nothing special, but the food was really good. The pumpkin curry had almost no spice, but a little kick, and had the aroma and taste of a good Thai curry. The pumpkin was all nice and soft, and the fresh basil brought it all together. Very nice, very nice indeed.. i could feel the love in the food, and that more than made up compared to the perfect fancy presentation of the previous restaurants i have visited.
Before I knew it i was finished! I felt just about full and yet still very light and comfortable. No bloated belly, no food coma, and no heaviness. That is really how it should be, and that was good because i was headed to the Botanical Gardens next for a nice walk and exploration of the place. I went up to the counter and asked for my bill, realising i had no idea what these dishes costed! I was rather surprised that it was only 180 Bhat ($5) for the whole meal, including my free Mexican taco! That is amazing really, and cheaper than anything i have eaten in Thailand. I’ve spent more than that on just a darn coconut out here, and even the most basic street food can cost more than this, so props to this beautiful woman for delivering amazing food as such an affordable price.
Phuket Botanical Gardens
I hopped on my scooter and a few minutes later i arrived at the Botanical Gardens. The entry price was high at 500 Bhat ($15) but it was clearly for a good cause, and i was very curious what lay behind the grand entrance gates! A funny old Thai man gave me the ticket and offered me some anti mosquito spray. I declined as i never use that stuff, and so he took me to the entrance, opened the big grand doors and let me in.
I was immediately transported to a different world! Wow,, what was this place. I was expecting something like i had experienced in Chiang Mai, which was more like perfect manicured large open gardens, but this was something else altogether.
I’ve never seen anything like it, everywhere you looked was not just plants but all kinds of statues, structures and odd things integrated with the plants. Someone had put an enormous amount of time into this place i could tell. I liked how there were benches everywhere so you could sit and admire each spot in comfort. There was also music playing throughout the place which made the atmosphere all the more magical. Yes, this was one magical botanical garden!
I walked around and followed the paths at a slow pace but without stopping much.. i wasn’t ready to sit anywhere as i just wanted to see everything all at once! This is my nature really, and then once i have seen all there is to offer i will normally go back and spend more time at the spots i really like. As i was walking i very quickly noticed that i was almost immediately being bitten everywhere by mosquito’s. There were water features everywhere, and hence mosquitos everywhere! Now i understood why he offered me the spray, darn i clearly should have taken it! I thought about going back but just carried on exploring the crazy rustic beauty of the place!
I had a really cute and special moment with a couple of small love birds. They were caged up, which i never like to see, so i spent around 5 minutes hanging out with them and seeing if they were friendly. I fed some hanging thin vines through their cage to see if they were interested in them, and sure enough they started to eat them. These small love birds are quite intelligent i think, and sometimes they can even kind of speak.
These two didn’t speak though, but they did make some funny high pitched sounds. Then just as i was ready to leave them to it, I asked them if they loved each other. Then i asked them to kiss each other, no idea why really.. i do strange things like that sometimes and i always talk to animals. What amazed me was that just two seconds after i asked one of them just went right up to the other one and kissed it right on the beak! Before that they hadn’t touched each other, so i was sure that they had understood me! Amazing, i love it when animals demonstrate their intelligence like that.. i don’t they spoke English but they did clearly feel my sentiment, as animals do. Pure magic, that was the highlight of my day actually.
I continued to explore, but was starting to feel a bit too itchy as more and more mosquito’s came to feed on me. I was literally the only person there so they didn’t have much choice but to all come to me. I was planning to sit and meditate but i realised that this was going to be a big challenge as my arms and legs getting eaten alive.. SO i decided to explore more quickly and just dashed from one amazing spot to another, each with its own theme. There were large ponds with fish that you could feed, of course i fed them all, and within about half an hour had reached the end. I decided to backtrack a little as i had spotted a nice bench and decided i would try to meditate for a bit I gave it my best shot but due to the massive itching and hot sweaty heat i didn’t last long at all. What a shame i was hoping to chill out there for some time but it was not meant to be!
SO here are some final photos, as you can see.. a very special place indeed!
Soul Vegan Restaurant
This restaurant was an accidental discovery! I was intending to go for a pizza, the normal real cheesy type, and was riding my scooter along the sea coast. Then just as i passed the pizza restaurant that i had my eye on I had an intuitive impulse to just keep going and see if i could maybe find something a bit more interesting. I drove about 5 minutes more and didn’t really spot anything and so i turned around at the roundabout and was ready to give up the idea.. Just as i was headed back i noticed a small sign labelled SOUL, with a flower of life on it just behind another pizza restaurant, and i was intrigued. I am a flower of life fan, and so i drove behind this pizza place only to find a very swanky and colourful looking restaurant. I parked up and approached and it quickly became clear that i had stumbled upon a different vegan restaurant that i had never spotted on Google maps before! So THATS how we used to find things, now i remember, it was sheer luck and keeping our eyes open!
This place looked darn amazing, so beautifully lit up and with all the fancy shamncy things you would want to see in a posh eating establishment. As i entered i noticed they had some weight lifting equipment in one area, again a nod to the new phenomenon of sporty healthy vegan living. I entered and met the owners dog who was sat on the floor enjoying the ambience, obviously very friendly and ready to receive some strokes! Then i said hi to the ladies who worked there and they seemed very friendly and took me to a table for one!
Funny how its almost always women working in Thailand! I was told that this happens because the men were traditionally all in temples praying.. but today i have no idea where all the men actually are! Maybe they all hide at home or else they have just been disposed of. lol!
The menu looked great, and this was clearly a fully vegan restaurant. I decided to go for two main dishes.. the falafel and the burger. I’m glad i did as the portions turned out to be tiny, as is usually the case with swanky restaurants. I sat and lapped up the good vibes and also drank a nice passion fruit refresher. It was GOOD, even though it alone costed more than the entire meal I had at reach. The falafel came and i lapped it up very quickly! Not bad, but great presentation.. The tahini was lacking in what i would call tahininess, but it balanced the falafel well and i polished it up quickly.
The burger arrived soon after, looking like perfection.. everything that a burger should be! The bun was perfectly sized and in proportion to the patty, and it had layers of lettuce, tomato and sauce, just as a burger should! I disappeared that burger in a kind of haze, as i usually do with burgers. Very good, the patty was quite different to the beyond meat burger.. It was good, but not as moist and had a slightly grainy taste. Nevertheless it was perfectly balanced by the rest of the burger and i give it a 4 our of 5 stars. I finished it all and was still not full, mainly because the portions were not so big and i was feeling pretty hungry.
So finally, for the first time i ordered a dessert! Rather than go for the standard chocolate lava cake, which i was tempted to do, i took the waitresses advice and had the blueberry cheesecake. It came, looking very purple and very beautifully presented. IT was given to me with a wooden spoon which didn’t work out that well as it was hard to cut since the cake was very firm and chilled. The pieces kept on flying off the plate as i cut through them, but luckily i saved them and ate them quickly. Damn good cake, and not too sweet either.. Lots of fruity vibes and the sauces were nice and tangy.. just what it needed for balance.
Nice job, this was a great place to eat and potentially loose some weight if you only ordered one dish. I got my bill which came to an eye watering 850 Bhat.. which is $25 .. pretty terrible value if im honest but i think you pay for the presentation and the ambience of the restaurant. You could sit there for hours to be fair, and enjoy the atmosphere. SO i paid up and thanked them for a good meal. I also let them know that their restaurant didn’t show up on google maps, which might explain why there were very few people there.. Most folks don’t use their luck anymore, we all use google don’t we! I advised her to add the word VEGAN to the name SOUL in the title of the place as that would probably help people realise what it was. Anyway, i gave it a 5 * review even though it was probably only 4 *, just to help them along.
So if i have to choose where i would return to, i would have to say it would be the cheapy Reach restaurant! There was just something special about it, and i could have around 4 meals for the price of one too! Now that is value! Thanks for making it to the end, i hope this post has inspired you and whet your appetite for some vegan food! <3