Where to Find the Best Vegan Food in Penang, Malaysia

Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of peninsular Malaysia. It’s also known by its Malay name, Pulau Pinang. 

The state consists of two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city of Georgetown is located, and Seberang Perai, which is on the mainland of the Malay Peninsula. 

Penang Island, and the Georgetown area in particular, has received worldwide recognition as an amazing food destination. And this is true for vegans too!

Due to the diverse ethnicities, cultures, and traditions found in this area, you’ll find a plethora of vegan options among authentic local dishes. 

From street food to fancier sit-down restaurants, plant-based eaters have a whole culinary world to explore. Penang really is an ideal vegan travel destination! 

History of Penang

Modern Penang is a place where four main religions co-exist harmoniously: Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity. 

A section of Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keiling in Penang is known as the “street of harmony”. Here, an Anglican church, a Hindu temple, a Taoist temple, and a Muslim mosque all neighbor each other. 

There is a culture of acceptance of differences in Penang, which contributes to the vibrancy and welcoming atmosphere. 

Beautiful street art can be found throughout the historic neighborhoods in Georgetown. Art, food, and music are prominently featured in the many festivals and traditions celebrated by Penang's population.    

Best Places to Eat in Penang

Vegan Restaurants Penang

There are a number of excellent vegan restaurants in Penang. Below are a few that I have visited and can personally recommend.

All but one of these restaurants are centrally located in Penang’s capital, Georgetown. There are some great vegan restaurants in other areas of Penang, such as Wholey Wonder Vegan Café and Yoga Studio, but they are further away from the places of interest to most tourists.

Pinxin Vegan 

Pinxin Vegan is a 100% vegan restaurant on Lebuh Tye Sin in Georgetown with a focus on healthy plant-based cuisine. It’s certainly a contender for the best vegan restaurant in Penang. Their menu includes noodle, rice, and Western fusion dishes. 

Pinxin uses homemade noodles and all-natural ingredients to prepare cruelty-free, nutritious food. Their motto is “food made with love”, and the wholesome dishes such as the Buddhaful Passion Bowl and the Hericium Satay Rice are beautifully presented. 

In their restaurant space, they also sell eco-friendly products such as wood toothbrushes, reusable food bags, reusable water bottles, and metal straws. The owners truly are making an effort to make the world a better place, one meal at a time. They serve lunch and dinner daily.  

Blue Vegan Restaurant 

Another fully vegan Georgetown restaurant, Blue is conveniently located directly across the street from Pinxin Vegan. It used to be called Cloud Dreaming and was located out in Sungai Ara, a very local neighborhood in Penang that is not often frequented by tourists. 

However, they have since rebranded as Blue and moved to a much more central location, so there’s no excuse not to visit!

Their 100% vegan menu features soups and salads, pasta dishes, burgers, desserts, and even nonalcoholic vegan wine. We did not sample the wine, but it is an interesting offering. 

The Black Magic Energy Mushroom Burger and the Authentic Panggang Style Tempeh Burger are both delicious. All burgers come with baked potato wedges and a small serving of coleslaw. 

Mushroom lovers will especially enjoy this restaurant, as many of their dishes feature various mushroom varieties. 

Five ingredients that you won’t find here are onion, garlic, shallots, leeks, and chives. These are known in some Buddhist sects as “the five pungent spices” and are forbidden because they are believed to lead to anger if eaten raw and passion if eaten cooked. 

Blue did not have any of these five ingredients on their menu, and we found that to be the case at a number of vegetarian eateries in Penang. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day except Thursdays.    

Sushi Kitchen 

Sushi Kitchen actually has several restaurant locations in Penang, which you can view here.  Their location in historic Georgetown looks rather unassuming from the outside. On the inside, however, is a dining space with a pleasant ambiance and artistically prepared vegan sushi. 

Their menu is presented as a large book with photos, and it can be a little overwhelming at first when trying to decide what to order. The Golden Age sushi made with Chokanan mango is one absolutely delicious option. 

Most of the dishes are on the small side, which is reflected in the price. So don’t be afraid to order a few different things, as the portions are perfect for sharing. 

In addition to sushi, this vegan Penang restaurant also serves soups, salads, noodle dishes, porridges, and desserts. They are serious about providing healthy food in a healthy environment and even share details about their vegetable washing practices and how they filter all their cooking water. 

If you are concerned about restaurant hygiene, you can relax and enjoy everything without worry at Sushi Kitchen. If you want a different vibe with the same menu, their Gurney Plaza location is inside an upscale shopping mall. Both locations are open for lunch and dinner.

Kek Lok Si Vegetarian Restaurant 

Idealite is a wholesome vegetarian fusion restaurant inside the modern and splashy Gurney Plaza shopping mall. While the location is somewhat lacking in ambiance, their food more than makes up for it. 

The menu is quite vegan-friendly, as items that contain non-vegan ingredients (mainly egg) are clearly labeled. This is helpful, because in Malaysia I often found egg lurking in many dishes where I did not expect it. 

Their menu is health-focused and lists the health benefits of the ingredients in each dish. They have rice bowls, vegetarian sushi, power bowls, and bento boxes. 

Two recommended dishes that are both big bowls of plant-powered goodness are the Crispy Oatmeal Power Bowl and the Herbal Rice dish. The latter is actually more of a noodle soup served with a side of rice. 

If you are looking for whole-food, plant-based cuisine, Idealite has you covered. They actually have a few other locations in Penang as well, but we only visited the one in Gurney Plaza.    

The Leaf Healthy House Café 

The Leaf Healthy House Café sits right in the heart of Georgetown and is probably the best cafe in Penang for enjoying healthy and natural vegetarian cuisine. Inside this small Penang cafe, the atmosphere is casual, light and bright. 

Their miso soup is soul-warming, and they have some interesting pasta dishes such as green curry spaghetti that are vegan. They are open for lunch and dinner daily.  

Luk Yea Yan Vegetarian Restaurant 

This is another popular buffet-style vegetarian restaurant in Penang. It’s a great place to sample many different vegetarian versions of local dishes. Luk Yea Yan is located on Lorong Madras in Georgetown and is usually open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. 

Vegan Penang Street Food

Cempedak is a fruit in the same family as jackfruit. It can be coated with flour and fried to create a bite-sized snack called cempedak goreng. By the way, the word goreng means “fried” in Bahasa Malaysia, so anytime you see this word you’ll know it’s describing a fried dish.

You can buy small containers of cempedak goreng for just a few ringgit on the streets of Georgetown.

Goreng Pisang 

Here’s another one for fried food lovers! These deep-fried banana fritters are widely available and make a great snack that’s crunchy on the outside and sweet on the inside. 

Fried mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and corn fritters are also commonly sold by street food vendors in Penang. In some cases, the oil they are fried in may have also been used to cook non-vegan foods, so check with the vendor if that’s something that bothers you.

Steamed Buns 

Also known as baozi (包子 in Chinese), steamed buns are very popular and widely available, not just in Penang but also in Kuala Lumpur and other Malaysian cities. There are many common varieties that are vegan, including those stuffed with red beans and lotus. 

I recommend breaking them open before eating them just to make sure you received the one you ordered, since they all look virtually the same on the outside. These are great as a snack or for breakfast or lunch. 

Popiah 

Popiah are spring rolls made up of wheat pancakes that are rolled up and filled with soybean curd, Chinese lettuce and jicama or other veggies inside. They are served with sweet sauce, chili sauce, or black sauce for dipping. 

Popiah can sometimes be made with egg in the filling, so be sure to specify no egg when ordering. Since they are made fresh on the spot as street food, you can often specify the fillings to your liking.

Vegan Main Dishes in Penang Street Food

Penang Laksa 

This is a popular spicy noodle soup dish in Malaysia. In order to make it vegan, it does need to be modified from the original recipe, which usually contains shrimp paste. 

The vegan version is full of flavor and often contains tofu puffs in the broth. It’s best to look for strictly vegetarian vendors selling this dish, since there are so many versions that have meat or fish in them. 

These many different variations can be categorized into two main types: laksa with coconut milk and laksa without coconut milk. The type without coconut milk is sometimes called assam laksa or Penang laksa, while the version with coconut milk is known as curry laksa or curry mee.

Mee Goreng 

These are large, thin Indian pancakes that can have different fillings, such as curry or vegetables. Alternatively, dosas can be served without fillings in a cone shape. 

They usually come with dhal and sambal on the side. We tried a cone dosa at the end of our food tour at Sri Ananda Bahwan restaurant, and it was quite tasty.  

Vegan Sweets in Penang

Cendol 

These sweet pancakes are bright green due to natural coloring from pandan leaves. The pancakes are stuffed with palm sugar and coconut and folded up into a handheld treat. They are delicious. 

Onde Onde 

These bite-size treats are glutinous rice flour dumplings with a filling of dark palm sugar. They are boiled in water then rolled in fresh coconut. 

Typically, onde onde are sold in little bags or papers in sets of four for less than one US dollar. They are chewy on the outside and filled with warm, gooey palm sugar on the inside. The flavors are heavenly, and it is a perfect small sweet treat. 

Where to Find Vegan Street Food in Penang

Below is a list of places where we found all the street food described above. 

Macallum Street Night Market

This street food market takes place only two times a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, from about 6:30 pm until about 11:00 pm. It’s a popular place to get food to go in Penang. 

Look for the two tall, white apartment buildings next to the market, as these are the most identifiable nearby landmarks.

There are many other night markets in Penang, and you will always find at least one of them open on any given day of the week.

Penang Clan Jetties 

Of these six jetties home to various Chinese clans, the Tan Jetty in particular has many food stalls nearby. They offer a variety of dishes, but breaded and fried foods such as bananas, mushrooms, and sweet potato fritters are especially popular snacks offered in this area.

Lebuh Kimberly 

The largest and most celebrated Buddhist temple in Malaysia, Kek Lok Si Temple is perched on a hill offering lovely views. Within its grounds are exquisite gardens that are a pleasure to explore. 

There is a unique seven-tier pagoda with an octagonal base that houses many buddhas. Many Buddhists come here to pray and make offerings, but people of all faiths (or none) are welcome to visit. There is a nice vegetarian restaurant on-site as well, as mentioned above.

Map of Vegan Food in Penang

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