"Gin Jay" (Vegetarian/Vegan) Restaurants in Upper Sukhumvit?

OliverKlozerof · November 10, 2020

My friend said if you see any signs like these (red characters on yellow background) outside, it marks a simple vegetarian/vegan "gin jay" restaurant. Anyone know of some in upper Sukhumvit area? Say, Ekamai to Bearing or so. (I live in Udom Suk.) Thx

khuneiz · November 10, 2020

I was vegan in thailand for a few years, wasnt easy. I never noticed many veg only eateries. You just missed the jay festival, that is the best time to find lots of aharn jay selling thai dishes with faux meats. The grocery stores had faux meats in yellow packages I ate often at home.

Even if you request for aharn jay at a thai eatery and they say yes, it probably will still have fish sauce in it, such as stir fry, Pad Thai and curries. I guess they count that as jay.

Been a few years since Ive been in Thailand, a few spots here good luck https://www.happycow.net/best-vegan-restaurants/bangkok-thailand

khunjeff · November 12, 2020

On 11/10/2020 at 10:49 PM, OliverKlozerof said:

My friend said if you see any signs like these (red characters on yellow background) outside, it marks a simple vegetarian/vegan "gin jay" restaurant.

Those flags only indicate that vegetarian food is being served, not that the place is a vegetarian restaurant per se (or that it's simple!) Most of the places you see displaying those flags during the vegetarian festival are actually non-veg restaurants that have vegetarian food during the festival, and will switch back to their normal menu as soon as it's over.

Unlike some other countries, Thailand has very few full-time 100% vegetarian restaurants, probably because vegetarianism isn't part of mainstream Thai Buddhist tradition. If you don't mind going a bit farther afield and having somewhat fancier food, Broccoli Revolution at the corner of Suk and Soi 49 is well regarded, and May Veggie Home just south of the Asoke intersection is also popular.

Oxx · November 12, 2020

Those signs are for food that is much more restricted than vegan. Onions and garlic are verboten, as are herbs and spices. The end result is soulless and bland slop. It's also usually very oily. Best avoided in my opinion.

Anyway for finding places to eat, vegetarian, vegan and jay, Happy Cow is your friend.

https://www.happycow.net/asia/thailand/bangkok/

recom273 · November 12, 2020

1 hour ago, Oxx said:

Those signs are for food that is much more restricted than vegan. Onions and garlic are verboten, as are herbs and spices. The end result is soulless and bland slop. It's also usually very oily. Best avoided in my opinion.

Anyway for finding places to eat, vegetarian, vegan and jay, Happy Cow is your friend.

https://www.happycow.net/asia/thailand/bangkok/

Yes, was about to say. We have a lot of these restaurants that popup during the vegetarian month - being “vegetarian” doesn’t mean it is healthy food - cheaply sourced vegetables cooked in palm oil with little flavor.

PDPA2024 · November 12, 2020

Just my two cents, if you're looking for cheaper and (usually) tasty option, look for Jay stands at food courts in big shopping malls.

Unfortunately, there aren't that many vegan restaurants in Bangkok for its size, especially in downtown.

1 hour ago, Oxx said:

Onions and garlic are verboten, as are herbs and spices. The end result is soulless and bland slop.

Not always. It can be super spicy, though usually less so than "normal" Thai food. And here in the South they don't mind using ingredients like stink beans.

So it really depends on the talent of the cook.

Skeptic7 · November 12, 2020

Been a vegan for over 30 years. Thailand is in the top 2 most veg/vegan friendly countries. Just download the Happy Cow app and it'll give everything (and much more) you could ever want to know about veg/vegan restaurants. Learn a few veg phrases like...no egg, no milk, no shrimp, no fish sause, etc and pretty much any Thai restaurant, with very few exceptions, can accommodate.

Seagull Sam · November 12, 2020

By happy circumstance on my first visit I stayed on Soi 49 and went to Broccoli Revolution nearly every day. It's totally wonderful, just like Brighton really. You can ask the restaurant to hold the fish sauce and so forth as much as you like if it makes you feel any better. The fact is the Thais don't really get the concept of vegetarianism despite the very first Buddhist precept being not to harm any living creature. To them a dish lacking large pieces of meat is vegetarian. Néua generally means beef and doesn't include mŏo (pork). My vegetarianism is about intent but if you are the kind who check the ingredients in the supermarket be warned.

OliverKlozerof · November 12, 2020

Thanks for the feedback folks. I've been omnivore but try to eat lots of plants. Just finished a long juice fast though and was now hoping to try even harder to eat plants. I've been in BKK for almost 15 years. I've known about May Veggie Home, Broccoli Revolution and a few other places that are veggie friendly. My question re: restaurants with the red & yellow 'jay' signs was a result of an old friend from my Tokyo days (where I lived in the '90s). A Brit who still lives in Tokyo, he's spent quite a bit of time in Chiang Mai. When I told him I wanted to start going more veggie, he said that in CM, he just looked for the red & yellow signs. I inadvertently found the signs he was talking about online and immediately know it meant 'gin jay.' So, maybe my friend just happened to be in CM last time during the jay festival? But the way he made it sound...whenever he was there, he'd go looking for a shop that had that sign. He said for around B50 he could get a big serving of filling veg food. He said they were often in the local Thai areas. So, what I was picturing was that maybe some of these 'hidden treasures' were also sprinkled around the backstreets of BKK. But apparently that's not at all what the sign means. Sounds like it mainly pops up during the 'jay festival' and, as some of you have pointed out, can often (and unfortunately), designate a shop that is temporarily offering some dishes that are 'somewhat vegetarian,' just to attract those who want to 'gin jay' during the festival.

I'd already been finding lists of other veggie establishments in the Big Mango.

BTW, I also value Broccoli Revolution--in ways. During my juice fast, some days I was tired of making my own juices, so would swing by there and pick up a few to go, and they are very good. But unfortunately, as a 64-year-old former musician, I find it hard to sit in most establishments these days, as the stuff they have coming out of their sound systems does not fall under my definition of "music." Only once out of the 5 or 6 times I've been there in the last 2 months have they been playing something I wasn't offended by. Too bad, but I've come to accept that no one cares what I think on the matter...and they certainly aren't' interested in finding another playlist that might be acceptable to both of us. But no matter; I simply sit on one of the chairs for the Grab delivery guys outside until my juices are ready. That way I get to read my Kindle in the roar and fumes of Sukhumvit for 5 minutes, which is always a joy. 8-|

ColeBOzbourne · November 13, 2020

17 hours ago, Seagull Sam said:

The fact is the Thais don't really get the concept of vegetarianism despite the very first Buddhist precept being not to harm any living creature.

I had a friend in Nepal that was Buddhist. He could eat meat, but couldn't butcher the animal himself. Most people in the village raised sheep for meat, and an outside butcher was hired to come in and do the 'harm' to the living creatures. My friend said he would not watch it happen either.

khunjeff · November 13, 2020

56 minutes ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

I had a friend in Nepal that was Buddhist. He could eat meat, but couldn't butcher the animal himself. Most people in the village raised sheep for meat, and an outside butcher was hired to come in and do the 'harm' to the living creatures. My friend said he would not watch it happen either.

That's essentially the Thai way of thinking as well - the slaughterhouse workers (at least in Bangkok) are generally all Muslim or Christian. For seafood, the thinking is, "I didn't kill it, I just took it out of the water and then it died by itself."

dddave · November 13, 2020

There is a fairly large vegan food kiosk in the Gateway Mall (street level) Ekkamai, pretty much in the center. I just noticed it yesterday. Looks like a wide variety of vegan "fast food" like hamburgers and hotdogs along with what looked like a fairly extensive variety of other offerings.

tyler28 · November 13, 2020

7 hours ago, dddave said:

There is a fairly large vegan food kiosk in the Gateway Mall (street level) Ekkamai, pretty much in the center. I just noticed it yesterday. Looks like a wide variety of vegan "fast food" like hamburgers and hotdogs along with what looked like a fairly extensive variety of other offerings.

It's called "So Vegan." There's another branch in the basement of the Century the Movie Plaza by BTS On Nut and an affiliated Vegan restaurant at The Phyll shopping center at Sukhumvit 54.

These places fit the OP's description of "simple vegan food." The quality isn't very high, but neither are the prices.

Damrongsak · November 13, 2020

On 11/10/2020 at 2:59 PM, khuneiz said:

... Even if you request for aharn jay at a thai eatery and they say yes, it probably will still have fish sauce in it, such as stir fry, Pad Thai and curries. I guess they count that as jay. ...

43 years ago, I had to learn Thai language quickly in order to get any vegetarian food, especially in Isaan. "No pork oil, no fish sauce, no meat, fish," etc. One young cook at a halfway decent restaurant (well, at the little waitresses were decent) use to make stir-fried vegetables for me. One day he spiced them up with some fresh ganja leaves.

OliverKlozerof · November 14, 2020

21 hours ago, tyler28 said:

It's called "So Vegan." There's another branch in the basement of the Century the Movie Plaza by BTS On Nut and an affiliated Vegan restaurant at The Phyll shopping center at Sukhumvit 54.

These places fit the OP's description of "simple vegan food." The quality isn't very high, but neither are the prices.

Noted. Thanks!

OliverKlozerof · November 14, 2020

OK. Based on what I've gleaned here, and from HappyCow, here are some...

Veggie Restaurants, Sukhumvit/Upper Sukhumvit

Barefoot Bangkok (Ekamai cinema bldg)

Veganerie Concept - by Benjasiri Park (Phrom Phong)

Nourish Cafe - Suk Soi 50 (On Nut)

Veganerie - Mercury Ville (Chitlom)

May Veggie Home (Asoke)

Vistro - Soi 24 (Phrom Phong)

So Vegan:
1) Gateway Ekamai
2) Century Movie Plaza - On Nut
3) (affiliated restaurant) The Phyll mall - Sukhumvit 54

Broccoli Revolution - Thong Lo (Soi 49)

Mall Food Courts

Regular restaurants may have some veggie dishes, and some will accommodate you, if you ask.

Oxx · November 14, 2020

5 hours ago, OliverKlozerof said:

some will accommodate you, if you ask.

And some will pretend to accommodate you for a simple life. Your special requests may well get lost on the way to the kitchen, and your food will still contain fish sauce, oyster sauce or shrimp paste. And in any case will be cooked in the same wok that was previously used to cook meat and hasn't been washed.

Damrongsak · November 14, 2020

@OliverKlozerof

If ever you can find someone who can make vegetarian Vietnamese type deep fried spring rolls, try them. I'm talking about fairly large ones with the clear rice wrapper. My wife makes them for me stuffed with glass noodles, bean curd, tree fungus and a few other bits, though they normally have pork or something. Usually served with a tamarind sauce with peanuts and a wee bit of hot pepper in it. Chewy, a wee bit of crisp and absolutely to die for. They are time consuming to make. Like this:

Damrongsak · November 14, 2020

20 minutes ago, Oxx said:

And some will pretend to accommodate you for a simple life. Your special requests may well get lost on the way to the kitchen, and your food will still contain fish sauce, oyster sauce or shrimp paste. And in any case will be cooked in the same wok that was previously used to cook meat and hasn't been washed.

Or get out in the boondocks and they have a wee bit of rancid vegetable oil in the bottom of a bottle. When I worked with farmers 40+ years ago, they would give me lunch. Sticky rice, salt, some fresh hot peppers and some weeds and berries they'd collected in the "back 40". And some water morning glory from the pond. I didn't care for the raw fern heads.

faraday · November 14, 2020

19 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

Or get out in the boondocks and they have a wee bit of rancid vegetable oil in the bottom of a bottle. When I worked with farmers 40+ years ago, they would give me lunch. Sticky rice, salt, some fresh hot peppers and some weeds and berries they'd collected in the "back 40". And some water morning glory from the pond. I didn't care for the raw fern heads.

All topped off with a lovely dose of pla ra - unpasteurised of course. ????

Skeptic7 · November 14, 2020

Yes those signs say "Jay" and are mostly seen during the Annual Veg Festival. However there are veg food stalls hidden throughout the Kingdom. Used to be one in Din Daeng. Before covid-19, there were 2 in the market across from Big C On Nut. Another one under the Bang Chak SkyTrain Station on the odd soi number side of Sukhumvit. There are others but not easy to find if you don't speak Thai..Also most towns have them but again not easily located without speaking Thai.

Skeptic7 · November 15, 2020

8 hours ago, OliverKlozerof said:

Mall Food Courts

Yes MBK and Terminal 21 have excellent and very cheap veg food stalls in the Food Courts. BEWARE vegans...Terminal 21 has at least 1 regular dish with egg. It's the "malah" (or "marah" = bitter gourd). Also both used to have a steamed mixed red rice, but Terminal 21 veg stall served only white rice last 2 or 3 times there.

Damrongsak · November 15, 2020

Here's a clever "r han jay" sign.

Skeptic7 · November 15, 2020

5 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Here's a clever "r han jay" sign.

VERY clever! ????

Damrongsak · November 15, 2020

5 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

VERY clever! ????

I saw that picture quite awhile back, and it took me a bit to get it, rusty Thai and all. In dredging the picture up now, it still took me awhile to figure it out. I haven't changed - dumb as ever. Considering that I'm a vegetarian and my first two initials are R & J, I should have a T-shirt made with that.

Damrongsak · November 15, 2020

Actually, isn't "jay" food supposed to be bland for various traditional reasons? I would order "jay" or "mangsa weerat", but explain that I wanted it spicy.

Skeptic7 · November 15, 2020

4 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Actually, isn't "jay" food supposed to be bland for various traditional reasons? I would order "jay" or "mangsa weerat", but explain that I wanted it spicy.

Far as I know..."mangsaweerat" is veg but not necessarily vegan. "Jay" is vegan, or supposed to be.

Some "jay" joints may not use garlic and/or onion and some do. Some will ask. All serve"<deleted> see eew" in which the chiles are in soy sauce rather than fish sauce. I always tell them "pet pet" to let them know I like it HOT.

555!!! Just noticed the Thai word for "chile" got censored! Let's just say "pik" and leave out the R, as most Thais do anyway. ????

OliverKlozerof · November 16, 2020

Just saw this in my Facebook feed tonight. I joined the following veggie related groups on FB recently, but haven't looked at them much yet:

Vegans, And vegetarians Bangkok
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1648033345516479/

Vegans of Bangkok
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vegansbangkok/

Vegetarian And Vegan Foodies Thailand
https://www.facebook.com/groups/295172964189032/

OliverKlozerof · November 20, 2020

Yesterday I was in Ekamai so went to find Barefood Bangkok. I'd mistakenly thought it was in the Ekamai Cinema building. It's actually down the street on the left side of that building, Soi 61. BFB is a really cool little place. The owner, Taksina, was chatting to (at?) some customers when I came in (she's very talkative), and I could overhear that she was *quite into* finding synchronicity in small events and other 'new age-y' stuff (?). And was happy that she sat down with me later, since I was actually going through something weird and she was kind enough to listen to me. (She's apparently a Thai who grew up in Chicago.)
I got an excellent vegan (raw?) brownie while there, and an espresso with coconut milk. Plus I got a cashew nut cheese sampler to go which I ate today. Very interesting and quite good! Actually tastes like real cheese.
https://www.facebook.com/BarefoodBangkok/

Then I rode my bike a bit further down that street and noticed another veggie place called Pantiful. They have a very nice menu...and I noticed they had a professional juicing machine. Slickly designed and on a quiet, somewhat upscale lane. FYI
https://www.facebook.com/plantiful.bkk

OliverKlozerof · November 22, 2020

Was in On Nut today so went around to find 3 of the places we've talked about here. Had nice lunch at So Vegan in the basement of the little mall right by On Nut BTS station. 50 baht for 2 items on rice! Then walked about 10 min down Soi 50 on other side of Sukhumvit to find Nourish Cafe (which was closed; sign said closed at 3pm on Sunday and I arrived after that). It's upstairs from a martial arts gym; not sure the quality. Then walked down to "The Phyll" mini mall on corner of Soi 54 and Sukhumvit and found the little Ton Phon shop, which I guess is affiliated with So Vegan. Food there not as abundant or fresh looking as at So Vegan by the BTS station, but probably OK.