Where To Eat: Central’s Best Vegan Restaurants

As the energetic epicenter of Hong Kong, Central is crammed with towering skyscrapers, plush malls and fancy hotels. The center of trade and finance, this frenetic neighborhood is home to piles of paperwork, power lunches and endless meetings. There’s no time for a food coma or that midday bloat! With a slew of plant-based dining options at the helm – from elegant backdrops to grab ‘n go takeaway – Central’s most powerful lunches now take place sans meat to seal those business deals or have you smashing deadlines and taking names! To get you thinking and eating at the top of your game, here is our list of the best vegan restaurants in Central.

Editor’s Note: most of the restaurants below qualify as vegetarian, with menus that are over 80% vegan. 

Nectar

Chef Peggy Chan has recently launched Nectar, her new integrated plant-based fine dining concept to replace Grassroots Kitchen. Chan’s new experience opened their doors on July 25th and it will continue pushing Hong Kong’s vegetarian dining boundaries. Book in for a wellness meal for lunch or dinner, or try their plant-based tasting menu of 5, 8 or 12 dishes here.

G/F Centrestage, 108 Hollywood Road, Central, +852 2873 3353.

December 2019 Update: Nectar has now closed. 

Grassroots Pantry

July 2019 Update: Grassroots Pantry has closed down their operations. 

Gourmet vegan at its finest, leave it to Peggy Chan and her innovative team at Grassroots Pantry to pull out all the stops when it comes to plant-based dining. An upscale eatery that provides refined vegan dishes (the menu is 98% vegan), GP features wholesome and nutritious homemade world-inspired dishes. From their Kelp Noodle Pho (HKD 138) to Pulled Jackfruit Nachos (HKD 108) and amazing Teff Shiitake Gnocchi (HKD 198), dishes are sustainably sourced locally and organic where possible. Healthy, homemade, and honorably enticing, come for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner or after work for Happy Hour. We’ve reviewed Grassroots many times, you can check out our latest piece here.

108 Hollywood Road, Central, +852 2873 3353, info@grassrootspantry.com. 

Mirror & Vegan Concept

The newest Italian/Western spot to open up in Central, Mirror & Vegan features the most amazing vegan pasta! Serving popular dairy-free cheese brand, Sheese, diners are able to opt out of gluten, alcohol, nuts, onion, and/or garlic at this charming establishment. While we’ve yet to try a dish we didn’t like here, big standouts include their Tomato Cheese Platter (HKD 78) and Spaghetti Bolognese (HKD 118). But to be honest, everything is just so yummy! Dairy lovers will not believe it’s vegan! It’s that good! Read our full review here.

9/F, 118 Queen’s Road Central, Central, +852 2868 0810, mirrorveganconcept@gmail.com.

LockCha Tea House

Now that LockCha Tea House has opened another branch in Tai Kwun, we can include the long-standing tea shop in our Central round-up. It features some of the most delicious vegan-friendly yum cha you’ll have the pleasure of tasting and you can enjoy it in the most charming setting, a tea house in the middle of Hong Kong’s new heritage centre. While there is a limited rotating variety to choose from, everything is homemade and made in-house to ensure freshness. Plus, they have the most extensive Chinese tea menu in town. Dishes range from HKD 28 and up. Read our reviews here and here.

Shop 01-G07, Block 1, Taikwun, 10, Hollywood Rd, Central, +852 2276 5777, info@lockcha.com.

MANA! Fast Slow Food

If lunch lines were indicative of adoration and approval, MANA! Fast Slow Food would win this popularity contest. Famed for their wholesome, handmade flatbreads (better known as “flats”), this contemporary rustic counter – with an insta-worthy patio – sets the eco bar standard by operating at zero food waste. Using only compostable and biodegradable packaging with positive motivational messages to inspire proactive change, MANA! wants you to “eat like it matters.” Featuring a vegan, vegetarian, raw, and gluten-free menu, they have something for everybody. Their signature flats (think wholewheat flatbread filled with toppings) start at HKD 50, they offer a ready-made salad bar so you can make your own herbivore box and they are famous for their moreish veggie burgers & fries combo- we are partial towards the Babylon. We are also slightly addicted to their garlicnaise, their plant-based spread that makes EVERYTHING taste better. Be sure to give their delicious organic, fair-trade, vegan coffees a go too, oh so creamy!

92 Wellington Street, Central, +852 2851 1611, info@mana.hk.

Colette’s At the Fringe Club

Named after renowned actress and artist, Colette Koo, the art bar and live music venue does a weekday vegetarian buffet for HKD 118 (with a coffee or tea included). Housed in The Fringe Club, a Neo-Classical Grade 1 Heritage Building in the heart of Central, Colette’s buffet features with a different cuisine theme every day, think Italian, Chinese, Global, Indian, though we’re told their Wednesday Thai-style buffet are the most popular! The buffet is all you can eat and includes a daily soup, a make your own salad section, dessert, breads, and hot mains. They do feature a cheese plate for vegetarians but otherwise, everything is vegan-friendly. On a sunny day, lunch on their covered terrace is oh so lovely.

2 Lower Albert Road, Central, +852 2521 7251; Lunch Buffet is open Monday – Friday from 12:00PM – 2:00PM. 

Fresca

A charming neighborhood cafe centrally located in Soho, Fresca serves ready-made vegan and/or gluten-free salads (HKD 77 and up) prepared daily and homemade soups (HKD 40 and up) with an array of healthy cookies and baked goods- they make delicious muffins! Their large bright and airy space is perfect to dine in and enjoy the artwork adorning the walls or head upstairs for the perfect window seat to capture Hollywood Road’s bustling view though it’s also an easy, healthy takeaway salad spot- just make sure to bring your own container!

G/F, 54A Hollywood Road, Central, +852 2770 2282.

VeggieSF

Whipping up an internationally inspired menu, VeggieSF pays homage to San Francisco circa 1950s in a retro, eclectic diner atmosphere with a plant-based assortment of burgers, pastas, rice dishes, and coffees.Previously a vegetarian restaurant, Veggie SF management made the switch to 100% vegan almost two years ago. They consistently earn rave reviews for their giant glamburgers dressed up in a special homemade sauce, heaped with alfalfa, tomato, and grilled onions- many plant-based foodies call it their favorite veggie burger in Hong Kong. Their lunch sets begin at HKD 138 and up and be sure to leave room for dessert (HKD 58). Remember, it’s cash only so come prepared.

10/F, 11 Stanley Street, Central, +852 3902 3902, hello@veggiesf.com. 

Green Common Alexandra House

Located in Alexandra House The Landmark (right by MTR exit H), pioneering plant-based concept store and deli Green Common provides delicious green meal choices and takeaway food items throughout the day. We love that they have loads of local Cantonese faves on the menu, reinterpreted to be plant-based. It’s also the original home of the Beyond Burger and JUST Scramble! Healthy mains begin at HKD 68 and cold-pressed juices go for HKD 38.90. With a variety of organic, gluten-free, non-dairy and raw food selections to choose from, order up at the counter and browse the marketplace while you wait.

B/F, Shop B2, 18 Chater Road, Landmark Alexandra, Central, +852 3582 4463.

Kind Kitchen by Green Common

Nearby Green Common’s Alexandra House location is Kind Kitchen, a 100% vegan restaurant concept. Kind Kitchen takes over the space that was previously the Future Bar and OVO Cafe next to their Nan Fung Green Common. The menu features an array of Omnipork dishes (vegan banh mi, vegan dan dan meen, vegan gyoza to name a few), a couple iterations of the Beyond Meat burger and some fun JUST Scramble menu items. Another bonus: the Kind Kitchen hsowcases a dedicated vegan KIDDIE menu so your little tykes can stuff their faces the plant-based way.

Read our full story about the launch of Kind Kitchen here.

1/F, 173 Des Voeux Road, Nan Fung Place, Sheung Wan, +852 2110 1711.

Treehouse.eco

The long-awaited concept by HOME: Eat To Live founder Christian Mongendre will be opening its doors in September in Soho. The vegan-friendly menu promises to be packed with sustainable, seasonal, plant-based fare- stay tuned for more details.

Shop 1, G/F, H Code, 45 Pottinger Street, Central, +852 3971 2277.

Make sure to check out the other posts in our Vegan Neighbourhood Series:

Best Vegan Restaurants in Sheung Wan

Best Vegan Restaurants in Wan Chai

Best Vegan Restaurants in Greater Causeway Bay

Images courtesy of Pexels, Green Queen, Grassroots Pantry, LockCha Tea House, MANA! Fast Slow Food, Openrice (Colette’s), Fresca, VeggieSF, and Green Common.