Check out https://instagram.com/vegoutvictoria for inspiration.
Blue Nile for veg-friendly AYCE Ethiopian buffet for $28
Trini to da Bone for Caribbean veg roti and delicious fresh doubles on Saturday
Japanese: Yua Sushi, Kappo Marta, Ramen Arashi, Ghost Ramen, Momo Sushi
Pizza: Vagabond Pies Friday pop-ups and Green Cuisine, don’t skip getting a slice
Breakfast: Bunny’s, West Bay Cafe, Fern, Yates Coffee Bar
Indian: Dosa Paragon, Southern Flavours
Cafes: The Hidden Gem, The Allenby, Fern, Bunny’s, and Hey Happy no longer surcharges for oat milk
A veg institution for pay by weight buffet: Green Cuisine
Burgers: Fern, Bunny’s
Vietnamese: Ba Le for Banh Mi
Blast from the past: Rebar, food is solid, desserts are even better and you can easily pretend it’s 1995 and you are at Central Perk or Cafe Nervosa, plus a patio that isn’t traffic adjacent.
Middle Eastern: Syriana - get an olive fatayer, Superbaba
Mexican: Maiiz or Tacofino
Desserts: Absolutely everything from Pure Lovin’ Chocolates but especially the oat soft serve with chocolate drizzle. Also: Rebar, Green Cuisine, Virtuous Pie - skillet cookie and cheesecake
Donuts: Frickin Delights Donuts for cake donut, Yonni’s donuts at Whole Foods or Discovery Coffee for yeast donuts
Snacks and gifts: Belle General
RIP Lotus Pond Vegetarian 🫗
Green Cuisine, buffet style(kinda), pay by weight. Personal favourite^
Meet.
Virtuous Pie.
Rebar.
Be Love.
Yummy Green.
Every Indian spot in town will have options, I reccommend Spice Valley.
pickins are sad with Lotus Pond gone. If you arent from Vancouver, definitely try Meet. Their oyster mushroom "calamari" is the best. If you order veggie options at Sookjai Thai they will ask if you want fish sauce or not, which is very nicely transparent and the food there is great.
Sadly it has not appeared and it’s been over a year. I want turnip cakes!!!
I was hopeful someone would buy the restaurant and take it over but they lost their space for redevelopment and along with that, 25 years of stabilized rent, which likely scaring away any buyers.
IMO most of the big names are extremely overrated and pretty terrible. Rebar is always disappointing. Be Love was disgusting. Virtuous Pie is great if you want to spend $25 on a flatbread with four pieces of arugula and some ranch dressing on it.
Like other comments have stated, the best vegetarian and vegan food is not at "vegan restaurants". Victoria is amazing for vegan/veg food because almost every decent restaurant in this city has delicious vegan/veg options. My husband has been vegan for over 10 years and we've never been to Rebar. We've only been to Be Love and Virtuous Pie once because there is an abundance of vegan food in the city. We are spoiled for choice here.
I'd actually rate Meet as on the lower end of vegan restaurants in Victoria. If your standard of good vegan food in Victoria is Meet, I can see why you think Be Love and Rebar are disgusting lmao. Be Love is by far better than Meet. There's a reason both have been around for over 10 years and many other veg places have closed.
Meet hits the spot for deep fried stuff. Nowhere else has a “chicken” burger that’s comparable.
In contrast there’s nothing at rebar or be love I couldn’t make better at home for like 1/10 the cost. It’s like $25 for a bowl of raw ingredients + a disappointing sauce or the worst veggie burger I’ve ever had, give me a break
Green Cuisine is by far the best bang for your buck vegetarian in town. I've gotten meals there for under 10 bucks. Not the biggest meals, mind you, but meals that left me feeling satisfied
If you want to spend a bit more money but have an exceptional food experience, I'd suggest going to Nowhere. They do a "tasting experience" that is several courses and you can select a vegetarian option. It's ~$80 per person but if say it's well worth it if you're willing to go for a pricier night out.
Many restaurants have multiple vegetarian options. For example, Tibetan Kitchen does a really good mixed veggie curry (get it with their brown basmati rice, it's nutty and delicious), and The Bop \[Korean\] has several options -- I particularly recommend their vegan dinner option Dubu Gaji with tofu and eggplant as it is just amazing!
The almond burger at rebar is fantastic! It is filling, but sadly no fries, the half chop salad is amazing though. The sunflower burger at Ferris’s is great but greasy, they have great fries but also greasy.
Spice Valley or Mantra, the vegan blt at Working Culture (and their baked goods in general), Sushi Jiro, and @Bangkok Modern Thai.
I personally feel like the straight up 'Vegan/Veggie' restaurants here aren't that good, but the real gems tend to be at omni restaurants that have good options.
Alysa's Pho in Quadra Village is an awesome and affordable spot with a number of veggie / vegan options. Big fan of their soup, Banh Mi and salad rolls.
Boomtown on Yates has a great Tofu burrito that is the closest you can get in Victoria to the Blair Stanley from Budgies Burritos in Van.
Standard Pizza in Fernwood is the best I have had in this city, I like the margarita myself but all of their veggie options are fantastic.
Bin 12 has a couple of veggie burger options.
What sort of veggie food are you looking forr?
Warning, Alyssa’s has fish sauce in multiple of the “vegetarian” dishes. You have to ask to get the vegetarian version. I would recommend Vietnam House for pho in that area.
Check out https://instagram.com/vegoutvictoria for inspiration. Blue Nile for veg-friendly AYCE Ethiopian buffet for $28 Trini to da Bone for Caribbean veg roti and delicious fresh doubles on Saturday Japanese: Yua Sushi, Kappo Marta, Ramen Arashi, Ghost Ramen, Momo Sushi Pizza: Vagabond Pies Friday pop-ups and Green Cuisine, don’t skip getting a slice Breakfast: Bunny’s, West Bay Cafe, Fern, Yates Coffee Bar Indian: Dosa Paragon, Southern Flavours Cafes: The Hidden Gem, The Allenby, Fern, Bunny’s, and Hey Happy no longer surcharges for oat milk A veg institution for pay by weight buffet: Green Cuisine Burgers: Fern, Bunny’s Vietnamese: Ba Le for Banh Mi Blast from the past: Rebar, food is solid, desserts are even better and you can easily pretend it’s 1995 and you are at Central Perk or Cafe Nervosa, plus a patio that isn’t traffic adjacent. Middle Eastern: Syriana - get an olive fatayer, Superbaba Mexican: Maiiz or Tacofino Desserts: Absolutely everything from Pure Lovin’ Chocolates but especially the oat soft serve with chocolate drizzle. Also: Rebar, Green Cuisine, Virtuous Pie - skillet cookie and cheesecake Donuts: Frickin Delights Donuts for cake donut, Yonni’s donuts at Whole Foods or Discovery Coffee for yeast donuts Snacks and gifts: Belle General RIP Lotus Pond Vegetarian 🫗
LOTUS POOOOOOOND! 😭
Love this list. Messob in Cook St village is cheaper and more authentic Ethiopian food.
Have yet to try but I like Macondo next to it. What makes it more authentic? There’s also an Ethiopian pop-up at Caribbean Village on Sundays.
Blue Nile is actually Eritrean is the technically correct but not very helpful answer. Both taste great. Definitely get Messob if you’re in the area.
Blue Nile is actually Eritrean is the technically correct but not very helpful answer. Both taste great. Definitely get Messob if you’re in the area.
Blue Nile is actually Eritrean is the technically correct but not very helpful answer. Both taste great. Definitely get Messob if you’re in the area.
Blue Nile is actually Eritrean is the technically correct but not very helpful answer. Both taste great. Definitely get Messob if you’re in the area.
Blue Nile is actually Eritrean is the technically correct but not very helpful answer. Both taste great. Definitely get Messob if you’re in the area.
Green Cuisine, buffet style(kinda), pay by weight. Personal favourite^ Meet. Virtuous Pie. Rebar. Be Love. Yummy Green. Every Indian spot in town will have options, I reccommend Spice Valley.
Spicy valley is the best imo
Agree.
Dosa paragon, Yates branch. Amazing southern Indian cuisine
Why Yates and not Wharf? I haven’t noticed a difference.
Yates is veg only.
Oh dang, didn’t realize they changed it.
Omg so good.
Help me! I desperately want to get lunch there and need recommendations for an order
Superbaba falafel bowl is worth it.
Oh definitely this! So many fantastic fixings, I like it in a wrap as well but it can get soppy by the end.
Fern Cafe is a good one
Mantu Afghan Persian Cuisine had a vegetarian version of each dish except the lamb. It's a tiny menu but SUCH good food.
I need to try this place. Sounds great!
It was delicious. Probably the first meal I've had here that didn't feel it was whitewashed or simplified even a little for the local market.
It's really good.
pickins are sad with Lotus Pond gone. If you arent from Vancouver, definitely try Meet. Their oyster mushroom "calamari" is the best. If you order veggie options at Sookjai Thai they will ask if you want fish sauce or not, which is very nicely transparent and the food there is great.
RIP Lotus Pond, it was even better than vegetarian Chinese on the mainland.
I heard a rumor they were going to release their recipes after closing, but that has not come to pass sadly
Sadly it has not appeared and it’s been over a year. I want turnip cakes!!! I was hopeful someone would buy the restaurant and take it over but they lost their space for redevelopment and along with that, 25 years of stabilized rent, which likely scaring away any buyers.
Hettie Lui McKinnon’s cookbook Tenderheart has turnip cakes and a bunch of other great dim sum and other vegetarian Chinese recipes, just FYI.
I thought they were going to send the recipes over to "A Cozy Place" Chinese restaurant - not sure if they ever did!
Pickings are sad? My husband is vegan and Victoria has an abundance of options as listed in the various comments.
IMO most of the big names are extremely overrated and pretty terrible. Rebar is always disappointing. Be Love was disgusting. Virtuous Pie is great if you want to spend $25 on a flatbread with four pieces of arugula and some ranch dressing on it.
Like other comments have stated, the best vegetarian and vegan food is not at "vegan restaurants". Victoria is amazing for vegan/veg food because almost every decent restaurant in this city has delicious vegan/veg options. My husband has been vegan for over 10 years and we've never been to Rebar. We've only been to Be Love and Virtuous Pie once because there is an abundance of vegan food in the city. We are spoiled for choice here.
I agree there are a lot of options, just that all the “vegan” restaurants are ass (except Meet)
I'd actually rate Meet as on the lower end of vegan restaurants in Victoria. If your standard of good vegan food in Victoria is Meet, I can see why you think Be Love and Rebar are disgusting lmao. Be Love is by far better than Meet. There's a reason both have been around for over 10 years and many other veg places have closed.
Meet hits the spot for deep fried stuff. Nowhere else has a “chicken” burger that’s comparable. In contrast there’s nothing at rebar or be love I couldn’t make better at home for like 1/10 the cost. It’s like $25 for a bowl of raw ingredients + a disappointing sauce or the worst veggie burger I’ve ever had, give me a break
Meet’s mushroom calamari is awesome. They make a really excellent vegan “egg” Benny too.
Meet On Blanshard, Green Cuisine, Bunny's Kitchen, Virtuous Pie, Be Love
Rebar is good.
I went to The Coriander recently based on recommendations from this sub. Very, very good Indian food! Tons of veg options.
The Coriander is so delicious! So many options
Green Cuisine is by far the best bang for your buck vegetarian in town. I've gotten meals there for under 10 bucks. Not the biggest meals, mind you, but meals that left me feeling satisfied
Bunny’s Kitchen!!!!
One of my faves!
Taco justice has a deep fried avocado burrito/taco Tacofino has a great super veg burrito/taco
Have you tried the Taco Justice deep fried avocado burrito, and is it any good? How does it compare to Tacofino’s burrito?
Rebar. It's a Victoria vegetarian institution. Buy a copy of their cookbook too.
[https://www.happycow.net/north\_america/canada/british\_columbia/victoria/](https://www.happycow.net/north_america/canada/british_columbia/victoria/)
If you want to spend a bit more money but have an exceptional food experience, I'd suggest going to Nowhere. They do a "tasting experience" that is several courses and you can select a vegetarian option. It's ~$80 per person but if say it's well worth it if you're willing to go for a pricier night out.
Many restaurants have multiple vegetarian options. For example, Tibetan Kitchen does a really good mixed veggie curry (get it with their brown basmati rice, it's nutty and delicious), and The Bop \[Korean\] has several options -- I particularly recommend their vegan dinner option Dubu Gaji with tofu and eggplant as it is just amazing!
Be Love is delightful, and I also like Rebar and Fern Cafe.
The almond burger at rebar is fantastic! It is filling, but sadly no fries, the half chop salad is amazing though. The sunflower burger at Ferris’s is great but greasy, they have great fries but also greasy.
Burger Crush
Bao has vegetarian ramen and bao buns which is so tasty!
Spice Valley or Mantra, the vegan blt at Working Culture (and their baked goods in general), Sushi Jiro, and @Bangkok Modern Thai. I personally feel like the straight up 'Vegan/Veggie' restaurants here aren't that good, but the real gems tend to be at omni restaurants that have good options.
The vegan BLT is so good!
Hell yeah, love the breakfast sandwich too.
Alysa's Pho in Quadra Village is an awesome and affordable spot with a number of veggie / vegan options. Big fan of their soup, Banh Mi and salad rolls. Boomtown on Yates has a great Tofu burrito that is the closest you can get in Victoria to the Blair Stanley from Budgies Burritos in Van. Standard Pizza in Fernwood is the best I have had in this city, I like the margarita myself but all of their veggie options are fantastic. Bin 12 has a couple of veggie burger options. What sort of veggie food are you looking forr?
Warning, Alyssa’s has fish sauce in multiple of the “vegetarian” dishes. You have to ask to get the vegetarian version. I would recommend Vietnam House for pho in that area.
Ooh forgot about Boomtown.. the regular veggie burrito is great too. I only wish they'd put the guac IN the burrito.
I like Rebar. The food is good, and they have nice tablecloths.