Western
Vietnamese
Non-veg

Serves meat, vegan options available. Near the tourist area, this place offers a section of vegetable dishes on its menu, all of which are vegan suitable. Staff speak English so you could ask to make a fried rice without egg or shrimp, etc. On two floors with balcony seating above, free Wi-Fi. Reported open December 2022. Open Mon-Sun 9:00am-10:00pm.


Venue map for Aubergine Cafe
© OpenStreetMap contributors

41 Reviews

First Review by EveArmstrong

ValeriaEl

Points +16

Vegan
25 Jul 2023

Nice

A bit hard to find, they no longer have the big sign outside. Now it's called Little Hanoi 2 and you will see a small Aubergine cafe sticker on the window so if you don't pay attention you may think it's closed.
Inside the menu is the same you'll find here
The staff is super friendly and they speak good enough english, no problems with understanding what's vegan.
Food it's good and authentic

GabiBlue

Points +721

Vegan
03 Feb 2023

okay food

it was really busy when we went as a whole half of the restaurant was taken up by a tour group but that was fine. the food was okay the aubergine was nice but it would have been nice to have something else with it maybe different veg or more rice as it seemed liked a lot of just aubergine and i love aubergine. noodles were okay but not amazing, fine food but not super tasty wouldn’t rush back

brookelynn2

Points +215

Vegan
29 Jan 2023

Very good and open during holidays

Delicious aubergine which is fried eggplant. I actually don’t like eggplant usually but this was delicious. I heard the fried tofu is great too.

MayCunningham

Points +35

Vegetarian
19 Jan 2023

Delicious aubergine dishes

I ordered the grilled aubergine and rice and my partner had the fried aubergine with garlic. Amazing flavour but I'm biased as aubergine is my fave veg!

Pros: Cheap, Excellent flavour , Authentic feel

Cons: Can't be sure if they veggie flavours or sauces , Limited veggie options

AlexisAlexis

Points +99

Vegan
22 Dec 2022

Les deux plats d'aubergines sont à essayer

Le plat d'aubergines à l'ail et celui d'aubergines au gingembre sont délicieux. Je les recommandés vivement.

VeganTraveler303

Points +154

Vegan
25 Nov 2019

Soooo good.

Being across from my hotel was how I found it, but I would eat every meal here. Everything was delicious. I had the veggie spring rolls and standard aubergine dish. Both were incredible!

carolineamg

Points +36

Vegan
14 Jul 2019

Good food

Great little spot in the centre of the city. So many vegan options and all delicious, the grilled aubergine is a MUST. Went with three meat-eaters who also had nice meals. Not the prettiest decor but more than worth it for the food.

Pros: Lots of options, Delicious, Good prices

Cons: Decor

WillowKylar

Points +143

Vegan
10 Jul 2019

Great stuff!!

We ordered both the sweet and sour tofu and the caramelised tofu dish. Both were fab and tasty and an alright price. Staff are lovely and cute little place. Bring some paper and a pen as you can leave a message under the table top made of glass.

Pros: Vegan options are tasty!

elliekev

Points +216

Vegan
09 Jul 2019

Nice and cheap

Loads of veggie/ vegan options here and the staff were super friendly. We had fried noodles with veg and tofu and it was a decent portion and pretty reasonably priced 55k vnd.

vegan3m

Points +1604

Vegan
02 May 2019

Average

I got vegetable fried rice here and the rice was bland and a bit hard.

However my friends enjoyed their meals (including the veg and tofu pho and other meat dishes)

Pros: Lots of veggie options

Cons: The fried rice wasn’t great

HarryS

Points +129

Vegan
25 Apr 2019

Great flavours

Had the lemongrass and chilli tofu which was excellent and then a fantastic aubergine dish! Really lived up to the name.

Pros: Aubergine

Ischel

Points +23

Vegetarian
21 Mar 2019

Safe for vegetarians but bland

Since I am a vegetarian but my husband isn't, we were happy to find a menu with a mix of food choices including a range of options for me. However, while very fresh-tasting, the food was the most bland and uninteresting flavor-wise that we experienced in Vietnam, including the airplane meals. I saved my vegetarian pho by dumping in the dipping sauce from my spring rolls, adding lots of the vinegar-chili, and some hot sauce, but it otherwise had all the appeal of vegetables and noodles in water. My husband's choices including meat were equally disappointing for him; he also rated it the worst (only bad meal) yet, while we enjoyed the much more flavorful complementary breakfast of traditional Vietnamese foods at our hotel. It reminded us of youth hostel food, where the goal of eating there was to potentially connect with fellow travelers (no locals would eat there).

Pros: Lots of vegan options

Cons: BLAND! There are so many better veg options.

alaska77

Points +195

Vegan
23 Aug 2018

What a disappointment!

We had Vietnamese papaya salad, which was bland and tasted of the local seasoning sauce, very nasty thing full of msg. Spring rolls were oily and burnt - they were black and inedible. The prices are good, but I wouldn’t eat that for free.

Pros: Friendly service, Cheap

Cons: Horrible food

blissful_brittany

Points +130

Vegan
12 Jul 2018

fresh spring rolls

Aubergine makes a lot of wonderful dishes but our favourite was the fresh spring rolls, vegan and gluten free. they were so delicious i think we ate them three days in a row!

Pros: quick , tasty, cheap

carolink

Points +349

Vegetarian
26 Apr 2018

garlic eggplant rocks!

Very nice and friendly Restaurant in Hanoi with plenty of good vegetarian options. The garlic Aubergine and the lemongrass and Chili Tofu were outstanding. The curried vegetables should be avoided in my opinion, very bland and not what you'd expect from a curry, but the sauteed vegetables were a great Addition to eggplant and Tofu. The carrot ginger juice is also fantastic.

Pros: good variety of veg options, inexpensive, friendly

Cons: dining area can be crowded, stuffy air

MoonByrne

Points +79

Vegetarian
03 Apr 2018

Absolutely deserves 5 stars!!

Because it serves meat I can’t give it 5 stars but it truly deserves all 5 and more!

The food here is THE best we have had in Vietnam and we have been here a month!

The veggie page is full of delicious treats and I believe a lot of it is suitable for vegans too.

The staff are super lovely so I’m sure they can help you out if you want vegan stuff!

Try the deep fried aubergine with sesame and the sautéed aubergine with garlic! They are both to die for!!

SteveyGeeUK

Points +17

Mostly Veg
16 Dec 2017

An absolute Gem

We read mixed reviews before going here and was a little sceptical.
We were pleasantly surprised, great food, great prices, and great service. We went twice in two days.

Give it a try, you might just enjoy it!

Pros: Alot of vegetarian options , Try the roll your own spring rolls!

16 Nov 2017

Lovely little place with great food 🍲

Both meat, vegetarian and vegan food available which is a plus when you travel with non-vegans 🙂 the papaya salad is definitely worth a try, it’s something different - great taste! The tofu had great taste but the texture wasn’t my thing, kinda feels like hollow rubber in your mouth, generally the tofu in Hanoi seem to be prepared like this, as said not my thing, but maybe it will suit your tastebuds?☺️ the veggie soup is good and they even have vegetarian (possible vegan?) phò! The passion fruit juice is delicious! You can get it with and without sugar, for my taste it was perfect without. The staff spoke English and were very kind! We ordered a curry meal that was too hot for my friend (if you like hot food it shouldn’t be a problem), and they told us to always ask for the cook to use less curry powder wherever we would go as the Vietnamese curry is very hot and has chili in it. As a gift (because of the hot curry) they gave us a free drink of our own choice when we left! Will definitely be back! 🙌🏻🌱

Pros: English speakers, Great service , Several veggie choices - try their papaya salad!

aggiem

Points +415

Vegan
28 Oct 2017

Okay

It's okay, but nothing great.
Waiters are friendly and speak a good English.
Food is fresh, okay in taste, but nothing worth coming back for. Also there was a mix up with my order, I ordered unsweetened watermelon juice, instead I got served unsweetened lemon juice. I guess it has something to so with the high noise level in the place, which one should consider if wanting a quiet place to eat.

Pros: Lots of veggie options, English menu and English-speaking staff

Cons: A little bland

VeganGecko

Points +271

Vegan
18 Jun 2017

Yummy veg food

They have a bunch of delicious veggie foods - we had the vegan noodle soup, rice with sautéed vegetables and the morning glory with garlic and rice. Everything was tasty and quite cheap (about 50.000 vnd each). I really want to go there again and try some other meals, definitely something with eggplant next time!

Mitjacinda

Points +305

Vegan
31 May 2017

Aubergine with garlic!

The pho and the deep fried aubergine with sesame are average but the aubergine with garlic is so amazing !!
Staff are one of the friendliest we had

CherylKqy

Points +157

Vegan
01 May 2017

curry vegetables

A big plate of curry vegetables accompanied with rice. Overall, it was very simple. Nothing too amazing. But it was satisfying enough.

D0mmi

Points +144

Vegan
15 Apr 2017

Average food in Old Quarter

Little bit touristy but the Veg Opts are fine. Fresh Spring Rolls to roll by yourself.

pammkins

Points +121

Vegan
01 Jan 2017

Hit and miss

Visited this place twice and was more impressed the second time around. Service is friendly and fast but atmosphere feels very touristy, as you would expect in that area. Definitely get the veggie spring rolls, really fresh and tasty. Tried the veggie curry and it was pretty bad, tasted more like a bland mushy stew than a curry. The veggie fried noodles weren't any better either. What was delicious was the grilled eggplant/aubergine. Nice charred flavour and definitely worth trying.

Littlefoot.Petrie

Points +51

Vegan
30 Dec 2016

Fresh Vege spring rolls

Amazing vegan options. Very yummy food. Friendly staff. The fresh vege spring rolls were incredible.

veganvirtues

Points +2748

Raw
07 Oct 2016

Aubergine Cafe

As the name says, A Cafe, plenty of westerners (tourist), who were filling their stomachs so not sure they would be frequenting this place again. There main concern was filling that space. I brought a carni friend here. We shared raw spring rolls which they provided the rice paper and the ingredients-slither of aubergine, fine noodles, slithers of pineapples, again sliced fried tofu and some lettuce. So we managed to make three rolls each. 39,000d. I had curried vegetables and bowl of white rice (not sure why I can never get brown rice in many vegetarian places). Ordered a cucumber and tomato salad, which was sliced cucumbers and sliced tomatoes on a plate and was swimming in sugary water dressing. I did ask for a small bowl and poured this 'dressing' into the bowl, half filled with this sugary dressing. I questioned the manager it would have been better to serve any dressing separately and let the customer pour on what he/she needs rather than the salad be swimming in any sort of dressing. My friend had a mango salad and noticed again the salad was swimming in dressing. I had a Tiger beer which was the only thing I couldn't comment on just to say it was ok. The tables had a glass top so noticed under the glass notes left by 'diners' all the notes were dated 2016 and many said the same comment 'absolutely fantastic', Spoke to the manager on leaving about my thoughts, and she said come back again, 'I said, I don't think so. I again wonder why the previous 'Vegan' commenters gave it positive comments. Is it quantity or quality? Maybe it's I have a more discerning taste! Didn't get the Happy Cow sticker.

Pros: friendly staff

Cons: Not enough 'vegan' options

meowduc

Points +116

Vegan
18 Sep 2016

ok

The food was ok but not amazing. My boyfriend liked his caramelized tofu very much. The pho is with a lot of ginger and no other flavours so I wouldn't recommend that. Prices are reasonable and staff nice

Updated from previous review on 2016-09-18




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