Full moon day in Da Nang: the whole city switches up its dishes, and vegetarian restaurants are packed full

Anyone who has lived in Da Nang long enough will notice a recurring pattern: on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, vegetarian restaurants get noticeably crowded, while many non-vegetarian eateries are quieter than usual.

This isn't just a matter for temple-goers. Many families in Central Vietnam keep the habit of eating vegetarian two days a month, and it isn't necessarily tied to religious practice. When you ask why, the most common answer is "it makes the body feel lighter.

For many families, the fifteenth-day observance begins with the offering tray, not the meal itself. A basic vegetarian tray usually includes tofu fried with lemongrass and chili, vegetarian spring rolls, a stir-fried dish, sticky rice or plain rice, plus a plate of fruit. Once the offering is done, the whole family brings the tray down to eat — so the first vegetarian meal of the day is usually that very tray.

What's interesting is that almost every savory dish has a vegetarian version. Vegetarian Quang noodles use wood ear mushrooms, tofu, and vegetarian chả instead of shrimp and meat; the broth cooked from mushrooms and vegetables still has enough depth and richness. Bun, pho, bánh xèo, cơm tấm — they all have corresponding vegetarian versions.

This is where Vietnamese vegetarian cuisine differs from Western-style vegetarianism: it doesn't try to invent new dishes, but rather recreates the very same familiar dishes using different ingredients.

Cheap vegetarian eateries are usually located near pagodas, with simple tables and chairs, selling fixed rice-plate meals. The atmosphere is quite different from meat-serving restaurants — it's quieter, and most of the customers are regulars.

A few things you should know if you want to try it:

Go early. On the full moon day, vegetarian restaurants get crowded from 11 a.m., and many places sell out early. Vegetarian food following the Buddhist way usually doesn't use the five pungent spices (scallion, garlic, chives, shallot/leek, asafoetida). Because of this, the dishes are lighter but also blander — don't expect the taste to be exactly like the meat version. • Many restaurants sell rice set meals at very affordable prices, just 25,000–40,000 dong is enough to fill you up. • On weekdays these restaurants are still open, and much less crowded.

For foreign visitors who are vegetarian or vegan, this is actually good news: Da Nang already has a long-established network of vegetarian eateries, not the kind of newly opened "vegan" restaurants aimed at tourists. Some vegetarian spots from VietSpots are pinned below.