Davao’s (Only) Vegan Restaurant

There aren’t many vegetarian restaurants in Davao. I previously had found one, but honestly it had very limited servings of just a few Asian dishes. There are other possiblities, such as the cantina in the Davao Adventist Hospital. I haven’t been there though, as it is unusual to go to a hospital just for the food. I will do that at some point, but it will never be a regular stop for me.

I’d read on the internet quite some time ago that there might be a vegan restaurant in Davao, but it made it sound as if was part of someone’s home and not really easy to find. I couldn’t find any information indicating they still existed. I’m glad to report that they do, and it’s great news for vegetarians/vegans in Davao. They have moved to a new location, and while still not on the beaten path, they are not hard to find if you know where to look. They are open to the public with a full service restaurant, though it is small with limited seating.

I’ve paid three visits to the Vegan Hygienic Foodhaus now. The first unfortunately was right after I’d had my lunch elsewhere so I was only able to take advantage of some take home items, whole grain bread and cinnamon rolls. Both were delicious, and I bought the cinnamon rolls again on the next visit. The next two visits were for the express purpose of trying some of their dishes. Though I am what most call a vegetarian, eating vegan is more than fine with me. I don’t mind at all leaving out the dairy and eggs.

So a bit about the Vegan Hygienic Foodhaus. They are located across from Plaza del Carmen, off of JP Laurel. They have seating for about 12 people, with one table being outside.

They have a rotating hot menu of three items that consists of a main Filipino dish, soup and mixed vegetables. These dishes will change daily, though I am not sure if there is a set rotation or not. Additionally they have regular menu items that you can order instead, or with one of those other dishes.

Some of the entrées available from the menu are veggie burger, Hawaiian pizza, vegan waffle, vegan BBQ, vegan caldereta, ampalaya con tofu & veggie siopao. There is also a nice salad menu that consists of black olive salad, raw carrot-turnip salad, corn chis salad, crunchy pumpkins salad,fresh cucumber-wrap salad, raew cucumber-noodle salad, and fresh raw corn salad.

Other items of note are their homemade pink lemonade, halu-halo, soy milk and the afore mentioned bread and rolls.

So how is the food? So far I’ve found it pretty good. I tried the veggie burger on my first lunch, along with a soup that I can’t recall. The burger was very good with lots of garnishments. There was some kind of sauce on it, that in the future I would ask them to leave off. The soup was great, sorry I can’t recall what it was. I finished it off with some of their ube ice cream.

My second lunch I ordered from the rotating lunch and got Paklay, which is new to me. It was made of bamboo shoots and gluten. It was quite good. I added the asparagus soup, which wasn’t a favorite of mine, but then I don’t typically care for asparagus so I can’t say what others might think, and one of the pink lemonade drinks.

The owner, Flocerfina Eresmas, and the staff are very friendly and more than willing to talk about their restaurant and the vegan life style. From what I can tell from my few visits, they have a pretty loyal customer base, too.

If you are vegan, vegetarian, or just interested in finding out more about it, it is well worth your while to make the trip to this little oasis.

Contact information:

Casa Panolee Bldg.
Loyola ST.
Obereo, Davao City

082-286-2606, 286-8763
0917-700-7206, 0917-770-6731 (globe)
0919-404-2122, 0947-470-6380 (smart)
veganhygienicfoodhaus@yahoo.com