Being vegan in Davao is not as challenging compared to being vegan in other parts of the Philippines. Davao is known as the fruit basket of the Philippines but aside from abundance of tropical fruits, there are a few restaurants you can go to as a vegan.
Marang. My most favorite fruit.
If you love marang and durian, this is the place to be! Marang and durian can go as low as 25-50 pesos during the season (0.50-1USD). The best season for these fruits is mostly between August-September. I went there on December so the fruits were pricier but there were frozen durians which are still a pretty good deal.
You can get fruits from the Bankerohan Public Market, but if you want to ‘dine in’ go to Magsaysay Park. It is a better option because they will open the fruits for you and if it’s already bad then they’ll have it replaced. I got unlucky one time when I bought a 50 pesos marang from Bankerohan, went back to the hotel to open it and found less than 10 seeds inside. If you’re having it immediately definitely just go to Magsaysay park.
Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants in Davao City, Philippines
The Vegan Dinosaur
A definite must try in Davao City. I just love how they offer whole food plant based dishes that taste amazing! There’s also a clear indication on their menu whether a dish is free from oil, nuts, gluten or other allergen. I visited this place twice during my trip and bought a takeaway which I had while I’m on the airport waiting for my flight back to Manila. I enjoyed their nachos with cheese sauce and jalapeño, and the superfood brownie the most among all the dishes I’ve tried.
Vegan Hygienic Food Haus
I was only able to try their veggie burger which was okay and quite affordable at 95pesos (less than 2 usd). I’ve had recommendations for their pizza but it was two big of a serving for one person.
Kong Ti Au
Golden Vegetarian Eatery
These two places are typical carinderia style restaurants so meals are very cheap. A meal costs approximately 50pesos (1usd) for a viand and a cup of rice.
Other restaurants with vegan options:
Tsuru Japanese Resto.
They have a separate vegetarian menu. I’ve had the biggest bowl of ramen I ever had here. It tastes great but I realized later on that it has a slice of narutomaki as one of the toppings, which is actually made of fish. The staff confirmed it is made of fish and was somewhat apologetic.
Gelato on the road.
For vegan ice cream checkout gelato on the road. It was quite a challenge looking for this place because the places listed in their social media pages were not updated. I was able to find one of their stalls in Victoria Plaza Mall.
You can visit this link for the map and pins of the places listed.
Conclusion
I’d definitely go back to have some glorious durian, marang and my favorites from The Vegan Dinosaur again!
What am I missing?
Have you been to Davao? Anything else worth trying that is not on this list? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂
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