Vegan Guide to Penang

Updated June 2024

This is actually a ‘Vegan Guide to Georgetown’ because that is where we have always spent our time during multiple visits to Penang over the years. The island of Penang, off the northwest coast of Malaysia is quite simply a vegan foodie’s paradise, who doesn’t love this place? We’ll tell you, no one. Granted UNESCO Heritage status in 2008, Georgetown in Penang is one most people’s ‘must visit’ list for Malaysia for the culture and for the food. There’s so much to eat (for vegans and non-vegans alike) that you’ll probably need to add in a few extra meal times during the day. Our Vegan Guide to Penang gives you the lowdown for vegan eating in this corner of Malaysia, including our favourite places that we just can’t wait to return to.

Vegan Restaurants in Penang

Brown Poodle

Brown Poodle
B-G-8 Jalan Desiran Tanjung
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 11am-8pm every day (closed Thursday)

Located on the outskirts of Georgetown, it’s certainly worth making the effort to visit this vegan spot. We have visited twice and loved everything that we ordered including the Runaway Chickenburg, Creamy Shroom Spaghetti and the most delightful vegan cake.  The burger and the pasta were both delicious, crispy burger with a delicious dressing, and the creamiest of truffle oil infused pasta sauces. Our salad was good too, although could have done with a little more mayo dressing. And the cake? yes, yes, yes it was sooo good. We loved Brown Poodle and would be happy to live nearby so we could visit regularly.

SUSU Vegan Mylk Bar

SUSU Vegan Mylk Bar
209 Jalan Hutton
10050 Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 12.30am-11pm Thursday to Sunday, 12.30am-8pm Wednesday (closed Monday and Tuesday)

This was one of our favourite vegan spots in Penang from our last trip where we loved the vibe and loved the desserts, and this time didn’t let us down either. They have a new location which is equally as cool, and the welcome was equally as friendly. Delightful drinks were served, not from a menu, but curated to suit our current mood, and the vegan beetroot burger with vegan cream cheese and avocado was divine. This is a ‘must visit’ for anyone spending time in Georgetown.

Neko Vegan House

Neko Vegan House
375h Lebuh Chulia
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 11am-6pm every day (closed Thursday)

Peaceful and cute oasis tucked away off the busy Lenin Chulia with a small but perfectly formed menu. We ordered the Kabocha Curry Rice, Golden Dumplings and Sushi Platter to share and we loved it all. The owners were super friendly, the food fresh and delicious, this really is a ‘must visit’ vegan restaurant in Georgetown. Highly recommended.

Pinxin Vegan Cuisine

Pinxin Vegan Cuisine
38 Lebuh Tye Sin
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 11am-9pm every day

With so many good reviews and personal recommendations from other vegan restaurant owners, and even our Grab driver we of course had to check out Pinxin Vegan Cuisine. It was a very busy lunchtime with lots of locals obviously choosing to eat there during their lunch break. We shared Nasli Lemak Classic, Satay Classic and a rice dish with mushrooms whose name we can’t remember! The star of the show was the lions mane mushroom which featured in every dish, the texture and flavour of these beauties is unique and we wish we could eat more of them. The team at Pinxin are obviously passionate about fresh and clean eating, our meal was healthy, nutritious and absolutely delicious. A little more expensive than other options, but worth every ringgit, highly recommended.

SUPE Vegan

SUPE Vegan
12 Gat Lebuh Acheh
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 11am-5pm and 5pm-8pm every day (closed Tuesday)

This was our last meal in Penang so we had high hopes after the excellent vegan food we’d enjoyed during our recent trip. We ordered Curry Tempeh, Climate Maki, Spices Inari, Yasai Fried Ramen and Tempeh Fried Rice, hoping it was enough as we were both hungry. Both sushi dishes and the curried tempeh were superb, the sushi looked so appetising and tasted even better. Sadly, both the ramen and the fried rice were rather disappointing. Neither looked great, the portions were on the small side, and most importantly they lacked flavour. We added soya sauce to both dishes which made them edible. We would return but only for the sushi.

Vegetarian Restaurants in Penang

Evergreen Vegetarian House

Evergreen Vegetarian House
39a Cantonment Road
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 7.30am-8pm every day (closed Wednesday)

Outstanding buffet, with an extensive range of veggie and vegan delights. We were able to select an array of veggies, curries and mock meat when we visited on a Sunday when it was very busy. Be careful as there may be ‘hidden’ egg in some dishes and ingredients so choose carefully. Excellent value for money and delicious, we can’t wait to return.

NR Sweets Cafe

NR Sweets Cafe
75 Lebuh Penang
10200 Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 8.30am-9.30pm every day

Located in the heart of Little India, don’t be fooled by the name intonation they only serve Indian sweets. This pure veg restaurant has an excellent thali and lots of other Indian delights served at different times during the day. Bright and clean, it’s the perfect spot to escape the heat and work your way through one of their thalis which feature 8 different curries, rice and popadom.

The Garden Banana Leaf

The Garden Banana Leaf
50 Jalan Free School
11600 Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 11.30am-3pm every day, closed Monday

Finally we got to visit this local veggie Indian spot which is just outside of Georgetown set amongst towering trees in a garden. On previous trips, it’s either been closed or the weather has been very wet which is far from ideal when dining outside! It’s a simple setting and we received a warm and friendly welcome, before enjoying a selection of flavourful curries, rice, chutney and poppadoms on a banana leaf. Worth the drive out of town for this authentic experience.

Lily’s Vegetarian House

Lily’s Vegetarian House
98 Noble House
Madras Lane
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 8.30am-3.30pm and 4.30pm-8.30pm every day (closed Monday)

This place was super busy due to the Nine Emperor Gods Festival but the staff and owners were super friendly and accommodating. We ordered curry mee, satay and a ‘mixed set A’ to share. They were all tasty and we’d like to return to try other dishes in the menu, some which were sold out due to it being so busy. One of the famiky (who has been veggie for more than 49 years) gave us some savoury cake to takeaway as a gift which was a very kind gesture.

Woodlands

Woodlands
60 Penang St (at corner of Lebuh China)
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 8.30am-10pm every day

For years this has been our favourite restaurant in Little India and it still claims the top spot for consistency, cleanliness and amazing dosas. Dosas in Woodlands are not to be missed, repeat, do not miss a dosa from Woodlands like we did on our last visit as they’re only served until midday! Instead, we ordered ‘Set Meal’ and ‘Chappathi Set’ and they were both ok. Not great, just ok. We love that Woodands are pure veg and this makes them the best option in Georgetown for us still, but it’s all about the dosa…

Vegan Friendly Restaurants in Penang

Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul

Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul
27-29 Lebuh Keng Kwee
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 10am-7pm every day

Malaysian’s love cendol, made from rice flour, pandan flavoured noodles, sweet and salty coconut milk, kidney beans and gula melaka sugar syrup all serve over shaved ice. There’s a famous street called where one of the original cendol making families is still in operation but be warned the queues are massive. It’s worth it though, a good bowl of cendol is delicious and entirely vegan. Hurrrah! If you can’t face the queues, they have a branch in the Komtar mall which is peaceful and decent.

Restaurant Au Jardin

Restaurant Au Jardin
125 Jalan Timah
10150 Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 11.30am-2pm and 5.15pm-10pm every day (closed Tuesday and Wednesday)

Make a reservation her for European fine dining with a Michelin star in the heart of Georgetown. Their vegetarian degustation ‘Green Menu’ can be adapted for vegans with advance notice, and uses primarily locally ingredients to create a sustainable culinary experience. This is certainly somewhere to ‘treat yourself’ as it’s not cheap, but for a special occasion it delivers on every level. Our multi course meal was creative, nutritious and delicious…and the presentation of each dish was pretty amazing too! This is one of the best vegan fine dining experiences we’ve ever had, meaning we will return for sure.

The Ais

The Ais
65 Lebuh Campbell
Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 1pm-9pm every day, closed Monday and Tuesday

The Ais is the place to go for vegan ice cream in Georgetown, Penang. They had a number of vegan options and yes, they had vegan cones which is a big win for us. After a hot day wandering the streets of Georgetown, this is the perfect stop, or after your vegan dinner if you have room for a vegan ice cream. We didn’t really have room, but we can always find a way for vegan ice cream!

Ome by Spacebar Coffee

Ome by Spacebar Coffee
1 Lorong Toh Aka
10100 Georgetown
Penang

Opening Hours: 7.30am-4pm every day (closed Thursday and Friday)

You certainly won’t be short of cool coffee spots in Georgetown, in fact you will be spoiled for choice. We chose to head here as not only did they have oat milk, but they have vegan cakes too. Sadly for us, we timed our arrival wrong and the mixed berries vegan crumble was in the oven so we missed out. But our oat milk lattes hit the spot, and we loved the vibe and the friendly staff. We also picked up a bar of locally produced vegan chocolate which certainly hit the spot.