Located at Kumaripati just beside Chicken Station, Hamro Vegan is open to buy packaged food, takeaway and dine-in. The restaurant aims to get more local people to embrace the culture of veganism. “Veganism and vegetarianism in Nepal are mostly about religion and how it is a bad karma to eat meat; we reject that narrative because you should be vegan out of compassion for animals,” said Bikash SJB Rana, one of the owners of Hamro Vegan. “We also have a smoking room and plan to add drinks to our menu in the foreseeable future because Veganism for us goes beyond the confines of religious morals,” he added. Rana’s dream for over ten years was to start a vegan restaurant. He became Vegan after watching the documentary, ‘Earthlings’, which was when he realised that caging or killing sentient beings is morally unjust.
The best thing to take home from Hamro Vegan is their packaged Seitan Pickle which is the vegan rendition of a dry meat pickle. Reasonably priced at Rs 400 for a jar, Hamro Vegan’s Seitan Pickle will last you for months if refrigerated, but you don’t have to worry about it because you will not have to wait that long to finish the jar and buy a new one. They also have mock meat and fish options that you can visit the store and buy. If you recently quit meat and are craving the taste, you might want to buy one of their packaged products and cook it your style.
Hamro Vegan’s only outlet at Kumaripati has two rooms to dine in with comfortable sofas and glass tables, as well as a smoking space with wooden tables and mini chairs. We were offered a few famous dishes at Hamro Vegan, all of which are unbelievably good and often indistinguishable from their non-vegetarian counterparts.
Vegan Biryani
This dish uses a Seitan Gravy base to roughly emulate Chicken Biryani and is better than any veg biryani you have ever eaten. The Biryani is also garnished and decorated with dry fruits to enhance the taste. The Vegan Biryani at Hamro Vegan restaurant is extremely reasonably priced compared to the biryani you get at other restaurants, which are oftentimes not even half as good.
Seitan Choila
One of the most acclaimed dishes at Hamro Vegan, Seitan Choila is a vegan alternative to buff choila and tastes almost the same. You can even use this dish to prank your friends by telling them it’s buff choila and only revealing that the dish is, in fact vegan. Hamro Vegan, especially their seitan dishes, are famous for these pranks; that just goes to tell how intricately prepared and delicious they are.
Vegan Fish Chips
This dish, served with vegan mayonnaise, is made with vegan mock fish and tastes just like fish chips. Additionally, the mayonnaise, which is made at the restaurant itself, has a very unique taste which perfectly compliments the chips. You can also pre-order the mayonnaise to take home if you are looking for a vegan dip that tastes amazing.
Seitan Burger
The seitan burger at Hamro Vegan restaurant is one of the best veg burgers you can find in town. The seitan makes up for the lack of a proper patty which is a problem you often encounter with Veg Burger often making the entire meal taste bland. At Hamro Vegan, you overcome this shortcoming and have a great Veg Burger.
Besides main course meals and snacks, Hamro Vegan also provides Vegan dairy alternatives. They have yoghurt and ice cream made using soy milk. The lack of milk also makes it easier to digest the desserts without it taking a toll on your throat, and if you are lactose intolerant, you are in for a treat because these products are as good as, if not better than, their dairy counterparts.
It doesn't matter if you are vegan or not; you need to take a visit to Hamro Vegan because the food there—regardless of its stature as mock meat—is incredible.
Saaid Koirala
Photos by: Bidyash Dangol
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