VEGAN FOOD & DIGITAL NOMAD GUIDE FOR KOH PHANGAN
Looking for an authentic island in Thailand, where you can enjoy delicious local (vegan) food, get to met a lot of digital nomads and take yoga classes or even book a yoga retreat? Then Koh Phangan should be your next destination!
It’s rain season in December in Bali, let’s go to Thailand! That was the plan when taking the plane beginning of December for the journey from Bali to Koh Phangan. My three weeks on the island started with one week in the beautiful wonderland yoga retreat before discovering the beauty of the island outside of the retreat.
It was a bit of a though start due to several factors (such as staying in the jungle without being able to lock the accommodation, no wifi and getting wet from the rain dripping into the small bamboo hut), however after some time the beautiful island got better more and more.
Being able to wake up and literally step to the send, take a beach walk and then a dip to the ocean is just so incredible. Also, after a while we got to discover more and more (vegan) food hot spots, found the local secret spots and I met more and more digital nomads who, especially during the winter months, make Koh Phangan their base.
If you’re wondering what to do on this magical island and where to get the best vegan breakfast/ lunch/ dinner and/ or cake this blog post is for you. But beware, I met so many people who intended to stay for some weeks and ended up living there for several weeks. Koh Phangan is quite a nice place to settle for a bit indeed, but make your own picture!
Have you ever been on Koh Phangan?
If so, what are your favorite food places and do you have any other recommendations?
I’m looking forward hearing from you!
Lots of love,
Magda
My favorite food & coffee spots in koh phangan
Kia Ora Café
This lovely new vegan hotspot should be super high on your brunch list for Koh Phangan. Lea, the owner, and her team are super lovely and make sure you have the best experience you can wish for! The smoothie bowl and loaded toast with mushrooms and hummus were soooo tasty! You also need to check out their homemade pastries such as their fudge brownie and snickers!
Deli Devi
This place is an institution in Koh Phangan and actually worldwide. The fully plant-based restaurant offers many delicious treats such as amazing vegan cheesecakes or also vegan cheese variations (also for your home). The space is not that big, so you have to get lucky to get a spot - but if you do, don’t give it away! Also, Deli Devi is quite popular for digital nomads as the atmosphere is great for getting some work done.
Pure Vegan Heaven
This restaurant is fore sure one of the go-to locations for healthy, clean, plant-based food on the island. There are two branches (with the same menu) and I would especially recommend the acai smoothie bowl. Also the kids pancakes in the form of a teddy bear are adorable. The place can get pretty busy, especially for lunch time.
Indigo Specialty Coffee & Bakery
One of my favorite places for working on the island is for sure Indigo. They actually got multiple locations (two at the point of writing) around the island and it is often packed with digital nomads and students. You can choose between sitting inside with AC or outside in their huge patio. We also enjoyed breakfast there (the smoothie bowl was really nice) and I spotted delicious vegan lunch as well, which I will for sure try out next time!
EAT.CO
One of my favorite places for enjoying plant-based food, working a bit and enjoying the nice atmosphere. The vibe is super chill, there are games and you are more than invited to stay for some hours. I really like their vegan sushi bowl, their carrot lax sourdough toast with homemade vegan cream cheese and their super creamy hot chocolate. I also had the pleasure to meet the owners & team, super lovely people who really put all their heart and energy into making the place feel like a second home - which it did after spending so much time there. There is also a branch in Bangkok (with the same menu) if you’re in the city.
K.C. Kitchen Vegan and Thai Food
If you’re looking for authentic and delicious vegan thai food, put K. C. on your list. I really liked the red curry and also the pad thai with vegetables was huge and super tasty.
Mama Koi's shake shack
Right across Deli Devi you find this secret breakfast/ shake spot. We came several times for the fruit bowl with coconut yoghurt (only 100 Baht). The best thing is that you can choose from all their toppings and so make your very own breakfast bowl. The toppings included for example oats, chia, sesame and flax seeds as well as roasted coconut flakes.
Foods & Roots
If you are heading north for exploring this part of the island (check out Malibu beach if it’s not too windy), then make sure to also visit the fully plant-based restaurant foods & roots. Although the prices are a bit higher than in other places, I would highly recommend to try their high-quality vegan menu items. I especially liked the delicious fruit salad, which was served with a lot of seeds and nuts. The best thing is that you can enjoy your food with an amazing view on the wide ocean.
Hundred Islands Coffee Bar
I checked out this place very much at the beginning of my time in Koh Phangan, before moving up to the western part of the island. If you’re around, I would really recommend grabbing breakfast at the hundred island coffee bar. Their fruit bowl with vegan milk was super tasty and also their coffee as well as matcha (yup I had both) was fulfilling my high speciality coffee/ matcha standards.
Street vegan house
If you’re looking for a tasty & nourishing vegan dinner then you need to try the Western & Thai Food options at this lovely restaurant! We had the mille feuille and pesto gnocchi out of sweet potatoes and really loved it! It’s really something different and high quality food!
Karma Kafe
Located in the heart of Surat Thani, the cute little coffee shop is ideal to grab delicious vegan/ keto friendly lunch, get some work done or enjoy their sweet treats. The coffee was really tasty and their plant-based milk options included even pistachio milk! Also you get a huge water jar infused with fresh cucumber and lemon, so that you’re staying hydrated during your time at Karma Safe - would really recommend to visit the place!
Cocoa Phangan Cakes
This spot is definitely a secret tip! When entering the shop you would expect to „only“ get a lot of cakes or ice cream (more to that later). However, their menu is huge and so are the portion sizes! We went several times and enjoyed this massive pad thai with tofu for only 100 baht. Also the curry soups were served in huge pots, so you are really getting a lot for your money! If you’re still hungry or crave something sweet (which you will do after seeing all their treats), enjoy one of their delicious cakes. We took several ones (obviously) and really liked the vegan passion fruit cheesecake as well as the mango, passionfruit and banana cake - also the ice cream was amazing, especially the passion fruit one!
Jaffa
If you are a hummus & Israeli food lover (like me) than this place is a dream come true for you. An Israeli friend recommended it to me and I must say I was not disappointed & obviously came several times. Their hummus is incredible creamy and you can choose to enjoy it on it’s own or add some more delicious things such as falafel or braised mushrooms. I can also really recommend the Tabouleh, which was super fresh and authentic.
Mama Noi. Mango Sticky Rice
I can’t even tell you how often we went to this place for our daily dose of mango sticky rice. The portion is huge, so you might want to share it (or get half a portion as I also managed to do one time - only because I already shared cake beforehand haha). They seem to be open all the time and if you don’t see anybody just glance into the waxing studio, which apparently is also the production hub of the incredibly mango sticky rice. Go there & get this local treat, oh did I mention it’s only 60 Baht?
Vegan Food & Thai
Unfortunately I discovered this place way too late so that I could only try the delicious homemade vegan food once. You can choose from a wide range of plant-based dishes for a very cheap price. The specialities such as the pad thai are only 50 Baht, a fresh coconut only 25 Baht. The owner (‚Mama‘) is super friendly and warmly welcomes you to her small little restaurant. I will come back for sure to try out more of the vegan delicious dishes.
Balance Specialty Coffee
Luckily I only discovered the this speciality coffee shop after my yoga retreat at wonderland as it was in walking distance and I would have been a daily guest. Balance offers high-quality coffee and you can choose from either sitting in their inside area with AC or enjoy the view over palm trees and nature outside. It is a bit far off (especially if you live next to the sea), but I would argue it is worth the drive.
What's cup!
This is for sure one of my favorite coffee spots on the island! Why? First, their coffee is really delicious and they also offer many plant-based milk options. Second, the view overlooking the island is breathtaking. Third, the also offer a lot of sweet treats (haven’t tried them though). And fourth, last but not least, you can easily get some work done or simply relax, the vibe is super chill and there are many different seating options available.
Bubba's Roastery
One of the best coffee shops around the islands is for sure bubba’s roasters. The coffee is also actually available in other coffee shops. The breakfast options were in my opinion not as broad and diverse as in other places, but that’s probably because the standard is already super high. Still the coconut yoghurt and fruit bowl was nice and especially the coffee great!
Taste From Heaven
Another great fully vegan/ vegetarian restaurant with the best (as my friend stated) Khao Soi and as I would argue one of the best curries on the island. The food is prepared fresh, so you can tell them if you want to change something. While you wait you can get inspired by the quotes of „famous“ plant-based people (Shania Twain?).
Tee's Fresh Juice Shop
The daily routine in Koh Phangan wouldn’t be complete with one fresh juice a day. One of the best places to cure your daily juice cravings is for sure Tee’s fresh juice shop. You a choose from their huge menu or simply make your own smoothie/ juice - there is really a choice overload! Also, you can order the bigger smoothie( juice sizes and so enjoy your smoothie at home anytime you want.
Further places, which you should add to your list:
Restaurant Sunshine
Mama Kop
Anutta
Jaja's Vegan
Rong Cafe
Siri’s island café
Friendship Concept - Meatless Grill
Basilico
Taboon
Flow Cafe & Eatery
what to do in koh phangan
Enjoy the beautiful beaches
One of the reasons for your visit in Koh Phangan are probably the wide and white beaches. If you’re lucky and live directly at the beach, you can literally get up and step on the sand. I really enjoyed taking some nice beachwalks at the „home“ beach as well as discovering new beaches. One of the most picturesque and beautiful beaches I discovered was for sure Malibu beach, If you go to this place and head a bit to the right you will see palm trees, swings etc. such as in the picture below - beautiful, right?
Rewind at a yoga retreat
I spent the first week in Koh Phangan at the Wonderland Healing Center and couldn’t have imagined for a better place to start the trip to the magical island. I liked literally everything about the retreat, from the daily schedule including meditation, breathwork, yoga classes and evening events over the amazing plant-based food (there was even vegan sushi and an Israeli night) and the beautiful sauna and ice bath. It’s a great way to connect with likeminded people and the price is really decent for what you’re getting in my opinion.
Try out new sports
There are many different sport offers available around the island from yoga, dance classes, thai boxing over kite surfing - there is really something available for everyone! Also you can simply register yourself at the gym (we really liked Evolve) or go for a beach walk/ run.
Discover waterfalls
Due to the lush nature of Koh Phangan, there are many waterfalls just waiting for you to be discovered. One of my favorites is paradise waterfall, which is actually not a huge waterfall, but rather a small lake. You can borrow floating rings and just enjoy the nature and water.
Go on a jungle hike
One Sunday we put on our hiking shoes (or rather in my cases only proper shoes I brought, well guess who fell immediately) and went on the famous bottle beach hike. You can reach the beach via two ways, orange or blue, and I would highly recommend the latter one. We took the orange one on the way to the beach but often got lost in the jungle. On the way back we found the blue path, which was way better preserved and also shorter. You should bring enough water and really wear proper shoes as the path is often with small stones.
Get some work done
As mentioned in my food/ coffee guide, there’re many places around the island which invite you to bring your laptop or books and work a bit. Of course there’re also co-working places, I really liked remote & digital for a nice focused atmosphere, proper chairs and a nice room with AC and a great view on the sea. Especially in high season there is a large digital nomad community, meeting and exchanging tips. If you’re interested, simply text me, I can forward you the WhatsApp groups of course!
Enjoy the sunset (daily)
One of the (maybe only?) fixed meetings per day is for sure to watch the coconut with a fresh beer or chilled coconut. The best places to do so is either Zen beach, where many people also meet for performing music during the sunset. Then there is also Amsterdam bar, which offers a great view and chilled atmosphere (the coconuts are quite expensive though). If you are looking for a bit fancier place, then check out bluerama. You can go there as an external guest, enjoy some drinks/ food and take a dip in their infinity pool - beautiful!
