Huen Muan Jai

It's common knowledge among us vegans that when we go to a restaurant and want to let them know we don't eat meat, we have only to say the word "Jai" and they'll understand. In actual fact, jai is the Thai word for Buddhist vegetarian, a diet that includes egg consumption, but disallows onion and garlic.

While walking around one day I noticed a signpost pointing the way to a retaurant that is listed in the Michelin guide. Brenda did a little legwork and found it located on a back street just northwest of our condo. It's named Huen Muan Jai, so, because of the name, we figured it would be a treat to go to a Michelin recommended vegetarian restaurant.

We put it on our to-do list for our final week here and went there for lunch today. We went early because all the reviews say there is usually a long wait list if one arrives after noon. Immediately after Brenda's yoga finished at 11:00, we made our way there and were promptly seated. With great anticipation, we began perusing the menu and....WTF!?!?.... what are all these pork, chicken and fish items doing on a Jai menu? Today's Thai lesson: Jai in a restaurant name does not necesarily mean it's vegan friendly.

Oh well, we were already here and managed to find four dishes that made us only slightly bad vegans for the day as three of the four contained eggs. Overall the food was very tasty and the service was fast and efficient. But unlike yesterday's bargain basement lunch with the Brown Rice Ladies, these four dishes, two servings of sticky rice and a bottle of water set us back a whopping ฿405 ($15.63 CAD). Very expensive by Thai standards, but less than the price of a plate of Pad Thai in Vancouver.

So we can now scratch Huen Muan Jai from the to-do list and add it to the "been there, done that and don't need to do it again" column.Read more