Golden Lotus Vegan Newtown

Golden Lotus Vegan Newtown – Ten-Hour Pho, Entirely Plant-Based

Golden Lotus Vegan has been serving Newtown since July 2015, when the Nguyen family set out to recreate the flavours of their childhood in Saigon using entirely plant-based ingredients. The restaurant sits opposite Newtown Station on King Street, and the room itself is designed to slow you down, with deep green walls, traditional Vietnamese floral paintings and a neon sign reading "Veganism is magic" glowing gently above the tables.

The signature dish is the pho, built from a broth that reportedly takes more than ten hours and around twenty kilograms of fresh vegetables to develop before it ever reaches a bowl. It arrives loaded with rice noodles, whole vegetables and tofu, ready for a customer's own additions of Vietnamese basil, bean sprouts and a squeeze of lime. Beyond the soups, the vegetable dumplings and a sizzling clay pot of tofu, eggplant and abalone mushroom are regular standouts, while lighter options include char-grilled vegan pork skewers, vegan duck pancakes and rice paper rolls served fresh off the pass.

Drinks stay in keeping with the restaurant's nourishing bent, running to Vietnamese teas and fruit sodas, with BYO wine available for a small corkage fee if you'd rather bring your own. Golden Lotus Vegan operates on a walk-ins-only basis, so there's no reservation system to plan around, just turn up and expect a wait during peak dinner hours. Catering is also available for those wanting the menu delivered to an event.