Mar 25

Mar 25 Craving Chinese? Here’s Where To Get Vegan Chinese Food In Seattle (Plus Helpful Tips For Ordering)

You can’t deny that Chinese food is basically more American than apple pie. Think about it: how often do we eat (or for vegans, longingly crave) Chinese food, versus apple pie each year? The facts are just the facts.

And while it may seem that Chinese food is off limits once we decide to transition to a more plant-based diet, the reality is that Chinese food is actually very vegan friendly! Most Chinese restaurants already have tofu on the menu, and many Chinese vegetable dishes are easily “veganizable” if not vegan already.

More and more restaurants are making it easier by notating vegan-friendly options on their menus, but if you’d like to know more Chinese cuisine basics, I offer a quick overview of the predominant cuisine types, and some helpful tips when ordering, below.

Next, I’ll list the top choices for vegan Chinese food in Seattle to run to when the cravings hit.

Just like in the United States, there are regional cuisines of China, with very distinct dishes and flavor profiles. The Four Great Traditions of Chinese Cuisine are what you’ll typically see on a menu, either one or a combination: Sichuan (or Szechuan), Shandong, Yue or Cantonese, and Huaiyang. Let’s explore their flavor profiles.
Chuan: A style of Chinese cuisine originating from Sichuan Province (often spelled Szechuan). It has bold flavors, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers, as well as the unique flavor of Sichuan pepper. Think hot, spicy, mouth-numbing, with famous dishes like Dan Dan Noodles or Ma Po Tofu.
Shandong: Shandong cuisine originates in Northern coastal China, and known for its light aroma, freshness and rich taste. It puts emphasis on two types of broths, light and milky. Both broths are seasoned with scallions and traditionally focused around seafood. Think umami, salty, sweet, and sour.
Yue or Cantonese: “Most Cantonese food tastes fresh, natural, and mild. In order to show the original flavor of the main ingredient, Cantonese chefs are very cautious about seasonings. The seasonings are to bring out or highlight the original taste of the ingredient, not to make it. Less spicy ingredients such as peppers, chili, ginger and garlic are used. With the seasonal changes, dishes in summer and autumn are light, in winter and spring are a little bit heavier.” (Travel China Guide).
Huaiyang: (pronounced why-yung). According to Travel China Guide, “the first impression Huaiyang cuisine dishes leave on people is their delicate appearances like art works, secondly their light, mild and a little sweet taste with strong original flavors of the materials.” Think umami, mild, original, buns, dumplings, wontons.
Chinese food is already very vegan-friendly. It usually has no dairy involved (although more often in American Chinese restaurants), so that’s a big relief to vegans.
The main ingredients you need to watch out for (besides the obvious meat dishes) are egg, fish sauce, and meat-based broths.
According to PETA, here is a general guide to vegan-friendly Chinese dishes you’ll see on a menu (although be sure to clarify with the restaurant):
Drinks
Bubble tea, aka “the Miracle of Boba”
Appetizers
Vegetable spring rolls with sweet-and-sour sauce
Vegetable steamed dumplings
Hot or cold sesame noodles
Salad with ginger or sesame dressing
Main Entrées
(Just ask for any meat to be replaced with tofu, and check for fish sauce.)
Garlic tofu
General Tso’s tofu
Sweet-and-sour tofu
Cashew tofu
Tofu and broccoli
Mapo tofu (Specify no pork since traditionally this dish is cooked with it.)
Mongolian tofu
Orange tofu
Kung Pao tofu
Noodles and Rice
Veggie chow mein
Tofu chow mein
Steamed rice
Vegetable fried rice (Specify no eggs.)
Tofu fried rice (Specify no eggs.)
Vegetables
Steamed vegetables with a side of sesame sauce
Sautéed green beans
Garlic eggplant
Sometimes there can be a language barrier or a misunderstanding of what the term “vegan” means, and what you eat (and don’t eat). This goes for any cuisine and any culture (including our own families… don’t we know it!).
These concerns can sometimes get in the way of feeling confident when ordering in Chinese restaurants, too, if you aren’t that familiar with the cuisine. One easy-to-use tool to help both you and the restaurant communicate in these situations is the Vegan Passport App!
This app offers a description of what you eat (and don’t eat), written in nearly 96% of the world’s languages, so you are covered just about anywhere! Simply select the language you want to use (or the region if you’re traveling), and it will show a text in that language politely explaining what you eat as a vegan. Just show it to your server, and they will be able to know exactly what you prefer. The app also offers pictures of ingredients you want to avoid as another way to communicate.
Keep this app handy and you’ll be less hesitant to branch out of your culinary comfort zone!

WHERE TO GET VEGAN CHINESE FOOD IN SEATTLE

Now that we’ve got the bases covered, let’s get to the vegan-friendly Chinese restaurants in Seattle! As you know by now, you can enjoy vegan food at just about any Chinese restaurant if you know what to ask for! These highlighted Chinese restaurants below are just some Seattle favorites among local vegans. Enjoy!

Uptown China is a well-loved spot in Seattle for families to enjoy flavorful, heaping portions of Chinese dishes created by owner Yu-Mei and her team. May of 2022 marks 30 years in business for Uptown, and if that wasn’t enough to celebrate, they just launched an entirely plant-based menu alongside their traditional menu - with vegan apps, noodle dishes, and plenty of delicious main courses.

When visiting Uptown China after the launch, I asked Yu-Mei what inspired her to offer a fully plant-based menu: “ I have an artist friend who became vegan, and I’ve been feeding them usually once a week,” she explained. “So I started to get creative and make plant-based versions of my Chinese dishes.” She also explained that in the last few years, she was seeing an increase in sales of her already vegan-friendly dishes, and requests for vegan modifications were on the rise for other dishes as well.

When the pandemic hit, it severely impacted just about every restaurant, hers included. In an effort to increase sales and make it easier for her plant-based customers to order, along with the finesse she developed having her friend test out her vegan creations, she launched the plant-based menu around the new year of 2022, and it’s been a major hit.

As you can see in my Instagram Reel, the food is exactly what we’ve been missing since going vegan. Not only does the vegan menu offer plenty of veggie dishes including eggplant, mushrooms, and broccoli, her mains also offer the choice of tofu or mock duck that she makes in house.

Don’t be surprised if Yu-Mei brings you an off-menu dish to try as well. She is equally as generous as she is talented in the kitchen, and she loves making her customers feel like family.

Uptown China is a must-stop for vegan Chinese food in Seattle. They’re open every day of the week, and are located just blocks away from Climate Pledge Arena and Seattle Center.

200 Queen Anne Ave N. Seattle, WA 98109

HOURS
M-Th, 11:30am – 9:30pm | F-Sat, 11:30am – 10:00pm | Sun, 4:00pm – 9:30pm

Dumpling The Noodle is another very vegan-friendly Chinese treasure in Seattle. They opened just before the pandemic, and soon were facing immense uncertainty that their new concept would last. But fortunately for Owner and Chef Sen, his fun and flavorful menu and extreme perseverance, along with support from their recently-hooked customers, Dumpling The Noodle made it through, and their dining room can finally be utilized.

And the future looks promising, since many Seattleites still don’t even know about this place - and they’re bound to get hooked, too.

Owner and recipe maker Sen got his chef certificates in four major Chinese cuisines when he was 18: Szechuan, Shandong, Guangzhou, and Huaiyang. “DTN is not a typical Chinese restaurant, but more like a combination of the four major Chinese flavors,” as their website states. “Imagine you can taste all of them in one place.”

Vegan options are aplenty here, and they are clearly labeled on the menu, with vegan specials in rotation regularly. There are five main categories for the menu: Buns and Wontons, Appetizers, Rice Noodles, Lamen (noodle soup), and Pan Fried Dumplings. And yes - there are vegan options in all of them!

Favorites include the Steamed Shiitake Vegan Buns, Vegan Wontons with Spicy Sauce, Green Onion Pancakes, Chili The Veggie Lamen, and the Carrot, Tofu, and Napa Cabbage Dumplings.

You can also purchase frozen vegan dumplings to enjoy at home!

1723 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103

HOURS

Tue-Thu 4:30 pm - 9:00 pm | Fri 4:30 pm - 10:00 pm | Sat 11:30 am - 10:00 pm
Sun 11:30 am - 9:00 pm

Chiho is a family-owned American-style Chinese restaurant in the heart of Belltown. After a year in business, and constant requests for more veggies and vegan options, they decided to head into the kitchen to create a full vegan menu.

The most challenging was prefecting a vegan soup dumpling (also called Xiao Long Bao), which is not easy to find in Seattle. While traditional soup dumplings typically contain pork and a meat broth that contains gelatin, Chiho came up with a substitution to all of these, using vegan pork, mushroom, and green onion as the meaty base, with a mushroom broth and agar agar as a plant-based thickener.

Enjoy other dishes on their new vegan menu including Truffle Fried Rice, Vegan Dan Dan Noodles, Spicy Wantons, Veggie Potstickers, and more.

2330 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

HOURS
Tu-Th, 4pm – 10pm | Fri/Sat, 4pm – 11pm | Sun, Noon-9pm

Check out my latest Instagram Reel on Chiho Bistro!

Loving Hut is an all-vegan chain, with each restaurant owned independently and offering its own unique menu. Their motto is “Be vegan, make peace!” although we think they should also add, “eat here and your life will change forever.”

The Seattle Loving Hut menu features many Chinese-inspired dishes as well as other Asian and American dishes, with plenty of vegetable and plant-based meats to choose from. Favorites include the Dumplings, Szechuan Strips, and the Yang Chow Fried Rice.

Loving Hut is located in the heart of Seattle’s Chinatown-International District, so you can admire the many Chinese influences in the area including Hing Hay Park, where the Lunar New Year celebration takes place.

1226 S. Jackson St. Seattle, WA 98144

HOURS
M–Sat, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm | Sun, 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm

DIN TAI FUNG

*Downtown, University Village*

There is no denying the delicate skills and artistry it takes to create dumplings and wontons by hand. And luckily for us, Din Tai Fung has recently introduced many beautiful and delicious vegan options to their menu!

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese chain offering Chinese Huaiyang (pronounced “why-yung”) cuisine - one of the Four Great cuisine traditions. It features delicately skilled and artistic dishes with mild flavors, like dumplings, buns, and wontons.

This restaurant was started by a Chinese refugee named Bing-Yi Yang, who fled from China to Taiwan in 1927, at only 20 years old with $20 in his pocket. He and his wife sold Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) out of their cooking oil shop, and as the demand grew for their dumplings, they pivoted to a restaurant. Today, Din Tai Fung has over 170 locations worldwide.

The new vegan options honor traditional Huaiyang cuisine, and include dumplings, wontons and wonton soup, noodles with sesame sauce, tons of vegetable dishes, and dessert buns.

Don’t miss their Vegan Spicy Wontons (pictured), described as “a love letter to our vegan guests,” as they put it. “Served with our signature house spicy sauce and topped with garlic and green onion, our handmade wontons are filled with a carefully balanced mixture of bean curd, baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, glass noodles, and jicama. Freshly squeezed spinach juice is rolled into our house-made dough to give these wontons their vibrant, verdant hue.” That description reads just like a love letter, if you ask me.

Downtown: 600 Pine St, #403 Seattle, WA 98101
University Village: 2621 NE 46th St., Seattle, WA 98105

HOURS
Downtown: Sun–Thu: 11:00 am–8:30 pm | Fri–Sat: 11:00 am–9:00 pm
University Village: Mon–Thu: 11:00 am–9:30 pm | Fri:11:00 am–10:00 pm |
Sat: 10:30 am–10:00 pm | Sun: 10:30 am–9:30 pm

Tyger Tyger is new to the Seattle restaurant scene, located on the North end of Seattle Center next to the KEXP studios and Climate Pledge Area. This family-owned, Sichuan-inspired restaurant is stylish, with colorful and flavorful dishes perfect for those who like a little more (or a lot more) heat.

Vegans can enjoy their Mushroom and Carrot buns, made with wood ear mushroom, sweet carrot, ginger, garlic & chive dumplings in a dark soy vinegar glaze.

Or, for noodle lovers, get the Vegan Dan Dan - a spinoff of their Dan Dan Mian made with wheat noodles and hot numbing sauce, using "Beyond Meat" pork substitute and a mushroom stock sauce base.

Tyger Tyger also has a few tofu and vegetable-focused dishes that vegans can enjoy, including Salt and Sichuan pepper Tofu - fried local tofu with chilies, ginger, garlic, scallion, and chili-oil black vinegar dip - or the Blistered Green Beans - wok seared green bean with sweet and spicy black vinegar sauce.

114 Republican St, Seattle, WA 98109

HOURS
Sun-Thu 4 pm-9 pm | Fri-Sat 4 pm-10 pm

More Vegan-friendly Chinese Restaurants in Seattle

Szechuan Noodle Bowl - International District
Favorites include Veggie & Tofu Dumplings and Cold Sesame Noodles

Sichuanese Cuisine - International District
Favorites include Vegetarian Mapo Tofu

Judy Fu’s Snappy Dragon - Maple Leaf
Favorites include Mongolian Tofu and Dragon’s Delight

Lionhead - Capitol Hill
Favorites includes Cauliflower Dry Pot and Salt and Sichuan Pepper Tofu

Green Tree - Greenwood
Favorites include Szechuan Eggplant and Tofu Vegetable Soup

Little Chengdu - Mount Baker
Chine restaurant featuring Szechuan street food with many vegan options.

Ballard Mandarin - Ballard
Favorites include General Tao’s Tofu and Yu Hsiang Tofu

Chiang’s Gourmet - Lake City
Favorites include Chinese Eggplant and Szechuan Hot Sesame Noodles

I hope you enjoyed this guide to vegan Chinese food in Seattle! Let me know in the comments if you found this helpful, or if I missed your favorite place in town.

hi, I’m darby.

I’m a Seattle-based vegan lifestyle blogger, travel enthusiast, and sustainability nerd. Wanna know more? Check out my about me page, and follow me on socials for the latest. Got a question? Send me a message!