Vegetarian buffets for Vu Lan festival
Update: Aug 24, 2010
In the seventh month of lunar calendar, Vietnamese traditionally eat vegetarian food to express gratitude and filial piety to parents and forefathers during the Vu Lan festival or Ghost Festival.

Some restaurants under Saigontourist Holding Company in HCMC are holding vegetarian buffets.

Van Canh Restaurant has the “Tro ve coi nguon” (Back to the origin) buffet celebrate the festival.

The program runs from August 10 to September 8. Buffet lunch is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and priced at VND110,000 per adult and VND140,000 per adult for buffet dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

On the full-moon day, August 24, tickets are priced at VND140,000 per adult for lunch, VND150,000 for dinner and VND70,000 per child.

The restaurant is also offering a promotion of buy ten tickets get one free, 5% discount for the next time and gifts.

Apart from vegetarian dishes such as salads, soup, steamed and fried dishes, this year the restaurant will offer many dishes made of noodles such as bun mam, bun ca Nha Trang, bun bo Hue, bun thang Hanoi and bun khen Phu Quoc.

The restaurant also serves vegetarian moon cake made by Givral as dessert.

Tan Cang Tourist Area will host a vegetarian grill and hot pot buffet on August 23 and 24 (14th and 15th of the seventh lunar month) with traditional Vietnamese vegetarian dishes. The program will be at 5 p.m. in the garden space near Saigon River with more than 80 hot pot and grilled dishes, fruits, cakes, ice cream and fruit juices.

The program will be accompanied with music shows of violin, guitar and flamenco artists.

Tickets are VND250,000 per adult and VND140,000 per child. Tickets will be discounted 30%.

The Thanh Binh 2 Hotel’s Thanh Binh Restaurant will also offer guests a vegetarian buffet on August 24, featuring Vietnamese dishes. Tickets are priced at VND119,000 per adult and VND79,000 per child.

Tan Cang Tourist Area is at A100 Ung Van Khiem Street, Binh Thanh District, tel: 3512 8775.

Van Canh Restaurant is at 184 Calmette Street, HCMC’s District 1, tel: 3829 4963.

Thanh Binh 2 Restaurant is at 15 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, HCMC’s Tan Binh District, tel: 3971 5158.
SGT