Wait, are vegetarian restaurants cool now?

Vegetarians know this. They have all been subjected to the relentless trolling—vegetarian biryani is basically pulao, fish-free sushi is an oxymoron, you haven’t really lived until you’ve tried a galouti kebab... You get the gist. For years, being vegetarian has come with a meaty share of FOMO, and that’s exactly why the present feels exciting. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a quiet revolution brewing—call it a culinary movement to bring veggies into the fold of the cool and the intriguing. 

In July, the founders of SOKA (yes, number 28 on Asia’s Best 50 Bars) debuted an all-vegetarian, no-alcohol, family dining experience called Kalpaney in Bengaluru. Typically, that description may make you swipe left, but wait till you see the breathtaking Kalamkari interiors. And the menu? Even better. The extensive 135-dish offering (!) includes everything from truffle mushroom rusk and avocado carpaccio to cauliflower pullimunchi and Rajasthani kadhi risotto. 

Mumbai is undergoing a similar renaissance. In April, Tóa 66 became the country's first Thai restaurant with a veggie tasting menu. “When it came to global cuisines like Thai, we often found vegetables treated as an afterthought and vegetarian menus offered as compromises. We wanted to challenge that,” Deval and Isha Shah, the founders, share.

It’s impossible to bring up delicious meat-free Asian food without applauding Burma Burma. The early mover, which spotlights vegetarian Burmese cuisine, kickstarted in 2014 and currently has over 15 restaurants across the country, with three new locations opening in Delhi-NCR this month. 

A desire for elevated vegetarian bites is also driving other older restaurants to success. In June, Hyderabad celebrated the third outpost of veggie pan-Asian cafe Ta.Ma.Sha, while Bengaluru’s Street Storyss also inaugurated its third iteration this May. What makes them exciting is that these new-age vegetarian eateries aren’t your traditional darshinis serving piping-hot filter coffee and crispy dosas. Neither are they classic dhabas with a stack of colourful charpais and the air thick with the smell of butter. Nope, none of that. The no-meat restaurants in question have an undeniable and intentional je ne sais quoi to them. They want to be papped and picked for your Instagram dump, they strive to be the ‘chosen one’ to make your friends envious on a Friday night, and they are crafted with precisely that in mind. 

Look at Avatara, the world’s first Indian vegetarian restaurant to earn a Michelin star, which arrived in Mumbai in 2024. The Dubai import launched with an exclusive 14-course degustation menu that deliberately omits paneer and mushroom, the usual suspects in a no-meat à la carte menu. Instead, it spotlights often-overlooked vegetables like turnip, bitter gourd, jackfruit, and drumstick in imaginative, modern dishes. Imagine a green pea chokha paired with shisho luchi cannoli and a delicate carrot jhol, or a lush dahi bhalla petit gâteau with tangy pomegranate sorbet—it’s all on their menu.

Dubai import, Avatara, the world’s first Indian vegetarian restaurant to earn a Michelin star, opened in Juhu last year

Sanket Joshi, the chef at Avatara Mumbai, explains his process: “[We] are moving beyond the naan-paneer narrative to explore hyper-local, seasonal, and plant-forward dishes that are both sophisticated and soulful.” Joshi also believes the boom of fresh veggies cooked using toxin-free indigenous techniques is a direct consequence of our increased focus on wellness and mindful living. 

Pune’s health-first cafe Paashh is a glowing embodiment of this sentiment. Curated by fitness enthusiast Vaishali Karad, the clean-food eatery has just entered Mumbai’s Pali Hill with a menu rich in locally sourced and traceable ingredients, including heritage grains and A2 dairy. Its design equally reflects this earthy philosophy with reclaimed wood, raw stone, and a kitchen free from menacing non-stick cookware. Unlike the gym-freak, vegan boom of the 2010s, the conscious cafes of 2025 don’t just rely on faux meats or soya. At Paassh, expect coconut and cucumber koshimbir and multigrain thalipeeth with smoked thecha. 

In fact, the very first step to rejigging the oft-misunderstood reputation of vegetarian restaurants is to embrace the greens. For as long as we can remember, fruits and vegetables have been the antiheroes in our diet, clumped on one side of the plate waiting to be chomped down between clenched teeth and closed eyes just to meet our daily nutrition goals. Classic restaurants often fell prey to this myth as well—veggies were coated in garlic, chilli and onion, marinated and batter fried until the stem and the stalk were perfectly concealed. In other cases, they were thrown in as outliers between crunchy potato and soft paneer. 

Well, no more. “Chefs and restaurants are now designing vegetarian menus from scratch with the same imagination, rigour, and complexity as any non-vegetarian menu,” Shah adds. While conceptualising Tóa 66, they refrained from direct adaptations that pedantically swap meat protein for tofu. For instance, the khao soi, usually rich with chicken, holds its own by centring fermented mustard greens that are expressive without mimicking meat. “Today’s diner is more aware, more travelled, and more demanding. They’re looking for flavour, depth, technique, and storytelling,” the founders add. 

And a host of meatless eateries are responding with fanfare. Avatara has a special wine-tasting menu that pairs raw banana chaat and khakra with a 2022 Pinot Grigio from Italy, and a sunchoke modak with okra thecha that is elevated with the 2019 Wolfberger Signature Gewürztraminer Alsace from France. That’s not all. There are also India-proud alternatives for the diners to sip. “We want to dismantle the perception that vegetarian food is limited in scope and creativity by showcasing culinary artistry and pairing Indian dishes with wines,” Joshi explains. 

While Kalpaney may not serve tipples, the zero-proof cocktails arrive at the table with drama. Kokila Summer, a kokum-inspired drink featuring a hint of curry leaves, is topped with a jug of playful foam. Meanwhile, Preeti Prema combines watermelon and rose cordial with saffron threads and mystical bubbles, ready for popping. The meal ends with hearty trompe l’œil—a fluffy slice of cotton candy transforms into aromatic paan the moment it lands on your tongue, closing the evening with a dust of magic. 

In a culinary era when we demand that our food be as much about experience as it is about flavour, and we have at-home supper clubs that trace the origin of chilli oil to China’s Sichuan or transport people to Srinagar with a plate of rogan josh, it was about time that veggie food got a worthy glow-up. Maybe it’s finally your turn to catch hold of a meat lover and say, “You have no idea what you’re missing out on.”