Vegan-friendly
Organic
Thai
Western
Beer/Wine
Take-out

Long-established vegetarian restaurant in Bangkok by friend of Cow, May Kaidee. Serves vegan food menu of Thai dishes. The location is near Khao Sarn Rd, in alley behind Burger King. Has a fully vegan restaurant in New York. Open Mon-Sun 11:00am-9:00pm.


Venue map for May Kaidee
© OpenStreetMap contributors

285 Reviews

First Review by amonroea

AshleyLorden

Points +1254

Vegan
24 Feb 2013

Not focused on customers

Perhaps I was expecting too much after hearing that it's an "institution", but I was disappointed here. The food was good enough but the service was embarrassing. For how small the restaurant was, the staff avoided us, left plates on our table for 20 minutes after they were empty and stacked up by us, and managed to forget an order. I would still go back because vegan authentic Thai food is really important to me, but I sincerely hope their management figures out how to grow without giving people a bad experience.

Pros: Good Thai menu, Quality food (not outstandingly good)

Cons: Poor service, Not near public transit

rhoa1033

Points +33

Vegan
08 Feb 2013

Amazing Thai Food

You have to meet May Kaidee to understand her. She has a passion for vegan food. She does private cooking classes at her house in addition to her several restaurants. If you get to Thailand, don't miss her restaurants. After I had dinner at her house, during a VegVoyages trip to her home, I felt like I have never had good Thai food before. She takes Thai food to a whole different level. The flavors expload. She is such an amazing person inside and out.

BramDeSaedeleer

Points +93

Vegetarian
05 Aug 2012

The only good thing about Khao San

This must be in my personal top 3 of best vegetarian restaurants in Bangkok. The menu is extensive enough to keep you coming back and the portions are real. Prices are very Thai and so is the staff. There seems to be a lot of coming and going of new waiters, so sometimes they speak English and sometimes they don't. The food is always very delicious and fresh.

Pros: Very delicious, Cheap

leon48

Points +102

Vegetarian
15 Mar 2012

Exellent

Ekstraordinary good option for vegetarians

Pros: exellent food, friendly staff

emmers

Points +61

Vegetarian
24 Dec 2011

delicious veggie food

I live in BKK and have been here with friends quite a few times, it's worth the effort to make the journey to Khao San just to eat here. The food is wholesome and delicious, and the service friendly and attentive. The menu has a wide selection to choose from (would especially recommend the masaman curry). Also, Saturday night eat as much as you like buffet nights are great value (99bht when I last visited) with a lovely selection of authentic thai vegetarian dishes, including dessert.
Updated from previous review on Thursday April 22, 2010
Updated from previous review on Monday December 12, 2011

Pros: Real veggie food, Friendly service, generous portions

Cathy P.

Points +53

Vegetarian
14 Dec 2011

The Other May Kaidee's

We ended up at a hotel down the block from the other May Kaidee number II, location at 33 Samsen Road, Soi 1 at Banglamphu) which is actually walking distance from the one listed as number III. May seems to be at this one most of the time, she is a fabulous hostess always making you feel at home and dresses in traditional Thai outfits. We ate here four times so we really had the chance to try a lot of the foods and they are all delicious. Even May says that she mostly serves tourists/Westerners--Thais are not too into veggie food. I took the cooking class on my last day in Bangkok. I don't enjoy cooking that much but it is fascinating to learn how those unique tastes are accomplished and I may try something at home in the future but right now I'm on hiatus from Asian food (too much while traveling). May makes the cooking easy, doing all the harder prep. Do check the price of the class before starting there was a special rate advertised but then I was told that I had the deluxe class. In the end May let me pay the special rate.

JezzingtonBear

Points +47

Vegan
29 Jul 2011

Which one's which?

Ok, so there are two branches of May Kaidee's in this alley. I always go to the smaller one, which I think is the original but doesn't seem to have a separate entry on here. They both seem to have identical menus anyway so whatever. I always just go for the smaller one as it seems a little more intimate and authentic and you're basically sitting in the alleyway.

I had the Som Tam (papaya salad) - always delicious though this time it wasn't as spicy as usual - and the Tom Kha (hot & sour soup with coconut milk) - it was nice but not quite as good as the Tom Yum, which I usually have.

Pros: Tasty food, Great menu, Cheap

Cons: Lots of flies

kool_kitchen

Points +862

Vegetarian
03 Feb 2011

Same restaurant, smaller menu

This Mai Kaidee's has a menu half the size of the other location, and is therefore missing most of the better and more interesting dishes. As with the other location, it's not very comfortable to sit in. Pretty standard Thai stuff.
Seek out the other location.

Pros: Inexpensive

Cons: Not comfortable to sit in, Has menu half size of the other branch

Veronica01

Points +168

Vegan
26 Nov 2010

Vegan Buffet a great deal

We visited here at our stay in Bangkok. Had Mai Kaydee's in Chiang Mai at her sister's place and loved it and were intrigued by a vegan buffet.

It's such a good price too, especially when you can actually eat all of the dishes since there is no fish sauce or eggs in it.

Mai was there dancing and was super friendly. They brought out fresh new batches of each dish every 20-30 minutes I think. One thing not on their menu was mashed potatoes but they served it at the buffet and I don't know why but we loved them and it was really a nice treat.

Everything wasn't too spicy either, so clearly made for the tourists! Will be back next time we come to Bangkok. :)

BTW we got there at 7:45 and most stuff had run low, so go early or be prepared to hang out and wait for fresh food to be refilled.

Pros: all vegan, inexpensive, food refilled regularly

Cons: had to take a long cab ride, locals don't know where it is

PURITZ

Points +76

Non Veg
11 Nov 2010

such a nice place

delicious food, the sweetest family that own and operate it, made us special stuff for loour quirks like allergy to mushrooms etc

Pros: yummy, friendly

fire horse

Points +120

Vegan
12 Mar 2010

A lotus in muddy water.

I was there 6 weeks ago and had a very enjoyable evening. The food and service were good and the place clean and friendly with a homely feel.

I like the fact that they don't downplay the chilli too much for the farang. I had a coconut curry with veg and tofu - it had a good kick to it and was very tasty. The option of delicious brown rice.

The tempura was light and crisp and had spinach as well as the usual veg. The peanut dipping sauce was devine and the portion size was good too.

I plan to do Mays cooking course when I pass through Bangkok in a couple of months time. She also has a good Thai vegetarian cookery book.

Lucylu

Points +377

Vegan
19 Jul 2009

Worth it if in the area

This is a useful place if you're in the Thanon Khao San area anyway. The food is pretty tasty and you can get the more healthy options like brown rice which makes a nice change!

The staff are friendly and the menu is extensive. The Green Thai curry is tasty especially if you ask to have cashew nuts added to it like I did.

If you ask Mai, you can get some take away curry paste and such things so you can continue to enjoy the food at home or on your onwards journey!

Pros: Friendly staff, extensive menu

eric

04 Dec 2009

Lucylu, you wrote a very positive review, so why only 3 cows?!

Rawmodel

Points +20

Raw
11 Feb 2009

Good spot close to Khao San Rd...

The food was not bad...a bit oily though. I wish the Thai vegetarian community would wake up about having some fresh salads. Lots of tofu and rice. Even a fresh coconut would be a plus. All in all though, I would go back. Their desserts were good too. About $3 for a plate. Two people should expect to pay about $8 with drinks.

The location is right off an alleyway, take your two lefts after walking out of the east side of khao san.

Pros: Location, price

Cons: oily, no greens

JohnnySensible

Points +7596

Herbivore
20 Aug 2008

"Best in Bangkok - the 3 May Kaidee's"

May Kaidee now has 3 locations in Bangkok.

The team have been providing incredibly tasty veggy food to myself & to so many of my friends for almost 20 years now.

Usually excellent!

Always best if May is there herself!

If you have a free half day join one of May's cookery classes & buy a cookbook.

Many organic ingredients.

98% vegan - cooked dishes are vegan - yoghurt is offered with a muesli.

More here - www.khaosanroad.com/may_kaidee_veggie_power_vegetarian.htm

amonroea

Points +20

Vegan
19 Mar 2008

Good food but slow service!

The fried rice was great, but I'm note a fan of 'fake meat' which was prevalent in the dishes. They have brown rice, which was a plus. My major qualm was the incredibly SLOW service, but they were friendly. Also, despite it's VEGAN status on this website, they actually serve some dairy products.




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