Vegetarian restaurant offering vegan dishes including banh mi, papaya salad, and vegan pho. Includes a small retail section offering condiments, accessories, clothing, and books for sale. NOTE: Navigation apps can sometimes get the location wrong. It is on the intersection between Hem 189 Cong Quynh and Hem 212B Nguyen Trai. Nearest major landmarks are the Cống Quỳnh traffic circle and Thái Bình Market. Open Mon-Sun 6:00am-9:00pm. Last order at 8:30pm.
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212B Nguyễn Trãi, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
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- Outdoor seating
- Cash only
- Free Wi-Fi
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Last update on 12 Oct 2024 by TheJoiFactory
Update business info -
Added by thecherryhoang on 17 Jan 2022
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32 Reviews
First Review by thecherryhoang
BarakCohen
Points +940
What u pay is what u get - Edit
Pretty good food tasty and good size
Read moreThe place is with AC nice background music and atmosphere. 3$ for nice 🍲
Pros: Tasty , With ac , Nice vibs
Cons: Waiter doesn't speak English , Bit pricey kambucha for 4$ ...
Guest
SudarshanMohta
Points +20
Vegan friendly - Edit
Staff. Ambience. Food. Warmth
Read moreGuest
dave-alter
Points +199
Nice and delicious - Edit
It was very busy, when I got there, but I still got a table. Lucky me! The noodle soup and the chocolate cake I had, were very delicious and the staff was friendly. I also liked the vibe and the music there, I would eat here again.
Read morePros: tasty, Friendly, Good vibes
Guest
Gemkvegan
Points +1891
Great place to hang, tasty food - Edit
This is a really big place with a cool vibe inside - good place to chill, do some work etc. They have an extensive menu with many vegan options. They even have some vegan sweet options. We ordered the chocolate babka and cinnamon walnut babka - would recommend the chocolate one. The bun dao nuac noodle dish (pictured) we really enjoyed, and it had generous pieces of tofu and spring roll in it.
Read moreGuest
sailorsteph87
Points +37
Nice little spot for a rest - Edit
This cafe is a little hidden place with good food and a pleasant ambiance. Despite the frequent visits (since it was close to our Airbnb), we found that many items were often sold out. The coffee and vegan pastries were very good. The drinks were refreshing, and the hot food was tasty, but rather small portions. However, some staff seemed less motivated, and the menu wasn't always correctly labeled. Overall, a nice spot for a meal with room for improvement in inventory and service consistency.
Read morePros: Coffee, Pastries, Ambiente
Cons: A lot of sold out items, Slow unmotivated staff, Small portions
Guest
yoshimango
Points +274
Nice vibe and food - Edit
the place, decor, art and overall environment is a niceee vibe, the best I’ve visited in saigon. all of the other vegan places I’ve been so far has been mom n pops/family restaurants, food stalls or places that just didn’t invest in decor and creating an aesthetic. this place won! i ordered the special of the day which was the curry with rice. when it came out the portion looked small but it ended up being more than enough. it was very tasty and the staff were very friendly, knowledgable and helpful. I would def return and recommend to my friends. I would also just hang out and cowork here it was that nice
Read morePros: vibe/aesthetic , food, service
TheJoiFactory
Thanks so much for the lovely review. Yes, we don’t advertise our space enough. But then again, we still don’t advertise the quality of our food enough. If you dive in a bit deeper, our food portion is very generous compared to typical portions in Vietnam. The ingredients that we used are fresh and without preservatives and/or food stabilizer/additives. The more someone knows about us, the more they’ll tend to come back. So thank you for the shoutout! 🙏🏼
Read moreGuest
NguyễnThịMỹTâm
Points +22
i will come back - Edit
The service here is very good, the food is quite suitable for my taste. I will come back
Read moreGuest
LIL_08
Points +181
Go here for a break from the big city! - Edit
I had the vegan banh mi and was very happy. They also have a vegan version of the famous Vietnam coffee! 10/10 and highly recommended 🌞
Read morePros: Outside sitting, Great service
Guest
Cha-Em
Points +3318
Lovely food, lovely space - Edit
It’s a shame we found this place only a couple of days before leaving HCMC because we would’ve happily spent a lot more time here. Its spacious layout and relaxed atmosphere makes for a great co-working space, with a large, bright upstairs area, plenty of desks, and a few sofas. The downstairs is dimly lit and cosy, with a range of tables, sofas, and floor seating, decorated with patterened cushions, plants, and a hammock in the corner.
Read moreAs for the food—wow! A mix of traditional Vietnamese and Western dishes, and creative fusions of the two, as well as a range of desserts offered in collaboration with local bakeries. We tried Rawberry’s tiny but delicious chocolate-covered ice cream, and a stunning sourdough banana bread from Sharon Artisan Bakery. That banana bread was so good we bought an entire loaf and ate half of it on the spot!
They offer several versions of pho. We tried almost all of them and it was some of the best we’ve had in Vietnam. We also tried a few different banh mi with their drink-combo deal, all of which were very tasty. The lemongrass and calamansi tea was fragrant and refreshing and the level of sweetness was spot-on. The coconut caramel coffee was like a dessert in a glass, made with creamy, frozen coconut milk and topped with syrup. I don’t typically drink coffee but still couldn’t resist getting one of these to share; a perfect accompaniment to that banana bread.
Our favourite dish has to be their Big Bite, a twist on the traditional banh mi, stuffed with rocket, red onion, fresh and sundried tomatoes, an incredible homemade cashew cheese, and topped with a balsamic glaze—all those delicious antipasto flavours we’ve been missing. We loved this sandwich so much we went back on our last day before heading to the airport and bought a few to take away!
This place would definitely deserve 5 stars if it was vegan, and I don’t understand why it’s not. Most of their menu is already plant-based and they have fantastic dairy alternatives. I’m sure a lot of vegans miss this place because they filter vegan-only options, which is what almost happened to us! They seem to profess an ethos of sustainabilty and ethics, which only makes sense if animal products are taken off the menu. Then The Joi Factory could live up to its name and be truly joyful!
UPDATE, May 2023:
A slightly disappointing revisit.
- Banana bread more expensive and was served stale
- Dry, bland babka
- Way too hot to work
- Ordered 2 Big Bite takeaway but only received 1
Updated from previous review on 2023-06-06
Pros: Delicious and unique food 👌, Great for remote working 👩💻, Big Bite sandwich 🥖
Cons: Not vegan 👎, Boiling hot 🥵
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for such a lovely review 🙏🏼🥰
Read moreGuest
PaulPrendergast
Points +16
Would definitely recommend! - Edit
Lovely find! Great food, staff and atmosphere. Fairly priced at around £2.50/£3.00 per dish
Read morePros: Great choice of dishes , Food is very healthy and tasty! , Atmosphere and staff are great
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for stopping by and we’re happy to know that you enjoyed your experience! 🙏🏼💚🥰
Read moreTeam Joi
Guest
Spinach24
Points +167
Good pastries, food is just "ok" - Edit
We were excited to try this place - the menu looked great and the vibe was very nice. We were impressed at the range of vegan pastries and tried the chocolate babka - it was delicious!
Read moreBut sadly the savory food and service was not very good. We tried the broken rice which was listed on HappyCow as a best seller, and got the combo with the papaya salad. The two dishes were not served together - it seemed like they forgot about the papaya salad until we asked about it. And the flavors were really off - only 1 or 2 of the sides for the broken rice were good, the meat was glazed with an overly sweet sauce, and the fried noodles had a very strange 'off' taste. The papaya salad was very tough and difficult to even eat, and the sauce tasted strongly of salty tamarind(?) which did not go with the papaya at all.
When we brought up our concerns to the waiter, he simply said it was because "we were not familiar with how the food should taste". I have eaten broken rice and papaya salad many times at Vietnamese restaurants, and they have all been way better than this.
So sadly we went away pretty disappointed.
Pros: Vegan Babka!, Large menu, Mostly vegan
Cons: Poor quality savory dishes, Communication issues with staff, Not fully vegan
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us and our apologies for any miscommunication that you might have had with our team. We absolutely agree with you on the sweetness of the tofu skin and we’ve often discussed this in our kitchen team meeting—this is definitely a southern local preference-broken rice leans sweet/savory—and some people would even say our sauce is not sweet enough. We’ll try to do a better job explaining this flavor preference to foreign guests.
Read moreWhile Cơm Tấm is our #1 best seller, we would actually recommend Phở as this dish would have more of that savory, not sweet flavor.
As for the papaya salad, we have two version, a Vietnamese version with mushroom jerky and a plain Thai version. The Vietnamese version is also a southern dish, leans towards a slightly sweeter tamarind taste, whereas the Thai version might have been more savory, more mashed.
With regards to our staff, most are still not able to communicate well in English, and that limited capability might have resulted in a limited explanation. Had we known, we would have definitely offered for you to try something else instead—the offer still stands of course, should you are still able to stop by.
In any case, we’re glad that you brought this up because while local guests rave about our Broken Rice, we should still explain the flavors a bit better for our foreign guests on our menu. So thank you for sharing this valuable perspective with us. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Sincerely,
Team Joi
Guest
TheJoiFactory
Points +207
For your boost of happiness 😋😋 - Edit
Traveling and choosing not to eat meat can be quite challenging, especially in a country like Vietnam, where thesre are just so many amazing dishes…but the plant-based versions are just nowhere near as good. That is until you’ve come to The Joi Factory. We’ve taken on the challenge to make the plant-based versions just as good and authentic to the traditional flavors if not better than most meat versions…and so far, local Vietnamese have agreed with us.
Read moreAt The Joi Factory, we can confidently say that we have the absolutely best plant-based Phở…but don’t take our words for it. 😅
Updated from previous review on 2023-05-15
Pros: Lots of famous Vietnamese dishes, all plant-based, Space is super cozy and comfortable-we live here, Right in the middle of the city, District 1
Cons: A bit of a long wait of Vegan Days (full/new moon, Address can be a bit confusing so be careful
TheJoiFactory
Seriously, if you love Phở, you have to try our vegan Phở. 😋😋
Read moreGuest
AmericanPhil
Points +242
Community and veg meet - Edit
Very spacious and air conditioned restaurant with a small shop of hand made items as well. There is clothing and other cute goods. The food is super good, traditional Vietnamese food but these is also other items such as vanilla caramel fudge and vegan twix or berries and white chocolate popsicles.
Read morePros: lots of vegan options, good prices, spacious
Cons: not all vegan
TheJoiFactory
Thanks Phil, for a very supportive review. We’re doing our best to have as much of our menu plant-based as possible, while also giving some options for people who are still okay with eating eggs and dairy. Basically, our goal would be a 100% plant-based menu with eggs and dairy available upon request. 🙏🏼💚
Read moreGuest
LauraPapov
Points +350
Amazing 🤩 - Edit
Lots of options and really nice food, the desserts and mini bakery display at the counter was all really delicious 😋
Read moreTheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for the lovely review! We’re also pet friendly just in case 😅 And we’re still working on a number of special dishes on top of the current menu…can’t wait to launch them! Hope to see you back. 🙏🏼💚🥰
Read moreGuest
MatthewBartlett
Points +209
Atmospheric spacious nice vibe,tasty food,mostly Vegan - Edit
Comfortable seating,low lighting,music,lots of space,friendly staff,tasty menu vegetarian mostly vegan
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2023-02-18
Pros: Good food very tasty , Lovely atmosphere , Unrushed, spacious and comfortable
TheJoiFactory
Thanks Matthew! A lot of people don’t expect that we have such an open and comfortable space inside when looking in from outside. Really glad that you got to enjoy the food as well as our space. 🙏🏼💚🥰
Read moreGuest
Emi923
Points +109
Best Babka - Edit
So we went to this cafe to do a little work in between. They have a nice vibe, upstairs more airy, downstairs a little more cozy and with a stage for live music in the evenings (we came for lunch and sat on the stage instead).
Read moreThe food was good but I would really recommend to try the sweet stuff! They have *tiny* but also really massive little ice cream bars - extremely good - but I even more enjoyed the piece of walnut cinnamon babka (more like a cinnamon roll if you ask me)! The smoothies are also recommendable
Updated from previous review on 2023-02-22
Pros: Really good pastries/ice cream, Good place to work
Cons: On the expensive side
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for recommending Joi space and our sweets 🙏🏼🥰💚
Read moreWe notice that a number of reviews, including yours, mentioned that our price is a bit more on the pricier side. So at the risk of sounding defensive, we want to share a little bit as to our approach 🙏🏼💚
We believe in operating a socially responsible business, from Christina’s to Onetrip to The Joi Factory, which entails paying people properly, sourcing high quality, fresh ingredients, reducing our plastic waste as much as running an F&B business allows, and creating as comfortable a space as possible for our guests…while targeting a reasonable profit margin—we consider all these factors when it comes to setting prices for our food.
And here’s the thing that most people don’t know…our margin is lower than most comparable f&b businesses that we know, simply due to the quality of food that we strive to provide to our guests. For example, we are willing to make vegan milktea with ingredient costs at 40K to sell at 68K…similar beverages would require cost at 5-10K only in order to sell at 50-70K. After labor, utilities, etc, that milktea is a money losing business, but we still make it to provide options for our guests to be healthier.
The cakes and pastries mentioned in this review, are actually a result of us working with our suppliers (Rawberry and Sharon, check them out) to reduce the price as low as they are willing to make them, and we also take on a much lower margin to sell them because we want our guests to have what we believe are some of the best vegan cakes available at this price in Saigon.
At Joi, we believe in providing our guests with the best experience at a reasonable price rather than reducing quality, service, or comfortable space, or all 3…in order to have a big profit.
We understand this may come off as being defensive, and it technically is defensive and we hope you can excuse us for that. However, we just thought that this is 5 star review…we’re happy, you, the guest, were happy, so it might be a good place for us to share our point of view for when guests consider our prices versus the value that we provide. 😅🙏🏼
Again, this is all from our hearts and thank you so much for recommending us and also for giving us an opportunity to explain a bit more as to how we operate…and we hope to see you around for many more times, hopefully unbothered by this long comment. Thank you 😅🙏🏼
Guest
isakl
Points +351
All about the atmosphere! - Edit
Place has a lovely atmosphere with tons of seating and people working/studying. You can rent a small conference room. Complimentary cold water is a big plus!
Read moreWe came for dinner and enjoyed the meal! We had two Bun rieu and shared a banh mi. The bun rieu was really tasty, only a pinch of salt short of perfection.
The banh mi was one of our least favourite of the trip unfortunately, with nothing obviously wrong, just lacking in flavour and filling.
We also ordered a vegan twix bar without seeing the price (75K!!!)
Super tasty, but nothing remotely close to a twix as I remember it haha.
Staff was young, friendly, and helpful, although a little bit unattentive.
Spoke good english!
All in all a very tasty and good place, the price brings it down though.
More angled towards digital nomads than backpackers :-)
Came to 300K (no drinks, after VAT included)
Pros: Atmosphere, Bun rieu
Cons: Price, banh mi
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for your thorough review. We’re glad you got to enjoy our Bún Riêu, literally the first food dish that we launched at Joi and remained a top-3 favorite among our guests.
Read moreAs for our space, we hope to make it as comfortable for locals, travelers, and digital nomads alike and we’re happy that you noticed the atmosphere. 🙏🏼💚
Guest
mhector513
Points +118
Worth it - Edit
The atmosphere is very relaxing. The food was on point. I wanted to take a picture but got to caught up in eating. 🤷🏾♂️
Read moreTheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for your support and we are even more glad you were able to enjoy our food without disruption 🙏🏼😅💚
Read moreGuest
nomeatnomad
Points +4795
Relaxing, comfortable, and really good food - Edit
I came here many times during my stay in Saigon.
Read moreThe restaurant is huge, spanning two floors, and has several sofas, so I enjoyed coming here with a book, as it was a peaceful and comfortable place to get some good food and relax for a while.
The menu is pretty big, has pictures for every item, is translated into English, and all the vegan items (the majority of the menu) are clearly marked. The staff all speak very good English, so ordering is no problem.
All the food that I had here was really high quality, and it's one of the few places I found that did healthy fruit smoothies. I really recommend it.
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for your kind review and we’re glad that you enjoyed our smoothies, which are 100% natural with no additives, including sugar—it’s all fruits and veggies. 🙏🏼💚🥰
Read moreAnd we are still working on adding some more specials to our menu 😅
Guest
Selina_nsw
Points +3669
So many good options - Edit
The menu is really big so everyone can find something what they like. We love Pho so that's what we ordered. I chose the more traditional one while my boyfriend decided to try one with a more tamoto based broth. Both of us absolutely loved them. Lots of veggies and tofu in there and they bring you a plate of greens and sprouts to add to the soup if you want.
Read moreAlso the salad rolls are so good!
Prices are a bit expensive. #Veganuary
TheJoiFactory
Hi Selina - Thank you so much for your review. Phở and Bún Riêu are two of our top selling noodle soups of all time so you definitely got what you came for. Next time give our Broken Rice (Cơm Tấm) a try…it’s THE best seller out of all of our dishes. 😊💚
Read moreGuest
alphil
Points +429
Coolest spot in Ho Chi Minh - Edit
This place has a huge choice of vegan (and vegetarian) options. I tried the banh mi, the vegan bún bì and a vegan twix - all really nice. My partner loved the pesto spaghetti. This is a great place to chill out, and we also used it to do a bit of work while on our travels. The atmosphere is nice and there's plenty of space with different kinds of seating. Staff were friendly and kept topping up our water. 5 stars, highly recommended.
Read morePros: Nice atmosphere, So much choice, Great food
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for noticing all the little things that our team tries to do. We still have a lot to improve but the team is definitely doing our best and appreciates it very much when guests notice our effort. Thank you! 🙏🏼🥰💚
Read moreGuest
Supermoni5789
Points +123
A lot of options and a smooth digital order process - Edit
We had the Papaya salad, the fresh spring rolls and two types of Bun with tofu and spring roles. Everything was delicious and the place is very nice and clean.
Read moreMaybe not the most authentic Vietnamese food, but a save and very affordable betp
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for your lovely review.
Read moreJust by way of background, our restaurant got started during Covid, and so we were able to focus on launching one dish at a time, picking the most famous Vietnamese dishes from across different regions of the country that local Vietnamese and travelers love alike, and making the best possible plant-based versions for them…and many locals are very surprised that we can make these dishes to reflect the traditional versions so well without meat.
In the process, we also added a number of international dishes that we love to eat and we made sure to adjust the flavor so that local Vietnamese would love since we only had Vietnamese guests. But since many of us also traveled and lived abroad, we also have a sense of what travelers would enjoy…and we try to incorporate the best of what we think everyone would love.
And so we definitely took some liberty when building up our menu and we’re glad that you picked up the differences 😅
Our goal is to take the best flavors of Vietnam, and make the best possible plant-based versions while also making sure it’s as clean and as healthy as possible, and we’re really happy that you enjoyed them
🥳💚🙏🏼
Guest
RisBurton
Points +1042
Nice, Cozy and off the Beaten Path - Edit
This place is cozy, out of the way, but a gem 💎 ✨️
Read moreIf you come to HCMC/Saigon, you have to come here. Tell your family and friends about it, and they will thank you for it.
Apparently, if you go at night, the area is a little suspect. I want to go at night just to see. Let me know, please 🙏 #Veganuary
Pros: Service was outstanding , All the floors have different types of seating 💺 , Food is good
Cons: Let me think 🤔
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for your lovely review and the photos. There’s still so much to do to make this place awesome for locals and travelers alike. Really glad you enjoyed our food 🙏🏼💚🥰
Read moreGuest
ChristinavonWinter
Points +273
Really liked it - Edit
Great menu, Nice place! A lot of clearly labelled vegan options
Read morePros: Clear labelled vegan, A lot of options , Nice place
Cons: Nothing
TheJoiFactory
Thank you so much for stopping by! We’re still working on the menu but happy to see that the layout is helpful 🙏🏼💚
Read moreGuest
GraceLee15
Points +68
Great spot - Edit
Our first eatery in vietnam! Friendly staff who spoke English, tried the vegan banh mi and Vietnamese black ice coffee
Read moreTheJoiFactory
Thanks Grace! Our Bánh Mì Bì is a very fortunate accident, unplanned yet turned out to surprise a lot of people. 😅
Read moreGuest
ConstanzeMo
Points +201
Yum & Comfy - Edit
We've been here several times.. for tea and cake, dinner , breakfast, lunch haha tried almost the entire menu. Such a lovely place - you will feel welcomed and comfortable right away.
Read moreMust Try: the vegan Pho 😍
Updated from previous review on 2022-11-23
TheJoiFactory
We hope you already signed up for our free membership to accumulate points 😅 Also, we just added Phở Trộn and Cơm Lúc Lắc…make sure to try soon and let us know what you think. 🥰💚
Read moreGuest
Kukurumka
Points +2718
Decent delivery - Edit
Rice is plain and rolls were not very good, dumplings are great, the sauce is spicy tho!
Read morePros: They use environment friendly packaging , Preparing fast for delivery
Cons: Spicy, food is plain
TheJoiFactory
Oh no, these are two of our guests’ most favorite (the sauce plays a major role though, we’re wondering if you weren’t able to use our sauce since it might have some chilis on them) 😢
Read moreGlad you enjoy the dumpling though.
But since our dumpling sauce tends to be a lighter flavor, we’re wondering if there are any mix-up with the sauces.
We’re happy to replace Cơm Tấm and Bì Cuốn for you if you want to retry them—we’ll make sure to have everything without chilis. Simply let our team know about this comment when you re-order.
Thank your for letting us know and for your support 🙏🏼💚
Guest
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