One of the veg ‘supermarkets’ along Charoen Krung Soi 16 offers a wide variety of vegetarian goods

Open only four months, Im Bun (Full of Merit) is as clean and bright as Suki but has a more modest menu and is slightly cheaper. While the setting is Chinese, the menu is a fusion of Chinese and Thai, with meat substitute yum salads, fried rice, vegetable stir fries and curries, all in the 35-50 Baht range. Im Bun's supermarket is extensive, with dry goods, frozen ‘meat’ and everything from herbal shampoos to passion fruit jam to garlic capsules. Just a few doors down is Veggie House (known as "Ob Oon" in Thai), one of the pioneers of the Bangkok vegetarian scene. While the food is good and the prices reasonable at 40-60 Baht, the darkish interior is ready for refurbishing and the supermarket crowded with cardboard boxes detract from the dining experience. Finally, tucked into a mini-soi just down Sukhumvit from Soi 26, Kwan Imm Jae is hard to find but worth the effort. The menu has a good selection of delicious Chinese food, especially their mock fish dishes (60-100 Baht / US$1.50 - 2.50) and steamed buns (12 Baht).

Look for this sign on the wall or the beautiful Hindu temple that towers above it

India rivals China for the world's strongest vegetarian tradition. Most Indian restaurants in Bangkok offer meatless dishes but purists should note that there are also several all-veg Indian outlets. As shown by the crowd of Hindi speakers at mealtimes, Yogi restaurant serves tasty and authentic Indian fare. This unpretentious shop-house, almost under the expressway at Surawong Road, is worth finding for the great food and value; 30 Baht for smaller dishes and 50-60 Baht for larger meals.

Down the street from Silom's Hindu temple, Chennai has a homey atmosphere (Hindu decor shares the walls with cutesy baby posters) and basic southern Indian fare. The chalkboard menu lists just a few dishes: various forms of iddly, medhu vadi and dosai, most in the 30-40 Baht range. The specialty is a sampler plate with eight small cups of various dishes, rice, roti, chapati and, no Indian meal is complete without one, a banana.

Pahurat, Bangkok's ‘Little India’, has a number of Indian restaurants, including the all-veg Singh restaurant. Singh is a small but air-conditioned shop-house offering rotis for 3 Baht, alu dishes at 20 Baht, and other dishes from 60-70 Baht; as well as Hindi movies on video. Singh is located in a small soi across from ATM Department store.

The Vegetarian Cottage: it’s as if you’ve walked out of Bangkok and into a B&B somewhere in England

Although limited, western food can also be had in meatless settings. The aforementioned Seventh Day Adventist Hospital cafeteria offers western-style salads and sometimes, though irregularly, includes dishes such as mashed potatoes and lasagne among its buffet choices. Both Govinda and The Vegetarian Cottage are very western and completely meatless. Walking into the latter is like entering the restaurant of an English countryside bed and breakfast. The cosy foyer is complete with (fake burning) fireplace and the dining area, done in generous yet tasteful decor, looks out onto a lovely garden. The menu features such meat extravaganzas as grilled pork with mushroom sauce, roast beef with red wine sauce and spaghetti bolognese, for 110-130 Baht (US$2.75 - 3.25). Thai curries and yums (noodle salads) are also available at 90-110 Baht (US$2.25 - 2.75). While the meatless roast beef won't fool a committed carnivore (it's just not that easy to roast tofu), the wine sauce was superb and the meal was a great break from the monotony of stir-fried vegetables over rice.

The menu, decor and atmosphere at Govinda is like that of any other nice Italian ristorante but the fare is all vegetarian. While the food is definitely good, it tends toward the bland side: the pizza Napoli, featured on the menu with tomatoes, capers and olives, tasted like a very good but plain pizza. Likewise, the sun-dried tomatoes in the conchiglie al broccoli lacked their characteristic zing; the dish was a perfectly good but, ultimately, a plain pasta dish. Some dishes are a better value than others as the prices here are a little high by Bangkok standards (150-200 Baht/ US$ 3.75 - 5.00). If you’re really hungry, the calzone is tasty and large!

From fishballs to sausages, there are meat substitutes readily available throughout Bangkok

Purists may not approve but you can enjoy good vegetarian meals in restaurants that also cater to meat-eaters. The Atlanta Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 2 boasts the largest selection of Thai vegetarian dishes in the world: everything from veggie masaman curry to mock meat versions of Thai drinking snacks such as fried pork and beef medallions. Most dishes are in the 45-65 Baht range. The restaurant of Shanti Lodge in Thewet has a lovely setting and a good mix of Thai and western dishes, both meat and meatless, from 40-70 Baht.

Whole Earth is often mentioned in this category but vegetarians might be disappointed with the basic veg offerings, especially compared with the myriad of meat options on the menu. The prices are higher than most, veggie dishes at 100-112 Baht (US$2.50 - 2.80) and meat dishes at 118-177 Baht (US$3 - 4.50), but the decor is elegant, especially at the Sukhumvit branch.

May Kai Dee is casual, friendly and has great food

Beyond the restaurants mentioned here and in our directory listings, many eateries throughout the city are happy to make you a veggie variation of their regular menu items. One word of caution, the Thai word for meat and beef is neua. If you simply say "mai ao neau" (don’t want meat) you might get pork or chicken. Best to clarify that you don’t want moo (pork) and gai (chicken) as well (many Thais don’t eat beef but do eat pork and chicken, hence the confusion).