Convenience always seems to be an issue when eating out for vegans especially if you are new and inexperienced in this lifestyle. There is a very limited number of vegan restaurants in Malaysia compared to religion-based vegetarian restaurants (Buddhism & Hinduism) and nearly all of them are focusing on healthy organic diet, which means they can be really expensive. This situation often gives us a wrong impression that veganism is not economical because one meal can cost us at least RM20 while we can spend less than RM10 for a normal meal in a normal restaurant. I admit that I was pretty happy when I did online research about nearby vegan restaurants (couldn't believe that they actually exist!), but the prices on their menus are overwhelming. Another reason people think that vegan diet is costly is because even if a vegan meal has the same price as a meal with meat in it, the vegan meal is considered as not worthy because they are not willing to pay that much for a meal with only veggies in it.
One way to solve this problem is to look for normal restaurants with vegan options. Usually large international franchises such as Manhattan Fish Market and Morganfield's provide at least one vegan option in their menu (they are quite expensive too though), others such as Nando's and Subway provide vegetarian options. Even if there is no vegan option available (or if the manager does not even know what does vegan mean), don't fret! Vegetarian meals can be easily converted into vegan meals by requesting that you don't want egg and dairy (including cheese, cream and yogurt). No vegetarian option as well? Request one by asking politely whether they can prepare a simple vegetarian fried rice without egg, they might happily accept your request. Eating out as a vegan does not mean that you can only go to vegan restaurants, but you can eat smart by checking the ingredients with the waiter or waitress when ordering your food as there are often accidentally vegan meals available!
If going to a normal restaurant with vegan or vegetarian options is still too burdensome for you, you have one last resort, one that you do not have to pay anything in advance or to go through troublesome procedure - using the KindMeal.my application on your phone. You can just click the 'Get FREE Coupon' button and then show the e-coupon to the waiter or waitress to get discount for your cruelty-free meal without upfront payment as KindMeal.my does not charge customers any fee for providing the search and discount service *wink*. The best thing is, by sharing your coupon on social media, you double the discount to save more money!
Using KindMeal.my can be fun as there is a Superhero feature where you earn XP by using the coupons (and sharing them on social media), posting food porns that you recently had, getting know the hottest deals people have downloaded and sharing vegetarian or vegan recipes with others on KindMeal.my. Through the usage of this app, it calculates the lives you have saved through your diet and also the power level in order for your superhero to transform! Who doesn't love superhero minion here? Once in awhile there will be a lucky draw contest based on the XP you have collected, so start collecting now as you would not know when the lucky draw for iphone will come back!
I have been using KindMeal.my to download coupon whenever I have the chance to visit the collaborating restaurants or cafes but for now deals of KindMeal.my are mainly concentrating in KL. So if you are studying or living in KL, don't miss the chance to get awesome food with cheap prices (so that you can spend the saved money elsewhere, hehehe) while contributing to less suffering of animals! If you are worried whether the restaurants serve pork, alcohol, dairy or egg, everything is stated clearly on their profiles in the app. Everything is totally under control, all you have to do is go to KindMeal.my and start exploring!
[Disclaimer: This is not a paid promotion. I did this as an encouragement for people to try vegan or vegetarian meal with a discount and also benefit those who are already vegetarians or vegans!]