Salinda Resort Phu Quoc

Salinda Resort opened in 2015 on a prime beachfront location just a short transfer from Phu Quoc airport. Offering guests 121 rooms and villas to select from, this luxury resort also boasts a large pool, private beach and spa. Phu Quoc is known as ‘The Pearl Island of Asia’ and is surrounded by stunning beaches and crystal clear oceans, this fast growing tourist destination is easily reached from mainland Vietnam and Salinda Resort is a great option when heading to this tropical island.

Our Garden Villa was large and well apppointed with spacious seating area, free standing bath tub and a huge and super comfortable bed; the secluded garden was the perfect spot to enjoy an early morning coffee courtesy of the in room espresso machine. Upon arrival we enjoyed a platter of vegan snacks and were able to select a lovely bottle of vegan friendly Cabernet Sauvignon which made for the perfect check in experience.

The Vegan Food

With 4 restaurants on site, each with their own unique style and culinary offering, guests certainly won’t go hungry at Salinda Resort. The eponymous Salinda Restaurant serves a buffet breakfast and à la carte Vietnamese cuisine in the evening and Casa Italiana or Namaste India also serve dinner. During the day Cyan By The Pool offers a variety of options including salads, paninis and burgers. Every menu has clearly marked vegetarian and dairy free options, the staff we encountered had a good understanding of veganism and were happy to adapt dishes where required to ensure they were vegan. Our favourite however, was Salinda Restaurant as there was a separate vegetarian menu with traditional Vietnamese vegetarian food, most of which was vegan.

You know you’re holiday when you’re offered organic vegan sparkling wine as you take your table for breakfast. But just so you don’t get the wrong impression of us, we also enjoyed the choice of tea, coffee and fresh juices that were available at Salinda Restaurant each morning. The staff were really helpful in answering questions about what we could eat from the extensive buffet including fruit, toast (with vegan butter) and a selection of salad; they were also happy to prepare extra dishes upon request that were vegan.

Enter fresh spring rolls, vegan sushi and a selection of Vietnamese style dim sum made with big fat rice noodle squares stuffed with yellow mung beans, tofu and fried scallions and served with a herb salad. The Vietnamese make the best fresh spring rolls in the world and these were certainly no exception. Vegetables, fresh herbs, rice noodles, fried julienned taro which had a great chewy texture and strips of fried tofu with a simple chilli garlic dipping sauce. We could eat these spring rolls for all of eternity and never get tired of them. Then there were the pancakes. Yup. Big fluffy vegan pancakes with a whole array of sauces like raspberry, strawberry, mango and cholocate plus fruit compotes and even vegan treacle. Topped with banana and roasted cashews and we were in pancake heaven.

Lunch at Cyan By The Pool included a fresh and healthy green mango salad, matchsticks of sour green mango tossed with slivers of fresh mild chilli, fresh herbs and garlic and toasted peanuts. Rest assured, sandwiches can be veganised like our ‘club sandwich’ filled with salad leaves and basil pesto on focaccia coloured with carrot juice. Or choose a ratatouille filled wrap served with a side of fries and dressed salad leaves. The fact that our vegan lunch was served adjacent to the inviting pool with the ocean just beyond means we can wholeheartedly say that fellow food loving vegans would be very much at home here.

Dinner at Salinda Restaurant was a feast of beautifully presented Vietnamese food from around the country, also featuring traditional Buddhist cuisine. A vegan version of Hanoi’s famous ‘cha cala vong’ with tofu which had been marinated in a a generous amount of garlic, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, served with white rice noodles and heaps of dill on top. There were sour notes, perfumed tones, juicy tofu fillets and then the slippery noodles which were covered in all the herbs and spices and some crushed peanuts to boot. Our vegan feast also included banh xeo stuffed with slices of tofu in a light sauce, served with fresh pickles of cucumber, carrot and lotus stem, a banana blossom salad and fresh spring rolls full of rice noodles.

It was a dinner where the humble lotus seed was king; dishes including ‘Sacred Lotus Rice’ were full of this delicious nutritional powerhouse ingredient. This tiny seed resembles a tiny nutty potato when cooked but has excellent nutritional benefits. After we were too full to keep eating we still picked out all of those yummy lotus seeds because they were too good to leave! There was also a ‘Mixed Mushroom Delight’ with ginger and lemongrass flavours and a rich soy based sauce with a spicy peppery kick, served with red rice and pickles; delicious.

The Vegan Essentials

Guests can enjoy feather free pillows and a selection of vegan lemongrass bathroom amenities in planet saving ceramic containers in all rooms. The villas and the spa offer upscale Thann amenities which are also vegan friendly. Throughout the resort there are no single use plastic straws, with a selection of bamboo and reusable plastic alternatives available. Even the pens in your room are made from recycled paper and contain a seed that you can take home and plant, another nice touch that we loved from Salinda Resort.

The Vegan Food Quest Verdict

We were encouraged by the planet friendly initiatives at Salinda Resort including no single use plastic bottles or straws and we also enjoyed the fact there were exisiting and clearly marked veggie options on the menus. This combined with a friendly staff team who were keen to please ensured we had a wonderful time during our stay. Do not miss out on a vegan Vietnamese feast at Salinda Restaurant as it was a truly memorable highlight of our visit to Phu Quoc.

We were guests of Salinda Resort Phu Quoc but please rest assured that their generosity in hosting us didn’t influence our views.

Salinda Resort Phu Quoc
Cua Lap Hamlet
Phu Quoc Island
Vietnam

Telephone: +84 297 399 0011
Email: contact@salindaresort.com
Cost From: £200 / $260 (Nov 2018)

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