IC
Irene Coker
Aug 30, 2026
We really wanted to love this place
We stopped at Van Hanh Vegetarian Restaurant while traveling through Oregon after three days of camping at Mount Rainier. As a vegan family, finding good plant-based food while traveling can be difficult, and we were hungry and genuinely excited to eat here. We had originally hoped to return to Yuan Su Vegetarian, which we’ve visited before and absolutely loved, but it was closed, so we decided to try Van Hanh.
Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing.
The restaurant seemed to be run by only a couple of people, with one person trying to take dine-in orders, handle takeout/online orders, and serve the tables. We were told from the beginning that the food would take a while, and we were completely fine with that. We were camping, not in a rush, and mostly just happy to find vegan food.
The bigger problem was the ordering process and lack of attention. We tried asking questions about the menu, but it was difficult to get help. At one point, two bowls of soup were brought out even though we had ordered only one. When we explained this, we were basically told it was too late. Since we were hungry, we accepted both bowls and shared them.
Then the dishes started arriving one at a time—our starters, Enzi’s food, Eli’s vegan orange chicken, my vegan fish with broccoli—but Eric’s lemongrass chicken never came. When we finally asked about it, we were told it had never been ordered.
Clearly there had been mistakes during the ordering process, but that was exactly why we had been trying to ask questions and confirm things in the first place.
We spent more than $100 on the meal, so this wasn’t an inexpensive quick stop for our family. There was also a fly around our table, and from what we could see, the kitchen/restaurant environment did not appear particularly clean. That added to the disappointment.
As for the food, the soup was decent and some dishes were okay, but overall I personally did not understand the very high ratings. I’m Ugandan, and I have lived and traveled in different places, so perhaps my expectations are different. People sometimes use terms like “first world” and “developing world,” but when it comes to hospitality and restaurant service, the service I have experienced in Uganda can feel far more “first world” than what we experienced hereand in the USA in general always poot service. After living in Vancouver, BC for four years, I may also have become accustomed to a different standard of service which is a little better. For me, neither the food nor the service lived up to the enthusiasm reflected in the reviews.
That said, this is simply our family’s experience on this particular visit. They appeared understaffed and overwhelmed, and perhaps we caught them on a particularly difficult day. It appeared to be one old lady in the kitchen and one man to the front.
My 10-year-old gave the experience 3.5 out of 5. I think that’s probably fair. I’m glad there are independent restaurants offering fully vegetarian/vegan food, and I genuinely wanted to love this one. Unfortunately, based on this visit, it wouldn’t be a place I’d rush back to.