Vegan Pizza & Bread at Dailycious Cafe

Really?  Vegan pizza?

Yes, really! I've ordered vegan pizza two times now at this cafe called Dailycious. The first time was a bit of an experiment, since "Vegan Pizza" is not actually on their menu. I asked if they could make the "Vegetable Pizza" without the cheese, and they said sure. I've been ordering pizza like this for a number of years now, in various cities and countries. Sometimes my request for "no cheese" gets interpreted as "vegetable pizza with cheese." Or sometimes the cheese is successfully left out, but then there's nothing added to replace it. This often yields a pizza that is either dry, lacking in flavor, or both. Fortunately, I was able to communicate clearly with the waitress here at Dailycious. And not only were they willing to venture off their menu to make a vegan pizza, but they were even kind enough to do half the pizza vegan, and half to my omnivore friend's request for cheese and other toppings.

So did Dailycious live up to its name? Yes it did. My half of the pie was topped with plenty of veggies, a sufficient amount of juicy tomato sauce, and some nice herbs and spices. But what stuck out the most, was the dough. It was fantastic.

So fantastic that I thought it might be flavored with parmesan or some kind of cheese. I actually didn't want to ask and find out, lest it ruin my pizza experience! But when I went to pay the bill, I chatted with the friendly owner a bit, complimented him on how delicious the pizza was, and then just asked. And what did he say the dough is made with? Just four ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt.  Azzahhh!  Just exactly how I make bread!  And then he told me the reason his dough tastes so great, something he does that other pizzerias in Chiang Mai do not: the dough is made onsite fresh daily, but before being baked, it's kept in the fridge for 24 hours.  This allows the yeast to go to work, some fermentation to happen, and a rich and hearty flavor to develop.  Simple. But brilliant. And not only is their pizza dough made in this fashion, but all their baked goods.

Once the owner told me about that, I decided to buy a loaf of bread (60 baht for vegan whole wheat bread!), and after I left the store, he ran after me to give me free bagels (contain honey)! Man, he knows how to create return customers!

Dailycious truly is a nice cafe. Good food and good ambiance. There's indoor and outdoor seating, very friendly waitstaff, and a whole menu of other food and drink options (including some vegan options, like hummus and pita, which tasted great as well).

Once I got home, I tried out the Dailycious bread, and it tasted as great as the pizza dough. I enjoyed it over the next few days in various ways, such as toasted and topped with these fine ingredients I got at an Organic Market (that I'll talk about in my next post!).

Avocado, cabbage, basil and parsley.

I made two open-face sandwiches with these ingredients.

Crispy toast, crisp cabbage, tender avocado, blasts of herbs, and some nutty ground flax seeds sprinkled on top. Looooved this open-face sandwich.
The next day I toned it down a bit, and just toasted the bread to have on the side of a suki-style veggie soup I made.

Warm soup, warm bread, and a cool fruit. Temperature cool yes, but cool-looking too! Yes, that's right. That scarlet-colored fruit you see in the background is indeed dragon fruit.

Mmmm, yes, one of Thailand's great tropical fruits. Beautiful and delicious. Which is to be expected here! But what you may not expect to find so easily in this country is great-tasting vegan pizza. But if you're craving it, here's how to find it:

Driving south from the southwest corner of the old city towards Central Airport Plaza Mall (Robinson), along Hang Dong Road, you'll see a sign for "NIM City Daily Plaza" on your left just before you get to the mall intersection. Go into this shopping plaza, and Dailycious will be the first shop on the right. There are some other restaurants and shops in this plaza, as well as Rinping Supermarket.

Dailycious Cafe
197 Nim City Daily Project, Mahidol Road
Tambon Hai-Ya
Chiang Mai, Thailand 50100

Phone: 083-321-3621