As mentioned before, this was one of the main questions I have been asked since going to Japan, so I thought I’d put a post together with some recommendations.
Lots of places tended to be independent and would have small menus, and items would run out during the day so they would put a “sold out” sign over that item on the menu. We tended to go to mainly vegan places, but we also visited some places that had clearly marked vegan options on the menu, and these places I had seen on You Tube videos or recommendations elsewhere. I would not want to rock up to any restaurant and expect there to be a vegan option (or even vegetarian) but if you are prepared it will be fine.
I had researched convenience stores beforehand, and they were meant to have some vegan options, but even though we went to one Natural Lawson branch (meant to have more vegan options than typical ones) I couldn’t find anything apart from fresh fruit. I used google translate on my phone which was very helpful, but even things that you would assume to be vegan (eg Soy protein bars), some flavours would have dairy or other animal products so I just didn’t risk anything apart from fruit.
Starbucks ended up being a really good option for breakfast, lunch or snacks. They had clearly marked plant based items including a blueberry cream cheese bagel, a vegan cheese and tomato pizza bread slice, lemon cube cake, rice flour banana cake swirl and some crisps. Plus if you ordered alt milk you got a little receipt which said “soy milk” and you had to hand it to the server, and when your drink came it had a little sticker on it showing the type of milk- this really reassured me as I am always paranoid that I will be given the wrong type. We did bring with us cereal bars (I bought a lot of Clif bars from Food Circle Supermarket) and I bought some vegan croissants to take as I had read breakfast wasn’t really a thing, but we did get the blueberry bagel a few times.
Tokyo
We were in Tokyo for 5 days at the start of the holiday and then one afternoon at the end. We stayed in the Shibuya area which was fab for vegan options, but as we travelled around a bit to sightsee we also visited various other precincts. I’d made some notes of various places and had followed a few places on Instagram to keep up to date with menus and opening times and so on.
I was really keen to find a vegan version of the fruit and cream sandwiches that seem to be sold everywhere, and on our day in Asakusa we visited Hatoya’s Vegan Fruit Sandwiches- delicious! They did some fruit ones and a special with red bean paste (the little eyes in those – see below) so we shared one of each and from a person who is not a cream fan this was just perfect in the heat- a cool and creamy filling with fresh strawberries and other fruits. The bean paste was really good too.
Vegan fruit sandwich, falafel bowl, waffle fries and pecan pie from Falafel Bros.
Falafel brothers – a fully vegan place with several locations. They do falafels, pitta, salads, pizza and various desserts. The falafel was so light and crispy and delicious. We went to the one in the Parco shopping centre (also had the Nintendo store in it). The salad had different options, I think I had the Mediterranean one with pickles and various veggies in there too, as well as loads of hummus.
One day we went out to Team Lab Planets (an interactive art exhibition) and they had a vegan ramen place outside. It was so hot so in the end we just had some of their vegan matcha ice cream, but the ramen did look good.
Vegan matcha ice cream from the vegan ramen place, matcha latte and a plant based blueberry bagel from Starbucks.
Tokyo also had a branch of Island Vintage Coffee (which we loved when we were in Hawaii) so an acai bowl from there for breakfast one day was amazing.
Acai bowl, falafel bowl and soy matcha lattes with the cute soy milk sticker just about in the pic!
2 Foods- located inside Loft which is a department store. Fully vegan with Japanese foods like omurice (Japanese omlette rice using vegan egg, topped with tomato sauce), as well as burgers, vegan nuggets and doughnuts.
2 Foods nuggets, omurice and doughnuts
We had some vegan ramen from Jikasei Mensho in the Parco building. They did vegan as well as non-vegan, and they were very careful to point out it was soy meat when handing out the vegan ramen. It was tasty, but the meal was slightly spoilt by our phones going off with an “earthquake imminent” warning which made me have a bit of a panic attack.
Vegan ramen, more nuggets from 2 Foods, matcha from The Matcha Tokyo and lemon/ raspberry and pistachio doughnuts from 2 Foods.
The Matcha Tokyo had several branches and did plant milks for their lattes as well as selling a vegan matcha cookie – I tried it once and it was more like a biscuit, but it was tasty.
Ain Soph- vegan with a few branches across Japan- we went to the Kyoto one as well as the Tokyo one. Their fluffy Japanese pancakes were amazing, and we got to try karaage (a frying technique that is used for nuggets and things like that).
We had a fun hunt on our final day as I wanted to try melon bread and had seen that within a department store there was a bakery that did a vegan version. We hunted for a looooong time in the store but eventually found it! It was in the Shinjuku Isetan store in the basement, the stand was called Maison Landemaine Store.
Lemon pancakes, vegan nuggets from Ain Soph and the vegan melon bread.
En route to Kyoto we visited the Ghibli park. They shut at 5 so we only needed to get lunch, and the grand warehouse had a restaurant attached that did a few vegan sandwiches (clearly marked with allergens displayed)- we both had the avocado sandwich which was absolutely crammed with avocado and fresh tomato- delicious (see below).
Avocado sandwich and iced tea from Ghibli park, vegan matcha doughnut from Nicotto & Mam’s doughnut cafe, and the cute alt milk stickers from Starbucks plus the pot where they put your reciept once you collected your drink
Kyoto
Kyoto had a more alternative vibe than Tokyo and there were lots of little indie businesses. We went to the Ain Soph branch one day, and then discovered a few other gems including one of my favourite meals of the trip.
Gion Soy Milk Ramen Uno Yokiko was amazing. I had seen soy milk ramen on the internet and could not quite imagine how it would be, particularly as I’m not a big fan of white sauces. Anyway, this fully vegan place did amazing soy milk ramen. This was another day that we both overheated a bit, wandering around the Gion district of Kyoto where the buildings are all low (no shade) and open fronted (no A/C)- sitting in the cool and having salty flavourful broth with fresh veggies, tofu and gyoza was just heavenly. Also they did vegan matcha ice cream for dessert that came in little hedgehog dishes- the cutest!
Soy milk ramen and matcha ice cream
Burger and pancakes (shared for dessert) from the Kyoto Ain Soph.
Vegginy in Kyoto was another teeny place- it was in the basement of a building (there was a sign at street level) and it only had 4 tables. They were full so I had to message them on Instagram and they messaged back when there was a table free, so we had a nice wander around the nearby streets. There were two members of staff and we sat at the counter watching them prep the food, they did a couple of options, we both opted for the veggie and hummus sandwich which was totally stacked and full of delicious things like miso mushrooms, shredded veggies and loads of fresh hummus. They did a side of rosemary potatoes which were so much more than just that- there were three types of potatoes and the server explained to use each variety- they were crispy and salty and again just what you needed after sweating buckets!
Veggie sandwich and rosemary potatoes, the streets in Kyoto and the sign outside Vegginy
Osaka
We only had a few days in Osaka and one of those was at Universal.
Universal was pretty good with vegan options with a few clearly marked on their menus- they even had plant based butter beer! We had a salad with loads of fruit for lunch, and then a stew with veggies, salad and potatoes for dinner (just what you want in the heat!).
Stew, salad and plant based butterbeer at Universal
Osaka also had one of our most memorable meals. I was keen to try okonomiyaki which is a sort of frittata/pancake thing. Oko okonomiyaki made a vegan version so we sat outside in the queue, and once inside gave our order (you chose 5 vegetables to have with it) then went upstairs to find a table on one of several floors. We noticed a TV screen in the room and could see the person who had taken our order, now busy in the kitchen, and it then transpired that she was the single member of staff, letting in people in batches and then cooking their food. She would call out your number for you to come and collect, and then once she had cooked all the orders she’d let in another batch of people. It was pretty amazing. You could actually speak to her through a microphone in each room but we didn’t do that. Just watching her race around was exhausting but amazing and we could see why that food was a sort of post-drink favourite.
Okonomiyaki and gyoza
Canelita Sweets was another gem- a fully vegan bakery with not only delicious foods but cute foods too- carrot cake with little rabbits made of frosting… we may have visited there twice!
A few of the cakes from there
Things to look out for
A few general words of warning- I had read that Starbucks almond milk wasn’t vegan, so I stuck to soy milk (tried the oat milk once but the soy was nicer), and our first night in Osaka we got in late and were totally exhausted after being out in the heat all day, so Andy suggested McDonalds (which I do not think I have been to since our first trip to Florida in 2002!)- well I googled it and they use beef dripping so the fries aren’t vegan there. Luckily the hotel had a few bits in their chiller cabinet so I could have a little picnic in the room. Lots of the vending machines sold drinks and despite packing rehydration tabs, a few times we were out in the heat and wanted something. Pocari Sweat was vegan, but the version sold at Universal (I can’t remember the brand name) wasn’t, so always double check as animal products seem to make their way into lots of things you wouldn’t expect.
But, I totally loved Japan, we had the most delicious food and I would absolutely love to go again! If you are vegan (or veggie) do a bit of research first, use the Happy Cow app as well as searching google maps, and enjoy all the wonderful food.
Would you like to go to Japan? How do you go about finding places to eat when you are on holiday?
