photo by Stacy Spensley
In Europe or North America, it is common that eateries have vegan or gluten free meals on their menus in addition to ordinary meals, therefore there is no problem for vegetarians to eat out. In Japan, on the other hand, being a vegetarian can be very inconvenient, especially when eating out, because even eateries that provide Japanese food often use fish broth in their food which is not suitable for vegetarians. But, thanks to the increasing popularity of healthy lifestyle, the number of eateries that serve natural food with organic ingredients and vegetarian restaurants is increasing. Especially in Tokyo, the largest city in Japan, there are so many types of vegetarian restaurants and eateries. This column will introduce popular vegetarian restaurants in Tokyo.
Café Today is my life!
“Café Today is my life!” is located in Takadanobanaa, Shinjuku. The owners o who have traveled around the world opened this unique café to provide ethnic food they loved while they were traveling, by using fresh organic vegetables. Their menu includes entrée, mains and a la carte from all over the world. Also, there are rare alcohol drinks such as beer, cocktails and wines of the world. They have a little number of non-vegetarian food, but the majority is for vegetarians and vegans. The owners still regularly set off on a journey, and notify customers of their closure schedule on their website.
Café Today is my life!
Address: 2-12-5 Takadanobaba Shinjuku-Ku Tokyo
Access: 5 Minutes’ walk from “Shinjuku” station of JR, Seibu Shinjuku Line and Tokyo Metro Tozai Line
TEL: 03-6265-9482
Trading hours: Tue-Fri 17:30-23:00, Sat & Sun 12:00-23:00 (Mon closed, also closed while owners are traveling)
AIN SOPH. Ripple
AIN SOPH. Ripple, a vegan burger shop in the central Tokyo, Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku. Everything on their menu list including side menus is vegan recipe, such as vegan patties and soy chicken, so that all type of vegetarians and non-vegetarians can enjoy their meals. There are four kinds burgers, burrito, salad and soup in addition to French fries that can’t be missed when having a burger. This place is located just a minute walk distance from Seibu Shinjuku station, so you can hop in whenever you go out to the city.
AIN SOPH. Ripple
Address: 1F, 2-46-8 Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Access: 1 minute walk from “Shinjuku” station of Seibu Line, 7 minutes’ walk from JR “Shin-okubo” or “Okubo” station, 10 minutes’ walk from JR “Shinjuku” station
TEL: 03-6380-3205
Trading hours: Mon-Sat 11:00-21:30, Sun & Public holiday 11:00～20:30
T’s Tantan
T’s Tantan is one of the vegetarian eateries run by T’s Restaurant Group, a vegetarian restaurant chain. Normally, rich animal-based soup stock is used for ramen noodles, however, in this shop, ramen noodles such as Dandan noodles, Tonkotsu ramen or soy sauce ramen noodles are made with no animal-based ingredients, that means no meat, fish, dairy or eggs. Of course, they have dumplings, a must-have side dish when having ramen noodles. In addition to the shop in Tokyo station Ecute Keiyo Street, there is another shop in Ueno. Also, they have a shop in the terminal 2 of Narita airport.
T’s Tantan (Ecute Keiyo Street)
Address: (in Ecute Keiyo Street) 1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
TEL:03-3218-8040
Trading hours: 7:00～23:00
Cantonese “En” Ken Takase
Inside Tokyo Station Hotel which is attached to Tokyo railway station, this Chinese restaurant has a classy atmosphere while many other vegetarian eateries take casual café or delicatessen style. Their aim is to provide healthy Chinese dishes with plenty of vegetables in accordance with their philosophy that follows the traditional Chinese principle “a balanced diet leads to a healthy body”. Their menu includes dishes that use animal-based ingredients, however, there are vegetarian course menu in both lunch and dinner time. This is an ideal restaurant for vegetarians and non-vegetarians have a meal together.
Cantonese “En” Ken Takase
Address: (in Tokyo Station Hotel) 1-9-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Access: Located in Tokyo Station Hotel B1F, take a elevator from the sub-entrance
TEL: 03-5220-1111
Trading hours: Mon – Fri Lunch 11:30 – 14:30, Sat, Sun & Public holiday Lunch 11:30 – 15:00, Dinner 17:30 – 22:30
Nataraj Shibuya
In Japan, “curry” normally means a dish that is a few vegetables and meat cooked in thick curry sauce, served with steamed rice. In Japan, you would have this type of curry, which is far away from vegetarianism, in most of curry shops or any eateries that serves curry. But in India, the land of origin of curry where 40% of its population is vegetarians, vegetarian curry is quite common food. Nataraj is the first vegetarian curry shop in Japan. They have more than 20 kinds of curry dishes regularly, in addition to entrée, desserts and drinks. Other than this Shibuya shop, there are three more Nataraj shops within Tokyo, in Ginza, Harajuku and Ogikubo.
Nataraj
Address: 3F, 1-22-7 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku Tokyo
Access: 3 minutes’ walk from “Shibuya” station of JR and Keio Inokashira Line
TEL: 03-6416-9022
Trading hours: 11:30 – 23:00 (Closed New Year holiday season)
Bon Appétit!
Vegetarian diet is attracting more attentions lately in Japan. Vegetarian eateries are not just for vegetarian people, but they are also beneficial for people who want to eat more vegetables, or who want to reduce calories in their diet. Here in Tokyo, there are many more vegetarian eateries than other cities: some serves only vegetarian dishes while others have both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. Also, there are some franchised group of vegetarian restaurants that have shops in Tokyo station and Narita Airport.
Related Article:
Good food makes healthy body! Vegetarian restaurants in Osaka
