13th March – 16th March 2023
Tokyo Station
1 Chome Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan
After getting the Narita Express from Narita International Airport, we had a look around the busy Tokyo station for snacks for our first Shinkansen to Tokyo. We found a variety of shops and stalls offering a range of food, in the Square Zero area on the 1st Floor. There was quite a lot to choose from and it was incredibly busy. We picked up a few items from the RF1 concession, with products from Rock Field Co. We found Avocado and Okinawa shima tofu Japanese style-salad and sweet potato. In a New Days outlet I also picked up some edamame beans, a Hokkaido Seaweed onigiri, we also picked up another rice ball in a rush, but used Google translate to discover it unfortunately contained bonito flakes.
*Side note – for this reason – we would highly recommend getting pocket wifi, it allowed us to use Google Translate in shops to check ingredients of various items. It can be funny sometimes, but seemed to be extremely adept with Japanese. We paid 6327 yen (around €44.23) for our pocket wifi, ordered it online and picked it up from the post office in Narita International Airport. It was a small device that we charged up and could both connect to. It was for 13 days, and charged via USB C. We went for a pocket wifi over SIM cards so that we could both use it, it gave us 100GB and we never had a problem with it getting signal. We used CD Japan Softbank Wifi, it worked very well for us.
So off we went to find our first Shinkansen – Hikari 509 – the 11:03 to Kyoto and we arrived into Kyoto at 13:37.
There were lots of vegan options in Kyoto, we were limited with time as we were only in Kyoto for 2 and a half days, but we still managed to find some incredible culinary experiences and options.
Clover Tei
Gionmachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0074, Japan
In the beautiful historic Hanamikoji Street, there are lots of eateries lining the streets, we spotted one advertising Vegetarian Set complete with tofu steak, vegetable tempura, Japanese pickles, salad and rice for ¥2780 – approx. €20.
It was delicious, with the tofu steak sizzling on a clay hot pot, complete with enoki, black trumpet and other mushrooms. The food was all very fresh and presented beautifully. I treated myself to a sake too.
Store next to Tofu Sancho, Arashiyama
Sagatenryuji Tateishicho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, 616-8375, Japan
On the busy pedestrianised street leading toward Arashiyama is a stall selling ice cream, kyuri asa-zuke – pickled cucumbers on stick. I was excited to see – what I now know are – Isobe Dango – dango meaning skewer, and Isobe meaning seaside as the mochi balls are grilled in soy sauce and then seaweed added on them. Oishii!
Vermillion Café
Fukakusa Kaidoguchicho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, 612-0805, Japan
Before we headed up the incredible Mount Inari with its iconic tori gates and Fushimi Inari Shrine, we headed over to Vermillion Café for a snack as I had read they had some vegan options. It was a very busy café and we had to write our names down and wait for a table, I think we waited about an hour, we looked at the nearby shops and small shrines in the area whilst we waited. When we got a table, unfortunately the vegan sandwich had sold out. We did, however, have delicious vegan carob cookies and oat milk lattes overlooking a serene pond.
Shigetsu
Sagatenryuji Susukinobabacho, Ukyo Ward, 〒616-8385 Kyoto
This was one of my favourite meals, ever, set in the Tenryu-Ji complex, a Buddhist zen temple. Specifically, in the surrounds of the temple’s World Heritage gardens, Shigetsu serves traditional Zen Buddhist vegetarian cuisine known as ‘Shojin Ryori’. Mostly vegan according to some sources and all vegetarian, Shojin ryori, abstains from the use of pungent flavours, and emphasises simplicity. Shojin ryori also has to contain five flavours – sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami) and five colours. There is also an effort to reduce waste, making use of most parts of vegetables and ingredients where possible.
Although busy, the restaurant was quiet. The decor is laid out in a traditional style, with mats on the floor and paper walls.
It is important to book first as the restaurant is popular and is only open 11:00 – 14:00. I was lucky and booked the evening before and they got back to me the following morning to say we could come along. In the booking we specified in which set meal we wanted to order and that we were looking for only vegan dishes. The individual dishes change by season, there are 3 options to choose from, beautifully named Yuki ¥3,300 (snow), Tsuki ¥5,500 (moon) or Hana ¥ 8,000 (flower), each with rice & soup and either 5, 6 or seven side dishes respectively. We went for Yuki.
At the time, we were unsure of what a lot of the dishes were, which was quite exciting as it was all new, not anticipating anything and new tastes experienced. We had a vegetable hotpot with soy milk, tofu, mushrooms, cabbage, which came with instructions, which was needed!
We had miso soup, konnyaku – jelly made from konjac, goma dofu – which was tofu made from sesame and konchu root, this was the most unusual for my western palette, broccoli, soup, rice topped with a vine leaf & cherry blossom flower, pickles and even fresh fruit afterwards and tea. After taking a few snaps, the phone went away and we enjoyed the meal, slowly new dish by new dish.
The surroundings, the lovingly prepared and presented food, the new tastes, the quietness of the restaurant allowing one to eat mindfully and respectfully, all added to the beautiful experience. If you’re in the city of Kyoto, Shigetsu is unmissable.
I found a great deal of interesting information on Shojin Ryori here. As well as reading about the history of the cuisine, it has allowed me to identify some of the items we ate!
Gion Soy Milk Ramen Uno Yukiko
40 Kameicho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0803, Japan
We were full from our Shojin ryori but we didn’t want to miss this gluten-free and vegan restaurant, so we made a little visit to check out the menu and have a little something. The menu is extensive, it was a shame we’d not had more time here as there was so much choice for starters, mains and amazing desserts.
I treated myself to a seasonal Sakura cocktail topped with vegan cream and we had the most delicious matcha ice cream topped with cream. Very flavourful. Incredible place and really lovely service (although it was incredible service everywhere we went in Japan!). I would revisit Kyoto just to visit this restaurant.
Daily-Yamazaki Fushimi-Inari-Taisha-mae
93 Fukakusa Inarionmaecho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, 612-0881, Japan
After the immersive and incredibly trek around the Fushimi Inari Taisha, we were peckish and visited the convenience store at the entrance to the complex. We found tofu protein (more of these to come, I got a bit obsessed), hash browns, pickled plum and seaweed onigiri.
7 Eleven
Everywhere! The one we found with the biggest vegan options was at 277 Shimizucho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, 600-8025, Japan
7 Elevens are very handy around Japan for convenience food. In a few, we even found cold soy lattes made by a brand called Mt Rainier, not great for the planet but very tasty. They seem to vary on stock, perhaps according to season and locality, I’m not entirely sure.
The one round the corner from our hotel here in Kyoto, we found a good selection of vegan friendly items, such as deep-fried tofu, seaweed and ginger salad, wakame rice balls, pickled plum & kelp onigiri.
For dessert, I found pink rice cake with red bean paste with a cherry blossom on the top, and the ingredients included cherry leaf extract, it was sweet and satisfying. The packaging also said it was ‘Botanical Film’ and ‘Botanical Ink’, which was a nice caveat.
We also spotted…
Tamisa Yoga Studio, Organic Shop and Vegan Cafe, Japan, 〒604-8082 Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward, Tenshojimaecho, 532-2 北原ビル 2F/3F. It was closed when we walked past, but the menu looks healthy and delicious – check it out here
Good Nature Station/Hyssop – a cafe and shop with many vegan options and lots of fresh vegetables and other vegan options. Can be found at 318番6 Inaricho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, 600-8022, Japan.
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