A Gastronomic Tour of Japan | Vegetarian and Vegan Food in Japan | Things I ate in Japan

Japan was very overwhelming in a good way, not only in the sights and sounds but also in the food. There were so many things that I never ate in my life before Japan! I feel lucky and blessed to have experienced what Japan has to offer and I am sharing with you some of the foods/restaurants I tried in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. Disclaimer: Please be notified that when I say vegetarian I mean lacto + ovo (dairy items and eggs included). Although I tried my best to ensure the food I was eating was vegetarian, when you visit Japan please recheck and reconfirm for yourself thoroughly that the food you are eating is in fact vegetarian as recipes, ingredients etc. tend to change. For example: when it comes to desserts and cheese, one can never be 100% sure.

OSAKA

1. Boulangerie Cascade

Japan has a brilliant bakery scene. Every few streets you are bound to run into a bakery and if it is popular you will find many people in line with their trays and tongs picking out freshly baked goods from a huge variety. I made it a point that wherever I saw a huge crowd of people in a bakery, I went in and picked out at least one item to try, usually their signature bread. Boulangerie Cascade was one such place that was never on my list but I just walked in after seeing the crowds. The list of ingredients and allergens is usually listed in Japanese against each bread, use Google Translate to check which breads are suitable for you. The softness of Japanese breads is next level and makes them a good snack/breakfast to enjoy.

2. OKO Takoyaki / OKO Okonomiyaki Fun Bar

OKO has two restaurants in Osaka, one dedicated to Okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancakes) and one dedicated to Takoyaki ( another popular Japanese street food). Both of these are made vegetarian at this restaurant and they have vegan options too. This is a real gem as you do not feel left out as a vegetarian for not being able to try the popular Japanese street foods. These places are quite small and are usually handled by only one or two staff, so at peak timings the wait may be very long. Better to go during off-peak hours and try your luck. We first went to Oko Okonomiyaki Fun Bar at around six thirty in the evening but encountered a long line, so we immediately rushed to the OKO Takoyaki restaurant close by and did not encounter a rush there. We still had to stand for twenty minutes as some people despite having finished their food did not get out of their seats and neither did the hostess ask them to leave. Thankfully we reached on time as after us a line started to form behind us. We tried the Takoyaki and Kushikatsu, we were also given some hot miso soup. The dishes had a lot of flavor and were worth the wait.

3. Falafel Sababa

This restaurant was a little hole in the wall but oh my did they make some of the best falafel sandwiches we have ever had in our entire life. The owner was from Morocco and had brought those recipes with him to Japan. He was a world traveler who had now settled in Japan and he cooked up some tasty pita sandwiches and other treats from that small kitchen. We tried the hummus and the falafel sandwiches and they were absolutely delicious! We loved it so much we went back there on the last day to eat some more!

4. Kajitsu No Hana Shinsaibashi

Fruit Daifuku was another specialty that was entirely new to me, and at this place, I tried strawberry daifuku (whole strawberries coated with mochi).

I also tried their Hokkaido Milk Ice Cream cone which was one of the most creamiest and extremely milky-tasting ice cream I have ever had in my entire life. I also liked their window display which had rotating fruit daifuku levitating on magnetic plates!

5. Sakimoto Bakery

Sakimoto has a cafe, a coffee shop and a bakery all next to each other. We originally wanted to have a sit-down breakfast at their cafe but it was full and had a one-hour wait when we arrived. In a way, it was good as the menu in the cafe was limited and we instead got to try a whole variety of breads from their bakery below. They have small benches outside their coffee shop so we picked up some baked goods from the bakery and a hot cappuccino from the coffee shop, sat on the benches and enjoyed the same. Sakimoto is hugely popular in Osaka for their Truffle Butter Roll, their thick fluffy slices of bread, their honey toast etc. A lot of variety to choose from and overall it was a great experience. The ingredients were listed next to each baked good which made it easy to decide.

6. Vegetarian 素食 江南

A family-run restaurant with a very relaxed vibe. On a busy day, you can expect to wait a while before you even get your menus.

However the food was brilliant, the menu was entirely vegetarian Chinese food and all the dishes we ate were delicious and came out freshly made and piping hot.

7. Yumtea

If you are a fan of bubble tea like I am, Yumtea is one of the many places to get the same. I was very impressed with the Google Map ratings and the pictures of their creations. We took their brown sugar boba milk home and it was filled with so much boba that we had a lot of boba left even after the milk was almost over! It was overall a decent bubble tea. But of course, I must add, it was nothing compared to the Tiger Sugar brown sugar boba fresh milk that we had in Singapore and New York.

8. The City Bakery

The City Bakery is another famous bakery chain in Japan that has a range of freshly made breads on offer. We had the famous thick-cut toast with butter. Japan as you will see is obsessed with the thick-cut toast concept. And this dish worked, the toast was crispy on the outside, thick and fluffy on the inside and the butter paired along with it, simple yet perfect.

9. Strawberry Mania

Strawberry Mania is one of the most colorful and mouthwatering stores you will pass by and if you are a strawberry lover you will drool. They have all sorts of delightful strawberry treats but the main one to try would be the strawberry mochi which comes in different flavors. Mochi is something u must try in Japan as much as possible.

10. Room Picnic with 7-Eleven, Family Mart and other Konbinis

We were out enjoying another day in Osaka but the weather had other plans. We had seen the weather for the day in advance and knew it might rain for some time but when it did, it got so bad that it drenched us head to toe despite having umbrellas. We quickly hailed a taxi and headed back to our room to change. Although this did put a damper on our day's plans, I realized this would be the perfect opportunity to take some time and visit the "Konbinis" close to our hotel and get a takeaway to eat some things in the comfort and warmth of our room. I visited the Family Mart and 7-Eleven close by, took my time to investigate vegetarian foods as much as possible and came away with a decent haul of products. Once again you can never be sure so please check the ingredients thoroughly before consuming any items. Like me, you will have to do a Google Translate of the ingredients listed in Japanese to confirm that the items are in fact vegetarian. After having watched so many videos of people raving about Konbinis, I must say we did enjoy my Konbini haul a lot. I call this term a "room picnic" as you may have seen by some of my other posts and it really is one of the most amazing things for us about a vacation.

11. Fruit Sando from Delica Shin-Osaka Station

I had never before in my life eaten a sandwich filled with fruits! This fruit "sando" is a combination of fresh-cut fruit neatly arranged in half sandwiches with whipped cream and custard filling all encased in soft Japanese bread. I never thought a fruit could taste so good in a sandwich but oh my God it did, and it was pure heaven in each bite.

12. Other suggested places to try in Osaka

Vegan Ramen by Playpen Friends for ramen and vegan onigiri, Shama Vegetarian Indian Restaurant, Vegan Cafe Tsukineko for Vegan Pancakes, the popular Japanese curry chain CoCo Ichibanya has vegetarian curry options. Godiva for chocolatey goodness.

KYOTO

1. Ohagi no Tanbaya

Mitarashi Dango is a name I had never heard of in my life before I visited Japan! Turns out it is a rice dumpling coated with a sweet soy sauce glaze. I had tried savory soy sauce but never the sweet type. As per Google Maps, this was one of the highly rated places to try all sorts of Dango sweets and I chose to try this popular version of it. It was soft and squishy in the mouth and the soy sauce had a slight savory tinge but was also quite sweet and sticky. I appreciated it but overall it was not something that tickled my palate. That being said I do recommend that it be tried at least once, maybe you might like it.

2. Torori Tenshi no Warabimochi

Warabimochi is a jelly-like squishy Japanese confection made with bracken starch and coated with "kinako" which is sweet toasted soybean flour. Once again never knew anything like this existed my entire life before visiting Japan and I appreciated the kinako a lot. It had a nutty flavor and the warabimochi itself was melt-in-your-mouth soft and jelly-like. Once again if you are adventurous like me and want to explore new flavors and foods, then you should definitely give this a try!

3. Starbucks Coffee Kyoto Nineizaka Yasaka Chaya

This Starbucks in Kyoto was unique, located on Nineizaka Street it was designed like an olden-time Japanese traditional home with tatami mats instead of usual tables in some areas. It was a good way to take a break from a heavy day of walking and sightseeing. The best thing I like about Starbucks Japan in general is that they have some dedicated items for a Vegetarian Diet.

It depends upon their availability based on locations, but at one location of Starbucks, we had the Mushroom keema curry hot tortilla and the tomato pizza toast, both of which were extremely flavorful. I was pleasantly surprised with the high quality of food on offer at this world-famous coffee chain.

4. Other suggested places to try in Kyoto

Mumokuteki Cafe and Foods Kyoto offers a Vegan Japanese "Gozen" (a variety of dishes served with rice, soup, etc.) and also a Vegan Omurice. Ain Soph Vegan Kyoto offers fluffy vegan Japanese pancakes and a range of other vegan dishes. Hale is vegan restaurant that specializes in Shojin Ryori (traditional Buddhist cooking), Itoh Kyuemon is known for its Matcha ice pops and warabi mochi. There is also Vegan Izakaya Nijiya offering vegan Yakitori and Yakiniku.

TOKYO

1. Kyobashi Senbikiya Main Store

Premium Fruit is a big deal in Japan. When I say big deal I mean huge! I have seen videos on YouTube about expensive musk melons (Yubari Melon, Crown Melon) and grapes (Ruby Roman Grapes) selling for thousands of dollars. Japanese people really take their fruit seriously! So of course I wanted to try some of these premium fruits for myself. Senbikiya had a branch just close by to my hotel and their menu is entirely fruit-based! Fruit Parfaits, fruit afternoon teas, fruit sandwiches and more!

I went for the fruit afternoon tea set and also ordered a piece of expensive melon. As I do not have much knowledge about how expensive fruits are supposed to taste, I cannot really describe my experience other than the fact that yes the fruits were sweet and fresh and of high quality. I was really glad that I got to taste a piece of expensive melon as well. It was quite sweet and a little mushy and was melting in the mouth. It did not have that much of a bite to it.

I wish also that there was a strawberry parfait on their menu when I visited but unfortunately, there wasn't. That being said the experience of just sitting and having a meal centered around premium fruits was a once-in-a-lifetime experience in itself.

2. Muji Flagship Store Ginza

When you think of Muji you think of great quality clothing and other household goods. However, this Muji store goes a step above and beyond and has an entire floor dedicated to food. The variety was simply amazing and some of the items I loved were the milk chocolate-covered freeze-dried strawberries - I wish I had purchased many more packets of those! Then there were the various flavors of Baumkuchen (layered cake). And a variety of savory snacks like the corn snack and the green pea snack. Once again whenever buying items please use Google Translate to check and confirm the list of ingredients behind the packs to confirm that it is vegetarian.

3. Bombay Sizzlers

A highly rated Indian restaurant on Google Maps, this place did not disappoint. When you visit Indian restaurants internationally, there is always that fear of them watering down the spice and masala levels to suit international palettes.

But at this restaurant, the spice levels were on point and it could be compared to any top-rated restaurant in India itself. The naans especially were so soft and pillowy and each of the dishes we had were brilliant. A tip for all the popular restaurants though, try to make a reservation before you go there, we did not go with a reservation, so we had to wait for some time before we got a table.

4. T's Tantan

A completely plant-based ramen hot spot located inside Tokyo station. There are some other branches as well but this one is considered the most popular one. Ramen is not something I liked whenever I tried it before in various countries, as the vegetarian version tasted watery, lacked flavor and was just a thin tasteless soup to me with veggies and noodles. So I was very nervous when I visited this place whether we would like it or not.

We went for the golden sesame tantanmen and we also tried the gyozas and the vegan char siu rice bowl and it did not disappoint! The ramen broth was thick and flavorful, with notes of sesame and peanut and a deeply savory broth. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the bowl in its entirety was so soothing and fulfilling. The vegan char siu was so flavorful and smoky, the gyozas were also nice. This ramen bowl changed my perspective on vegetarian ramen, it made me realize that a truly passionate restaurant will ensure that even a bowl of ramen without any meat can have a rich and deep flavor profile.

5. 2 Foods

2 Foods had a vegan version of the popular Omurice, which is basically a demiglaze sauce with soft scrambled egg on top of some rice. I was happy that this place had a vegan version that I could try. It also had many other vegan dishes but this was the one I was most excited to try. I liked the flavor of the demiglaze sauce and the rice in it, the vegan egg component could have had more flavor but overall as a one-time try for a popular Japanese dish in its vegan form, it was pretty decent.

6. Savoy Azabujuban

Did you know that Japan has a huge pizza scene? And when I say huge I mean huge! Also to clarify this is mostly for the Neapolitan style pizza. I was surprised when I researched this and in the process also came to know that a restaurant in Tokyo called The Pizza Bar on 38th ranked 3rd in the world in the 2024 50 Top Pizza World awards! Getting a reservation here was impossible and I did try a few months in advance but could never get it. I then searched for top-rated pizza spots on Google Maps and came across this gem of a place. I sadly didn't get the hang of how to do restaurant reservations in Japan but I tried my luck here by going on a weekday at the opening time of this restaurant. I reached there exactly at the opening time and thankfully we did not have to wait, we got in immediately and we got the last two spots on one communal table. There were two large communal tables here each facing a pizza oven with a chef cooking up hot steaming pizzas right in front of you. It was a set lunch that included a salad, some iced tea and a pizza of your choice. You could go for the a la carte menu but somehow it was assumed when we sat down that like the others we would also go for the set lunch. I cannot guarantee that the salad had any meat products in it so you could ask for the salad without dressing. I chose to have the classic Margherita. This pizza was served fresh and hot out of the oven, prepared right in front of me. It had a perfectly cooked and slightly charred crust which gave a great flavor profile. It also had a good salty crust as opposed to being bland which complimented the sauce and cheese perfectly. I gulped down this masterpiece of a pizza which had the perfect proportions of sauce, cheese, olive oil and fresh basil leaves. In one word, it was perfection. By the time we got out of this restaurant a huge line had formed for the next seating and we were so glad that we did not have to wait in a line!

7. Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo

We have visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in New York and Milan and it was natural as a Starbucks lover we were going to visit the one in Tokyo as well. It was a little out of the city center, a ten to fifteen-minute walk from Naka-meguro station. The interiors of this roastery were stunning and like every other popular place we had visited in Japan, this place too was packed. However, we were able to snag a table soon and one of us sat there and the other went on to order in the long lines.

There were quite a few vegetarian sandwiches, pizzas and breads, as always confirm with the staff before ordering. The coffee menu was also quite interesting with many limited-time Christmas drinks. The sandwiches and pizza slices were fresh and tasty.

The main allure of this place for me is that once you have your snacks and coffee, you sit at your window-side table and just gorge on the good food and coffee leisurely while observing the hustle and bustle of the roastery. And as it is not a restaurant, you can sit for hours, relaxing and taking the surroundings in.

Coming to any reserve roastery and just sitting there sipping your coffee while you see the world pass by and all the chaos around you while you relax, is a calming and reassuring feeling to me.

8. Izakaya Masaka

Located in the popular mall Shibuya Parco, it is a cozy space serving up vegan Karaage and many sides to go with it. We had a blast here ordering the fried dishes and so many sides to go with it. It was a flavor explosion! The food was fresh, delicious and most importantly vegan. It is extremely popular with many vegan foodies and in my opinion, it is a must to check out while visiting Shibuya.

9. Xing Fu Tang

A Taiwanese bubble tea brand that gives a brulee-type layer on top of its bubble tea drinks. We checked this place out at Takeshita Street in Harajuku and the bubble tea was pretty decent.

10. Mr Farmer

This is an organic restaurant located in the posh Omotesando area. It has Japanese and Western-style bowls, salads, sandwiches and rice plates. The food here was so fresh tasting with a Japanese touch and was a good fusion of Japanese and American cuisine. Overall an excellent meal at this place.

11. Dean & Deluca

Some Dean & Deluca branches in Japan have a special menu for breakfast, which includes ricotta toast and avocado toast. We were pleasantly surprised to find the Dean & Deluca at the Narita Airport Terminal 1 before check-in had this special menu. We enjoyed the toasts with a great cup of coffee and also a mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich. Comforting food before our flight departure!

12. Other suggested places to try in Tokyo

Any of the Truffle Bakeries or Truffle Minis in Tokyo, the breads were to die for, once again check the ingredient list before buying. Vegan Sushi Tokyo for sushi and Vegan Bistro Jangara for vegan ramen. Ippudo Lumine Est Shinjuku has a creamy vegan tonkatsu ramen. Tokyo also has Ain Soph which is a famous vegan restaurant chain with fluffy Japanese Pancakes on the menu. Bongen coffee is all the rage right now for a good cup of expertly made coffee. Centre the Bakery for thick-cut Japanese bread with a variety of spreads and jams. The Mos Burger chain apparently has a vegan burger option. Any good rated place where you can find Hokkaido milk ice cream and other products for example Hokkaido Milk Bar Asakusa. Itosho for a fine dining vegetarian experience (even though it is listed as vegetarian, please list to them once again the foods you do not consume before you go for your reservation). Nakamise-dori which leads up to the famous Senso-Ji Temple also has many food stalls to check out.

I am not sure about the vegetarian factor but had to mention these two amazing places, you can ask them at the respective restaurants for a list of ingredients- if you are a dessert lover then go to Harbs for their layered fresh fruit cakes.

Or line up for some time (but it is worth it) and try the bombolinis at "I'm Donut?"

So this was my experience of enjoying some truly wonderful food in Japan! Japan pleasantly surprised me with the amount of effort in both presentation and flavor that they put into their food! Once again, Please recheck the list of ingredients before making any of the above choices, to confirm for yourself that the products are vegetarian!

Thank you for reading ❤️