I was in Japan for 12 days in October. I had prepared a huge list of restaurants to eat at with vegetarian options, in every location we'd planned, beforehand. I still had some trouble with it. Here to share some of the places I ate at and recommend, and what helped me find vegetarian food nearby.
Restaurants:
- [Tokyo] Afuri at Shinjuku Lumine. They have a Vegan Rainbow Ramen. It was awesome. The soup was life-giving after a long day. Beware of a huge line, though. We waited for 30 minutes.
- [Tokyo] bills Ometosando. Aussie restaurant. I had the pancakes. Generous portion size and tasty. Again, beware of a huge line. We waited for ~25 minutes.
- [Tokyo] Italian restaurant inside Loft Ginza. I didn't catch the restaurant's name and I'm unable to find it online. I simply walked in that day, in search of food. They have a tomato pasta that's vegetarian. The waitress very kindly helped me figure out the dishes without meat (used Google Translate and basic hand gestures for communication). I had no wait here.
- [Kyoto] MERCY Vegan Factory Kyoto Station. In the basement floor of a building. Name says Kyoto Station but it's a 10 minute walk away. The food was amazing. I highly recommend the salad! We also had the (faux) egg sandwich and gimbap. There was a bit of a wait to get a clean table since one person was handling all the customers.
- [Kyoto] AIN SOPH. Journey KYOTO. In the main shopping district. I highly recommend the nuts salad (the walnuts in Japan are tastier?!) and the pancakes. We wanted the taco rice but it had just ran out. There was so wait since we arrived soon after they opened.
- [Kyoto] Pelgag. Near the main district. This is a gem I found when I had no other options open and without a wait. I was the only customer because it's a tiny hidden away place. Artsy vibes—comic books, novels, drawings on the walls, posters, you can draw on notebooks with given markers while you wait/eat, or browse through drawings by other customers. I was the only one there. I had the vegetable curry and it was too good. I finished every morsel on the place and did not look up while eating. Great portion size. The perfect warm and filling meal after a long day. I had a lovely conversation with the owner too.
- [Osaka] Melbourne Coffee Senba. One of the few places open early morning with veg options. I had the muesli bowl and blood orange juice. They agreed to replace yoghurt with milk for my friend. It was great. 15 minute wait at 8:30 am.
- [Osaka] Restaurant Bar Garden. Near Dotonbori. Hands down, my BEST MEAL of the trip. We went here again the next day because it was too good. The name and exterior are unassuming so it's a gem in plain sight. Menu says "ceasar salad" and they agreed to make vegetarian and chicken-only versions for us which were AMAZING. Brilliant. I would marry that salad if I could. Camembert fries melted in our mouths. The omelette rice (they agreed to make it without meat) was brilliant too. We were one of two tables on Friday evening and one in a full (with locals) restaurant on Saturday evening. Seemed to be visited by only locals? No wait. The staff even remembered us and our orders the next day and finished my "no meat, no fish" sentence before I could!
- [Suwa] spicecafe ananda. Indian place with enough vegetarian options. I got the vegetable A set and mango lassi. Great food, great ambience. Their (dalgona) coffee was out of this world. No wait.
- [Fujikawaguchiko] Tsuwano. Mom-and-pop run store. Asked for no meat or fish using Google Translate and she said ok. Got the vegetable ramen. Huge portion size and perfect for the cold weather that day. Filled my stomach and heart.
I made my list on Google Maps so that I could zoom out on the map and check for nearby restaurants, or plan meals while planning our itinerary.
Although I had a huge list of pre-saved restaurants, it didn't always help at the moment I needed it. Maybe because we weren't very close to the places or because there was a huge wait (one place in Kyoto had a 90 minute wait). Sometimes the places were closed because of holidays or weird timings. The timings was the main wrench in my plans. Restaurants either opened too late or closed too early.
I found that searching for specific keywords helped tremendously. I searched for "salad" and found Restaurant Bar Garden. I searched for "vegetable" and found Tsuwano and Pelgag.
Also, don't underestimate the veg options from convenience stores. From prior research, I knew that Lawsons had the most vegetarian options and used it to my advantage. For many days, I bought a corn salad (with ceasar dressing) the previous night and had it in the morning before we headed out. It tasted really good. They have breads for quick snacks or morning breakfasts too. Lawsons has a few vegetarian onigiris too.
Keep an eye out for supermarkets. They have more options than convenience stores.
Keep an eye out for bakeries and snack stalls too. Our itinerary was so packed that we ate only one to two meals a day. I managed by snacking every few hours.
Check the ingredients! Google Translate for the win here. There are usually a lot of ingredients in packed items and meat will be hidden among them. Carefully check ingredients before buying things. I almost bought an onigiri and a salad because it didn't seem to have meat but it had it in the ingredients written.
Hope this helps!
by chumaynot