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It's easy being green at Tokyo's best vegetarian restaurants
A veggie meal in Tokyo doesn't have to mean salad, when you consider these seven top herbivorous cafes and restaurants
A cafe with a view: Vegetarian restaurants can be found all around the Tokyo vicinity.The weather might be sultry and uninspiring, but let’s face it, that popsicle diet isn’t helping you get off the floor and away from the air conditioner. Aside from offering a great selection of light and healthy meals, Tokyo’s vegetarian restaurants tend to change their menus by the season, the month, or even the day, so you always have fresh options to look forward too.
Eat More Greens
“Happy Hour” might be the last sign you’d expect to see outside a vegetarian restaurant, but Eat More Greens is that kind of place. The open-floor plan, subdued lighting, jazz soundtrack, and patio seating all make for a thoroughly metropolitan restaurant, the kind you want to take people out to. (Plan your budget accordingly: a meal with starters and two drinks will fall in the ¥3,000-4,000 range.) Around half of the menu is seasonal and half is served year-round. The latter includes a veggie rendition of taco rice with a good balance of grains, proteins, greens and plenty of spice. On the summer drink menu, try the “vinegar vodka”: it’s surprisingly refreshing and not as tart as you’d think.
Firenzia Azabu Juban South 1F, 2-2-5 Azabu Juban, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0045; tel. +81 (0) 3 3798 3191
Nezu no Ya
This quiet, cubbyhole-sized lunchtime café behind a natural food store offers a light, vegetarian version of traditional Japanese home cooking. The interior even feels a bit like a farmhouse, with its wooden floor, mismatched wooden furniture, and kind, kerchief-headed staff. The daily set (¥1,200) comes with brown rice and red miso soup loaded with leafy greens. On the day we visited it featured a thin-crusted okara croquette, hijiki and bell-pepper salad, and a natto-vegetable mix that almost passed the muster of a confirmed natto-hater. Another recommendation on the everyday menu is the tangy vegetable curry (¥1,100).
1-1-14 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; tel. +81 (0) 3 3823 0030
Vacanteen
Veganism and zines: if you see the connection, a pleasant afternoon is waiting for you at Vacanteen. The artsy Harajuku event space/shop/café serves a light sandwich on home-baked bread (¥600) for weekday lunches and an organic combo plate (¥1,100) created by the chef at Kouenji’s Vege Shokudo on the weekend. A portrait of Marx presides over the racks of Japanese and foreign zines as well as t-shirts, buttons, cds and other crafty counter-cultural shwag. Keep an eye on the events calendar; in the past members of the Boredoms and the Black Dice have played here, and there seem to be a few unexpected surprises (i.e. a silent film festival, a vegan picnic) every month.
3-20-13, Jingumae, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo; tel. +81 (0) 3 6459 2962
http://vacanteen.n0idea.com/vtn/vacanteen/menu.html
Nagi Shokudo
Located around a 10 minute walk from Shibuya station, this little, homey, off-the-radar cafeteria is a nice escape from the heat and hype of a downtown summer. Think dog-eared magazines, handmade décor, and flea market furniture. The menu is different every day: we enjoyed a tangy tofu and mushroom curry, shiso pumpkin salad, and a falafel-esque bean croquette in the three-item lunch set, which comes with rice, miso soup, and a drink all for ¥1,000. A nice evening option is the Yebisu beer with a choice of two sides, also ¥1,000.
#103, 15-10 Uguisudani-cho, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo, 150-0032; tel. +81 (0) 50 1043 7751
Deva Deva Cafe
When was the last time you had a “natural, organic, and karma-free” burger? Probably the last time you thought about mother Theresa being reincarnated as a supermodel. But that’s exactly what eating at Deva Deva is like. Most of the menu sounds like junk food, from the pizza to (faux) chicken nuggets, but the massage music wafting through the place is just as likely to raise your cholesterol. Tokyo’s mainstream variations on the veggie burger theme may be credible (witness MOS Burger’s burdock-seaweed-rice-ball or Freshness’ tofu avocado sandwich), but the yogi burger here does things the traditional way: grainy patties, wholewheat buns, and lots of veggies. There are even attempts at other burger genres, including a “shogayaki burger” with grilled soy strips in lieu of pork and a soy-meat “chili con carne” version. For a liquid meal, try the green power shake (kale juice, banana, and mango).
2-15-26 Kichijoji Honcho, Musashino City, Tokyo; tel. +81 (0) 4 2221 6220
Brown Rice Café
This small café in the back of a Neal’s Yard Remedies shop off Omotesando is a perfect spot for a refreshing meal or a cup of tea on the shady patio. The weekly set is always a good bet: on our visit it featured grilled tofu and seasonal vegetables with a tangy plum sauce (¥1,680 weekdays, ¥2,100 weekends with desert). The location here is upscale (and so are the prices), but the quality of the food is unmistakable. For take-away versions of the café menu, head to the deli through the back.
Green Bldg 1F, 5-1-17 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001; tel. +81 (0) 35778 5416
The Solar Café
When one meal is just not enough to undo the wear and tear of city life, consider a stay at the Solar Café. Located Near the base of Mount Fuji in Narusawa (around one and a half hours from the city by bus), the café is run by Earth Embassy, a group that promotes sustainable living and eco-business. You can connect with your meal here by helping out on the farm, or opt to spend time hiking in the area, swimming in Lake Saiko, or soaking in nearby Yurai Onsen. Another similar project is Brown’s Field in Izumi.
8529-74 Route 139, Narusawa Village; tel. +81 (0) 5 5585 3329
