This summer we made our traditional pilgrimage to Berlin to enjoy the thriving vegan scene. With only a few days there, it’s the eternal dilemma of whether to stick to the same tried and tested hits of previous visits or give something new a try. We ended up with a balance of the two. I think every time we visit we see this big sign for vegan Japanese food, and this time we finally paid it a visit. Yes, it’s a fully vegan Japanese restaurant!

For starters, Dr HH and I shared two dishes. The mochi agedashi sounded like a really fun idea, combining the soft and tasty tofu agedashi with a fun mochi texture. Unfortunately though the texture was not actually enjoyable to us, too chewy. Still, it’s always fun to encounter something new, and I’m happy we got to try it.

We quite enjoyed the vegan karaage. It had a lovely crisp coating, but the meat was a little under seasoned for us and the texture inside could use more bite, it was a bit mushy. The coating did help with some texture though, and I enjoyed it more than Dr HH did.

For his main course, Dr HH had the Japanese curry. The sauce was tasty and had those familiar notes of a classic Japanese curry, but it was quite a small portion. He liked the katsu chicken here a lot more than the chicken in the karaage, in terms of both flavour and texture.

I am powerless to resist a big bowl of noodles and broth, so I had the tantan ramen, and really enjoyed it. The broth was rich and well spiced. The noodles were plentiful, making it a filling dish. And the toppings were quite good, particularly the soy meat.

Be warned that the only card payments they accept are from German bank cards. If you don’t have one, you need to pay with cash.

All in all, it was good but not perfect. It’s a nice restaurant, stylish and spacious with very fast service. Honestly, I’d be thrilled if this place existed in Prague, where vegan Japanese pickings are very slim indeed!