Vegan in Sapporo: Vegan French Restaurant L’Esperance

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Jenny

I’ve already complained once about a restaurant misleadingly named to suggest it’s fully vegan – I’m afraid this is another such place. Until about May, this place was all vegan, offering a vegan fine dining set menu. Then they introduced a pescatarian menu as well, but have not changed the name. I was still confident enough in their vegan options to go, and I appreciate it is very difficult for all-vegan eateries to stay in business. But it doesn’t help the cause too much when terminology is misused.

Anyway, we wanted to give this place a try as our week in Hokkaido was never going to be the culinary highlight of our trip to Japan and we really wanted to have a big fancy meal to look forward to. I contacted them on Instagram (in English) to make a reservation. It is reservation only, so do not just show up! We confirmed our vegan menu request when booking and on arrival at the restaurant, so there was no room for error. I’m really glad that we booked this, the food was a real treat!

A red drink and an orange one

We paid 16-17,000 yen for the two of us, and that was a six course menu with a drink of our choice included. There were a few intriguing non-alcoholic drinks on the menu, so we didn’t feel like we were getting too cheated on that front. Dr HH got the mocktail of the day, which was pomegranate and mandarin, while I got the apple cinnamon drink, which tasted like a strudel!

All of the dishes were vegetable centric and felt quite light, but we were certainly full by the end. At first I thought the flavours might be a bit too subtle, but then I realised I was enjoying tasting nice fresh vegetables. The dishes featuring basil were a particular highlight. I also loved the burdock stew. Each dish was something I’d never had before, and I was really impressed by the creativity. A lot of the vegetables were locally sourced, which was good to hear.

A silver plate with a pool of green sauce, a small biscuit, a dollop of potato, and sliced avocado on top

The first course was spinach and basil sauce with a sable, topped with a potato and nori mash, and sliced avocado on top. I love a sable! The nori was a great seasoning for the potato. The basil was so refreshing and tasty – basil popped up a few times in this menu and was amazing every time.

A plate containing six different vegetable bite sized dishes

Next came six vegetable appetisers, from left to right: edamame and potato, tomato tart, broccoli and mushroom terrine, red pepper, corn and white chocolate, and a lettuce roll. I was a bit worried about the corn and chocolate, but it was actually really well balanced, not too sweet. The tomato tart was really good, and the terrine had a fantastic earthy hit.

Three tortellini sitting in a clear brown broth

This dish was ravioli filled with black rice, Indian millet, Chinese millet, and nori, served in a nori and shiitake broth. Let’s set aside the fact that it doesn’t look like ravioli! The pasta was nice and thin, and the broth was good, but it wasn’t a mind blowing course.

A large nest of crispy threads sitting on a green creamy risotto.

This was more like it! Here we have a kadayif and polenta croquette, atop a risotto of local rice, basil, and avocado. Again, the basil was really flavoursome. The risotto was quite creamy. I enjoyed the croquette a lot – I’m not sure how many times I’ve had kadayif before, and whenever I see it on MasterChef I’m always jealous. It was so crispy and a really fun texture.

A large plate with a small assortment of green, white and brown vegetables in the centre, accompanied by bright orange sauce

Next came a burdock stew with umeboshi and marsala sauce, radish, cucumber, and courgette, and carrot sauce. It looks like quite a deconstructed stew. It was so tasty, this was my favourite course of the meal. I don’t eat a lot of burdock, but maybe I should?! Everything was so freshy and tasty.

A plate with five different small desserts

And finally, a vegan dessert plate, from left to right: chocolate ganache, banana and coconut terrine, Japanese sweet potato, a sandwich with tofu, rhubarb, and strawberry, and a peanut butter sand. These were all pleasant. I was especially happy to get to try the peanut butter sand after neglecting that option earlier in Sapporo. The ganache was the highlight, really rich and decadent.

The meal was worth the money in my opinion. Service was excellent, very friendly, and we got all the dish descriptions in English. It’s a lovely place, recommended!

Activities Around Sapporo

A pond with bright blue water and trees growing out from the pond
A field with vibrant purple lavender
The lavender train

As mentioned last week, we didn’t do anything actually in Sapporo, simply used it as the most vegan-friendly base for day trips that we could find. The lavender fields are a huge attraction, but also quite a long day trip. We took the train to Furano and looked at Farm Tomita, the biggest lavender farm there. Then we rode the special lavender train (only running in summer, I believe) to Biei, where we joined a bus trip for the afternoon, which we needed as the sights there are very spread out. We had a whirlwind tour of Shikasi-no-Oka Flower Gardens, the Shrogane blue Pond, and Shirahige-no-Taki Falls, which made for a spectacular day of sightseeing. Then it was a few hours on the train from Biei back to Sapporo. All in all, it was about 12 hours on the go. You might prefer to stay in Furano for a night to make it an easier day – but the vegan options will be fewer. It’s always a tricky choice!

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Vegan in Sapporo

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Jenny

After our brief stay in Hakodate, we spent a couple of nights at Lake Toya (a town with no reliable sounding vegan options) and then arrived in Sapporo, the biggest city in Hokkaido, ready to eat! Again, it was not an amazing vegan scene but there were enough obviously vegan places or options that we felt pretty confident and were generally satisfied with what we had. As always in Japan, you do have to do your research and check the opening hours because lots of vegan places close early in the evening or are only open a few days per week. Never assume somewhere will be open!

There will be one more post about vegan options in Sapporo, coming next week. In the meantime, here are some of the restaurants we tried.

Ramen Takanotsume Nangoten

This place is not all vegan, but has a well-labelled and well-advertised vegan option. We met up with friends here, so we were looking for somewhere that would cater to meat eaters, a vegetarian, and two vegans – all of us were pleased with what we got, so this is a good option if you’re travelling in a mixed group.

A vivid yellow broth topped with a few black mushrooms, shredded spring onions, bamboo, and a piece of nori

There’s just one vegan ramen, so Dr HH and I both ordered that. Orders are placed at a vending machine at the front of the restaurant, but then you have to take your printed ticket from the machine to the staff, and then they bring your food to the table. The machine only accepts 1,000 yen notes, which we were not prepared for, and you can only order one dish at a time. The staff did change our 5,000 note for us, but you may want to prepare some smaller notes if you can.

The ramen was a big portion with plenty of noodles. The broth was really tasty, we loved it. However, there were not a lot of toppings, mostly just some bamboo, bean sprouts, and mushrooms. I would love to see them add some tasty tofu or mock meat, a bit more protein would be great. It’s a promising start to have one vegan option, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

Veggy Way

A beige broth topped with lots of greens, chilli threads, sesame seeds, and some chunks of mock mear

An all-vegan establishment! We both had the shio ramen and really enjoyed it. There were plenty of noodles, and the broth was very tasty. It was quite salty (‘shio’ means salt, so we were prepared for this) and had a good peppery kick as well. The toppings were not too remarkable, some greens and bamboo chunks. The meaty chunk had a nice texture and coating but tasted a bit too sweet, which was a little unsettling.

A black slate with several pieces of crispy looking fried vegan chicken

We also got a plate of chicken kaarage to share, because we can never resist. These had a good texture and coating but they lacked a bit of seasoning. They had the same slightly sweet taste as well, which we weren’t too keen on. Overall, fine but not the best we’ve had.

A blurry picture of two thick chocolate biscuits with a pink ice cream filling with raspberry pieces in

We don’t generally get a lot of desserts in Japan, but Veggy Way had quite an enticing dessert menu. Dr HH was keen to try a vegan butter sand, basically an ice cream sandwich. They had lots of different flavours and he chose a chocolate biscuit with a raspberry filling. It was pleasant because it was a bit richer than just a regular ice cream in the filling. (Forgive the poor photograph, we forgot to do a proper one.)

A tall glass filled with layers of ice cream, chocolate sauce, banana, and cornflakes. The top is adorned with chocolate sauce, almond, banana slices, and a chocolate finger

I’m no fool, so I went for the banana chocolate parfait, which was huge in comparison to the tiny sandwich! It had lots of soft serve, chocolate sauce, bananas and almonds, as well as some cornflakes in the middle. It was delicious and the textures were really fun, especially the cornflakes. Parfaits and butter sands are classic Japanese treats, so we were pleased to get to try them.

A muffin with a nice fluffy top and some big chocolate chunks

We also got a couple of muffins to takeaway for breakfast the next day. The chocolate muffin was hearty and well flavoured, but a little bit dry.

A banana muffin with a nice fluffy top

The banana muffin was also good, it was moister than the chocolate one and had a good banana flavour without tasting of horrible artificial banana flavouring. I heartily recommend this place, but definitely look at the opening hours before you go, because this was one we had to carefully fit in!

Jyoti

We were searching for somewhere that would be open late after a long day trip – most vegan places close quite early in Sapporo. Last time we were in Japan, we relied on Indian restaurants quite a bit, but this was our only foray on this trip, which feels like a good sign. The online menu doesn’t match up to the restaurant menu – the vegan labelling isn’t fully clear online but it is in the restaurant. Everything is very clearly marked as vegan and they also suggest letting them know you’re ordering vegan too.

Four browned samosas and a brown dipping sauce

We both had two samosas for a starter. They were a good size, well filled, and crispy, but a little under seasoned for our tastes.

A bowl of aubergineand potato curry, with big chunks of potato and aubergine poking out of an orange gravy

For mains, Dr HH got the aubergine and potato curry (and requested level 4 on the spicy scale). The vegetables were well cooked and the sauce had a good texture. The chilli level was about what he was hoping for, as a fan of spicy food, but overall the dish felt like it lacked a bit of flavour.

A bowl of spinach and potato curry, with big chunks of potato poking out of a green gravy

I got a spinach and potato curry (level 3 on the spicy scale) and also felt it was a bit lacking in flavour and seasoning. Generally, we just wish everything had been a bit bolder. Perhaps the seasoning is tailored more to the Japanese palate though.

A big round paratha

We both got aloo parathas with our mains and really enjoyed those. There was plenty of filling and they were well cooked. It was good to get some exciting bread options, as in Prague you’re lucky to get a plain vegan bread.

Generally, we thought this place was fine especially for a late meal. Unfortunately, it seemed like lots of people had the same idea and loads of people arrived immediately before/after us, which meant it was absolutely packed and there was a backlog of orders. Service was slow, but it seemed like we were just very unlucky with our timing. It wouldn’t deter me from going again if necessary.

Activities Around Sapporo

A view from the top of a mountain looking down over green hills and a big lake

As mentioned, we stayed a couple of nights in Lake Toya, but it’s also doable as a long day trip from Sapporo – about two hours on the train, followed by a 20 minute bus ride. There are a few things to do there. We enjoyed taking the tourist boat out to the island in the centre of the lake, where we did a short hike on one of the three trails – the trails close to new arrivals by about 3pm I think, so don’t go late in the day if you want to do some walking. We also took the ropeway up Mount Usu and did the 90 minute walk around the volcano crater. Getting to the ropeway required a taxi, there’s no buses there, but we managed that easily from near the bus station. There were about 600 stairs in the trail, so it’s not too easy. The views were amazing though! And back at sea level, we also enjoyed a walk around the lake, which has some fun sculptures on display. In summer there’s a firework display at the lake every night, so that was a treat too, if you are staying over.

A stream through the rocky ground of the geothermal park
Yellow and grey rocky slopes with green hills in the background and a walkway on the left

We didn’t do anything in Sapporo itself, just used it as a base for day trips. We combined a day trip to Noboribetsu and Otaru. The geothermal park in Noboribetsu was really good fun with lots of colourful rocks, bubbling rivers, and billowing steam. We didn’t need too long there, just a couple of hours to walk around the main trail in the park.

A picturesque canal with a path beside it

Less enjoyable was our afternoon in Otaru, which took a few hours to reach on train. We had got the impression from the travel blogs we read that this would be a charming little town, but if you don’t enjoy seafood or shopping then I’m afraid it might not be for you. These was a pleasant canal to stroll along, which we enjoyed but it didn’t take long. We were looking forward to going to the music box museum, and then were devastated to find out it was not a museum at all, merely a gift shop filled with the shrill chimes of hundred different music boxes playing at the same time. I’m really baffled why all the travel blogs I read were dishonest about it, and I’m beginning to suspect the bloggers might not actually have been there at all! Possibly one to avoid, anyway!

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Vegan in Hakodate: Yasai Bar Miruya

Posted on October 7, 2024 by Jenny

After Tokyo, we made our way north to Hokkaido with our first stop in Hakodate. We stayed there for two nights, but only ate at one spot – Yasai Bar Miruya. There are not loads of vegan options in Hakodate, and there is very little activity on Happy Cow, which made it a bit difficult to find places that would be reliably open, or reliably vegan. This place is all vegan, so we were very happy and visited twice. I contacted them on Facebook (in English) in advance to book a table, just to make sure we got some guaranteed good food.

The door to the restaurant - a sliding glass door with no sign above it

The restaurant looks extremely unassuming. There’s not a sign outside and the windows are frosted, so you wouldn’t know it’s a restaurant at all. You just have to be bold and go in! The servers didn’t speak much English and we speak no Japanese, but there’s an English menu and with some translation apps on the go everything went very smoothly. Over our two nights, we tried four different dishes on the menu, leaving just a couple more that we didn’t get to try. All our dishes came with rice, salad, pickles, mashed potato, and a slice of deep fried konjac, which meant that the meals were suitably filling.

A meal set consisting of little bowls of pickles, miso soup, and rice, alongside a plate containing mock meat pieces and salad

The fried meat set was good. The meat was like karaage, but not as good as the chicken we had in Tokyo in either texture or taste.

A bowl of salad, rice, and curry

The curry set was fantastic. The sauce was extremely flavoursome, but the carrots and mock meat within the curry were a little too soft, unfortunately. We hadn’t had any curry dishes already on the trip at this point, so maybe this one is partly boosted by not having an easy point of comparison, but it was the best of the four dishes we tried.

A meal set consisting of little bowls of pickles, miso soup, and rice, alongside a plate containing gyoza and salad

The gyoza set was good, the gyoza were quite generously filled and tasty. They were not in the same league as the gyoza restaurant in Tokyo, but that’s to be expected.

A meal set consisting of little bowls of pickles, miso soup, and rice, alongside a plate containing mock meat pieces and salad

The teriyaki meat set was really tasty, though again the texture of the mock meat wasn’t as good as what we’d had back in Tokyo. But high marks for flavour! All in all, we considered this place to be a really welcome spot for vegan food in a city with limited options. The dishes were hearty and decent, but not mind-blowing. And that’s fine, sometimes you just need to get the job done!

Activities in Hakodate

Beach and sea

We were mostly staying in Hakodate to break up a longer journey to Sapporo (which is a whopping eight hours on the train from Tokyo). While there are things to do in Hakodate, we didn’t do any of them besides paddle in the sea.

A view framed by leafy foliage on either side, looking out on a lake with water lillies and green hills in the distance.

We used Hakodate as a base to visit Onuma Quasi National Park. Yes, it’s not a proper national park, but it was good enough for us! I recommend it for a day trip, it had a nice easy trail around the lake which took us across lots of bridges and opened up some good view points. We had our binoculars with us for some bird spotting, and enjoyed some good ducks and a black kite plucking a fish from the lake! It’s not vegan, but it was a majestic sight!

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Vegan in Tokyo: Everything Else

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Jenny

Here’s a continuation of our time in Tokyo, this time not featuring a single ramen. I don’t think we had a single ramen-free day, so these were simply accompanying the many ramens we tried! I did briefly wonder on our trip if we were making a mistake by eating so much ramen, but I think it really is the best dish, and it’s so much better in Japan than the Czech Republic (obviously) so, ultimately, no regrets! Here are the few other dishes we tried though…

Isakaya Masaka

This was one of the best meals of our entire two month trip, in a rather unassuming little eatery in the basement of a mall. It’s all vegan. The staff generally spoke in Japanese when announcing the dishes and gesturing us towards a table, but not a lot of communication was required – we ordered through a QR code at the table, the menu was available in English, and paying at the counter was very straightforward.

A plate containing shredded cabbage dressed with mayo, and some large deep fried chicken chunks dressed with mayo and spring onions

We were there at lunchtime, so we each ordered a lunch set, which is meal that comes with rice, soup, and pickles. I had the karaage set, and it was sensational. The coating was crisp and the texture was incredible. I’ve had a lot of mock chicken, and this was right up there with the best. There were a few choices of sauce and I chose the yuzu and pepper mayo which was just incredible, really zingy and tasty. We reminisce about both the chicken and the mayo regularly.

A bowl of mapo tofu with loads of silky tofu cubes poking out at the top

Dr HH ordered the mapo tofu set. Mapo tofu is one of his favourites. It had loads of silken tofu and some flavoursome mince as well. It tasted good, but he wished it was a bit spicier and more tingly. As someone with a much lower tolerance, I can tell you it was still pretty spicy to me!

A bowl of miso soup, a small plate of pickled vegetables, and a bowl of fluffy white rice

In the interest of thoroughness, here’s the rice, soup, and pickles that completed the meals. This meal was one of the highlights of the trip, so I definitely recommend visiting if you can. The menu was quite extensive too, it looked like there would be lots of fun things to try. You can’t make reservations unfortunately, so just try your luck and queue if you have to.

Vegan Gyoza Yu Cafe

We almost didn’t visit this spot, as I was expecting it to be a bit style over substance. Actually, it was amazing! This restaurant serves 11 different types of gyoza, and each one has a different coloured wrapper. If you order the 11 piece set, it means you have a lovely rainbow of dumplings to try. It’s so visually pleasing that I kind of assumed it was all about the aesthetics and not about the fillings, but I was very wrong.

A plate with 11 gyoza, each one a different colour
An open gyoza being held up with chopsticks. It has a green wrapper. Inside there is vegan mince and green herbs.

We did each try the 11 piece set. Each one was generously filled, so this was an extremely hearty meal. Each one also had a distinctive flavour and really tasted of what it was supposed to. My favourite was the green onion and miso, which was really savoury and meaty. The only minor quibbles we had were that the kimchi one was quite mild (this was a problem for Dr HH, who loves kimchi and spicy food, but not for me – I don’t love kimchi, and I really enjoyed this!), and that we got two shiitakes with different coloured wrappers, so that was a bit boring. But otherwise, this was an incredible meal! We had lots of gyoza as side dishes throughout our stay, so it was fun to elevate them to the star of the show here.

Two glasses, one with a bright blue soda and the other with a bright red soda. Both are topped with a thick creamy layer.

We were also thrilled to have the opportunity to try cream sodas, which are everywhere in Japan but usually not vegan. They were really fun!

EN Tea House (teamlab: Borderless)

This was an unexpected delight! The teamlab art projects had been recommended to us before our trip, so I’d booked us tickets for Borderless. It’s essentially a digital art museum, with lots of video mapping and mirrors and fun art. We knew that there was a tea house within the museum which does some image projection onto your food and drink, but we did not know that they had vegan milk and ice cream there – what a fun discovery! So, in we went. For full clarity, the tea house is right inside the art exhibitions, it’s not just a cafe you can enter from the street. It’s only accessible to ticket holders. Also, the museum is a total maze, so it may take you a while to find it, though the tea house is one of the few things signposted within it.

A bowl containing a scoop of green ice cream and a wide glass bowl containing tea. They are on a black table, and there are flowers, leaves, and butterflies projected on and around the items.

We had to join a queue to wait for a table. When we got to the counter, we ordered and paid for our teas and ice cream – it’s not an extensive menu, there’s one gelato (clearly labelled vegan) and a few teas (some of which are lattes with plant based milk). The staff at the counter gave us a few little pots which would indicate to the servers within the tea house what we had ordered. But we had to continue waiting until there was space inside. The tea house is in a dark room with some art projections on the wall and on the tables. There are two big tables. Once we sat down, the staff took our little pots, confirmed our orders, and then returned with our items. When they put the tea and gelato on the table in front of us, the projections started and we got to enjoy eating our little art works!

A wide glass bowl containing tea placed on a black table, and there are flowers and butterflies projected on and around the glass.

Dr HH had a barley tea rice milk latte, which had a nice sweet and nutty start to it but the after taste was quite bitter and not quite to his liking, unfortunately. I had the roasted tea chamomile rice milk latte and really enjoyed it. I don’t have much of a palate for tea, but this one had a discernible flavour and the roasting added a real depth to it – I got quite into roasted teas on this trip!

A bowl containing a scoop of green ice cream is placed on a black table, and there are leaves and butterflies projected on and around the it.

We also both got the green tea and coconut milk gelato. It was really rich and creamy and tasted pleasant, although there were a few little ice chunks in there. All in all, it was a really fun experience.

2foods – Shibuya Loft

2foods is a vegan fast food chain with several branches around Tokyo. We were generally trying to eat as much Japanese food as possible, so we didn’t go for any of the burgers, but we couldn’t resist getting some doughnuts for breakfast. We were there around 7pm (picking up for the next day), and they’d sold out of two varieties but still had five in stock.

A doughnut with a thick chocolate coating and topped with some chocolate chunks and shavings, in a cardboard takeaway box

We tried the chocolate doughnut, which was not lying about being chocolatey – it was really rich and delicious. The chunks added a good texture.

A doughnut covered in a sticky looking yellow glaze with a little candied lemon piece on top.

Dr HH also tried the lemon doughnut, which was tart and zingy. It came with a little packet of sherbet to sprinkle on top, which he really enjoyed. In both cases, the doughnuts themselves had a good texture and were well made.

Activities Around Tokyo

In the last post, I mentioned a few activities we enjoyed in Tokyo. Here’s one we enjoyed around Tokyo – a day trip to Hakone. In 2019 we actually stayed overnight in Hakone at a ryokan that provided vegan meals, and we really wanted to go back. Unfortunately they no longer offer vegan food and we couldn’t find an alternative, so we just did a day trip. It was action packed!

Outdoor art installation at the Hakone Open Air Museum
Outdoor art installation at the Hakone Open Air Museum
Outdoor art installation at the Hakone Open Air Museum
Outdoor art installation at the Hakone Open Air Museum

The main attraction for us was the Hakone Open-Air Museum, which we were too jet-lagged to visit in 2019 but were fully ready for this time! It had loads of fun outdoor art and was set in really beautiful scenery with rolling hills.

A temple at the lake near Hakone
The lake
A cable car across the mountain

From there, we went on a ropeway and cable car up the mountain, a boat cruise around the lake, and wandered along to a shrine. It’s tiring stuff, but definitely worth a visit!

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Vegan in Tokyo: Saido

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Jenny

Saido warrants its own post because we had a lot of different dishes there. It’s ranked as one of the best vegan restaurants in the world, and so we were really keen to visit. Reservations are required (and can be made one month in advance), and when you reserve you have to choose what meal or set you want. We went for the sushi course, which offers lots of the most popular dishes on the menu. It’s expensive, but we decided to treat ourselves. Here’s what we got.

A board with ten pieces of sushi, mostly topped with with different vegetables, and a small dish of soy sauce

After some edamame to get things started, we were served the sushi platter, which I think was a new addition to the menu. Some of the pieces were excellent, particularly the vegan eel (bottom right), plus the mushroom and corn (bottom left), the latter of which had a really pleasant charring. The pepper ones were a bit too sharp for us, but generally this was a big hit. Also, you may be thinking right now that ten pieces of sushi is a lot for one person. You are correct! This was a massive meal and could probably have done with some of the servings being a little smaller.

A small black bowl filled with a frothy, creamy, pale yellow soup. There are pieces of orange, green, and red puffed rice.

This corn soup was surprisingly tasty (I’m not a huge fan of corn soup), it had quite a rich flavour and the colourful bits you can see there were something like puffed rice and added a good texture.

An assortment of tempura vegetables, including a shiso leaf, lotus root, enoki mushrooms, red pepper, and courgette

The tempura was really great. The batter was light and crisp and there was a fun assortment of vegetables. We had a lot of deep fried enoki mushrooms on this trip, and they are always an absolute delight.

Two skewers of vegan meat, nicely charred and sticky looking. They are on a metal grill over a heating device at the table.

The yakitori was possibly the highlight for both of us. It was really delicious, and neither of us had ever had a vegan version of this dish, so it had the novelty factor. Even better, after we had finished eating our skewers, the server whipped off the grill and revealed…

The heating device without the grill on top. Inside is a pot containing charcoal-black fries.

…edible charcoal! These were tasty chips with some kind of charcoal coating. They were really fun and unexpected. I enjoyed hearing each table react as they found out what was going on.

A plate with a slice of okonomiyaki, drizzled with mayo and dressed with sauce. There's a colourful and floral salad on one side.

Next came the okonomiyaki. This is certainly the most elegant version of the dish I’ve ever had! It was tasty, and I’m glad we didn’t get a whole one to ourselves, based on how the rest of the portions were shaping up.

A bowl of ramen with lots of vegetables and a vegan egg, topped with fried noodles and chilli threads

I’ve seen the ramen at Saido ranked as one of the top ramens in Tokyo. Alas, I would disagree with that. The broth predominantly tasted peppery to me and didn’t have the depth of flavour that we encountered at Vegan Bistro Jangara or T’s (see more Tokyo ramen options here). The fake egg was good. Overall, there were lots of vegetables and generally I prefer more meaty or tofu elements. The main issue I had with the ramen was its size. We got the regular portion of ramen, on top of all the other food we’d eaten. I don’t know who this menu was designed for, but it’s not me – by this point I was really struggling and I didn’t make much of a dent in this dish. Perhaps if I were visiting the restaurant just for the ramen, I’d have found it more enjoyable.

A plant pot and spoon shaped like a shovel. From the soil in the plant pot, an edible tree appears.

I still managed to enjoy my desert – though not all of it! This plant pot is filled with raspberry mousse which is topped with a nut crumb. There’s a pretzel stick with a little bit of matcha sponge on top to look like a tree. It’s visually impressive (I also love the shovel for a spoon), and it was quite a suitably light dessert after such a massive meal. We didn’t get loads of desserts in Japan, so this was a bit of a rarity. We also got some tea with the mousse, but it was a bit nondescript to my very poor palate.

As a culinary tour of Japan, this was excellent. We got to try a lot of the highlights, which is exactly what we wanted. Everything was delicious and the restaurant was really nice. However, it is simply too much food for a normal human who has not fasted all day. I would not necessarily recommend getting this set menu, but I certainly recommend visiting Saido for some amount of food!

Activities in Tokyo

Public toilets that featured in the film Perfect Days
Public toilets that featured in the film Perfect Days
Public toilets that featured in the film Perfect Days

On the same day we went to Saido, we spent some time looking at public toilets in Tokyo! We really loved the film Perfect Days, which features some very impressive toilets around the city. There are websites and maps showing where to find all of the ones that feature in the film. We didn’t have the time or energy for that (the temperature was mid-thirties and the humidity was around 100), but we did make an effort to find three of them that were not too inconveniently located. Unexpectedly, we also found the spot where the main character has his lunch break every day. Top sightseeing!

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Vegan in Tokyo: Ramen Round-up

Posted on September 16, 2024 by Jenny

While I was posting about ramen in Prague and Manchester this summer, I was off on my travels and have returned with a lot more ramen to write about! We took a two month trip this summer, spending time in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. It was an absolute dream, and the food was unsurprisingly fantastic. I usually like to give every eatery its own post, but quite frankly we’d be here forever, so I’ll be grouping them together for ease. Where better to start than with the ramen scene in Tokyo? This was our first destination before we journeyed up to Hokkaido, but we also passed back through for a few more days on our way south later in the trip. One of our goals in Japan was to eat as much ramen as possible, and we certainly achieved it. It was great to get more flavoursome broths than we do in Prague, and more exciting toppings as well. FYI, there will be one more Tokyo ramen coming later, but this is the majority of them.

T’s Tantan (Narita Airport)

I had done my research and knew that as soon as we landed in Tokyo we’d be able to get a big bowl of ramen at the terminal. We loved T’s Tantan last time we were in Japan, back in 2019, so we knew this would be a guaranteed success after an extremely long journey from Prague. There are several branches of T’s Tantan around Tokyo, and they are all-vegan, which is always reassuring.

Anyone can access the restaurant – it’s in Terminal 2, and it’s after you emerge from arrivals/before you go through security for departures. You order and pay at the counter right at the start, then when your buzzer goes off you need to collect your tray of food. There’s drinking water available, as in most places in Japan. Quite the treat!

A bowl of ramen with a thick golden broth, a big meaty ball in the middle, lots of microgreens around, a blob of tahini, and loads of sesame seeds

Dr HH ordered the sesame tantan, which we tried five years ago. It was as good as we remembered, with a hearty and delicious broth. The big ball of meat was tasty, but dispersed quickly throughout the broth. It was a very generous portion of noodles.

A bowl of ramen with a thin brown brother topped with lots of microgreens, lots of mushrooms, and some big chunks of mock meat

I had the shoryu ramen, which we had not tried on our previous visit. The broth was tasty, but not quite as good as the sesame one for me, as a huge sesame fan. The chicken pieces on top were delicious, with a really good taste and texture, and the mushrooms were good and juicy.

A plate with several pieces of battered vegan chicken in a thin bright red sauce

We couldn’t resist sharing a portion of chicken on the side – it was also really tasty! This was a promising start to our time in Japan.

T’s Tantan (Tokyo JR Station)

We visited this specific branch twice on this trip, because it’s extremely conveniently located if you’re getting on a train from Tokyo Station. It’s also somewhat inconveniently located in the sense that it’s a maze in the station and trying to find it can be a bit challenging – we found it fine the first time, but almost gave up the second time because we were approaching from a different direction and simply could not find it. Then all of a sudden, it was there! This branch has a slightly different menu to the airport branch, and this time you order from a tablet at the table and your food is brought to you, then you pay at the counter when you’re finished.

A bowl of ramen with a golden broth, a big meaty ball in the middle topped with chilli threads, some microgreens around, a blob of tahini, and loads of sesame seeds

We both tried the golden tantan, and this was probably the best one there is at T’s (it’s almost the same as the sesame one above). It’s really rich and thick, and the sesame flavour is exceptional.

A bowl of ramen with a thick dark brown broth, a big meaty ball in the middle topped with chilli threads, some microgreens, and loads of black sesame seeds

Dr HH also tried the black sesame tantan. It’s a bit spicier than the golden version, but a bit less rich as well. It’s entirely delicious too.

A plate with twelve fried gyoza, all interlocked

We also shared a plate of twelve gyoza on one of our visits – they were nice and crispy from frying, and had a good meaty texture inside.

Four pots of instant vegan noodles

You can also buy instant noodle pots to take away with you – we tried the soy sauce ramen, tantan ramen, and hot and sour ramen. We spent a few days later in our trip in Lake Toya, which has basically no vegan options and only two convenience stores, so these were a lifesaver then. They were all tasty, but they were a little light, and we ended up supplementing ours with rice and edamame from the 7-11 to make a filling meal. Highly recommended!

Vegan Bistro Jangara

This one was ultimately our favourite ramen in Tokyo, though T’s ran it pretty close. It’s located in Harajuku which is generally a convenient area for tourists I think. It was surprisingly quiet when we visited one evening – surprising because I saw it top a lot of lists on social media for best vegan ramen in the city.

A bowl of ramen with a golden broth, a big portion of thin noodles, a few pieces of mock meats, some red onion and greens on top.

Dr HH ordered the karabon ramen, a rich and spicy tonkotsu. It was indeed spicy, perfect for Dr HH but a bit much for me, so if you generally don’t enjoy spicy food then steer clear of this one. The broth was good and creamy too, and just look at that meat on top! Fantastic taste and texture.

A bowl of ramen with a dark brown broth, a big portion of thin noodles, a few pieces of mock meats, loads of red cabbage and greens on top.

I got the kobonshan ramen, which is a garlicky tonkotsu ramen. The broth was, once again, excellent, with an incredible richness. I also loved the meat, and the other toppings (including red cabbage) added some good textures too. This felt quite different from the other ramens we tried on the trip, really high level broth and meat.

A plate with several pieces of battered vegan chicken, with a few salad leaves and a pot of sauce on the side

As always, we couldn’t resist some karaage chicken on the side. Mock chicken is generally a high standard in Japan, and this had a good texture and taste. They had quite a garlicky taste as well, which we really enjoyed, and the tartar sauce was a good accompaniment. It’s a shame we only had one chance to visit this spot – it’s the pick of the bunch!

VeJin Tokyo Vege Ramen

I believe this place is closing down imminently, but I’m including it in this round-up anyway, for posterity. It’s located it a trendy little food hall with two vegan eateries in, and several non-vegan ones, plus a bar in the middle. We went up to our chosen eatery to order and pay, and then we got buzzed over when our dishes were ready. Rather annoyingly, drinks have to be ordered and paid for separately at the central bar – a bit of a faff. In terms of our dishes, it was a bit of a mixed bag.

A bowl of ramen with a creamy white broth split with some yellow oil topped with lots of greens and a tomato

Dr HH was bold and went for the truffle ramen. While it did have a good truffle flavour in the broth, he wasn’t a big fan unfortunately. There were some big pieces of yuzu rind than were too big to manage properly and that resulted in very concentrated citrus bites, rather than a more evenly distributed citrus flavour. And he really didn’t like the meat on top – it had the texture of highly processed luncheon meat, which is not something we ever really buy or have on ramen. On the plus side though, he enjoyed the mushrooms and fried leeks, and he does enjoy being adventurous in his ordering!

A bowl of ramen with a thick creamy broth split with a red oil, topped with some mock meat and microgreens in the centre of the bowl

I played it safer with the tantan ramen, and it was amazing. It had a good spicy kick, but wasn’t so overwhelming that you could only taste the chilli. The broth had a good whack of sesame in it too. There were some meaty chunks on top which had a nice texture and taste (nothing like the meat in the truffle ramen), but there was nothing else really going on with the toppings, which was a shame.

We would both have been happy to go back and try some non-truffle varieties, but even so, it wasn’t the best ramen we had in Tokyo. It’s a shame to see it go though.

Ippudo – Plant Based Studio

We were unimpressed with the misleading name in this restaurant. Ippudo is quite a big ramen chain with multiple branches within Tokyo (and further afield). Some of those branches have vegan options. None of them, including this one, is entirely vegan. Even if you use a very generous interpretation of “plant based”, it wouldn’t apply here, as this place most definitely serves meat. Words have meaning, and it’s difficult to negotiate the world as a vegan when people use the term “plant based” so differently, so I’m already a bit cross with this place.

Nevertheless, we went there to eat knowing it wasn’t all vegan, so I can’t have been that cross. It’s located in a food hall in a mall. You queue up and order at the entrance and then (in our case, when it was very busy) wait around for a table to become vacant, hopefully before your buzzer goes off to notify you that your dishes are ready.

A bowl of ramen with a golden broth, topped with some sheets of seaweed and round tofu cutlets, plus some vegetables including a big slice of tomato

There were three vegan ramen options, and we both went for the vegan tonkotsu, because it’s something we rarely encounter at home. The broth was rich and creamy and full of savoury flavours, just as we wanted. We got two big, round pieces of fried tofu which were fun, but didn’t resemble any particular mock meat in the way our other ramen dishes have. There’s a big piece of tomato in there which we didn’t enjoy, but otherwise the garnishes all worked well and it was a big tasty bowl.

A plate of fried gyoza

We also shared some vegan gyoza, which were fine but not hugely flavoursome – the dipping sauce was doing a lot of work. Overall, I wouldn’t hurry back to this place, but it was perfectly fine, despite the misleading name.

Activities in Tokyo

Eating well was our top priority in Tokyo, of course, but we did have some time for other activities too.

A sign pointing to the Ghibli museum with fun critters on it

As Ghibli fans, we really enjoyed our trip to the Ghibli Museum. It’s hard to get tickets from abroad, we ended up paying a lot for our tickets through an agent, but ultimately it was worth it for a very whimsical time. You get to see a screening of a short animation (only in Japanese, but you can follow the plot anyway), some sketches, and loads of fun bits and bobs.

A light installation at teamlab Borderless, with lots of coloured beams of light projecting into patterns

We also enjoyed the digital art at teamlab: Borderless, which I’ll write a bit more about in my next post. There’s at least one other teamlab museum in Tokyo. If you like interactive art with lots of bright lights and fun characters, then it’s good fun.

An art installation at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, with lots of illuminated polka dot pumpkins in a dark room with mirrors.

The Yayoi Kusama Museum was another highlight. It’s a very small museum, I wish it had been at least three times bigger, but every single piece in it was a hit for us.

Stay tuned for more on Tokyo next week!

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Vegan in Milan: Pasticceria Nepa

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Jenny
Two milky hot drinks and two cinnamon rolls on a table

Finding eateries that open for breakfast during actual breakfast hours (i.e., before 10am) is such hard work. I appreciate why most places don’t open early, but those that do are welcome to take all my money – especially if they’re an all vegan pastry spot, like Pasticceria Nepa in Milan!

This place is really close to the central station, and has both indoor and outdoor seating. When I was in Milan with my mum in June, we stopped by every morning for a delicious breakfast.

Two crisp looking croissants with small amounts of pistachio green piped on top

These pistachio croissants were a big hit with both of us. The croissants themselves were really crisp on the outside and fluffy inside, just as they should be. They were generously filled with a really delicious pistachio cream. This was a beautiful breakfast!

A crisp looking pain au chocolat

The pain au chocolat deserves similarly high praise. The chocolately glaze helped keep it crisp and increase the flavour, and there was a decent amount of chocolate inside. The texture inside could have been a little better, but it was still excellent.

A big, fluffy cinnamon roll

And the cinnamon rolls were delicious! They were so soft and fluffy, and not too sweet, I wish I could have had more of them! I will say though that they really differed in size, as you can see in the picture up top. Fortunately I got the big one on this occasion.

It’s worth noting that the breakfast pastries are only available early in the day. We popped by one afternoon to collect some for an early train the next morning, but they had nothing left.

Besides these pastries, there are also a few savouries. We tried the mini pizzas, but I forgot to get a picture. They were small but filling, with a really rich tomato sauce and plenty of cheese. They weren’t too greasy either.

There’s also an incredible selection of desserts with cream and pastry, that I wish we’d had an opportunity to dip into but it never quite worked out. All the more reason to plan a return visit soon!

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Vegan in Berlin: Dervish

Posted on September 2, 2024 by Jenny
a table with various plates for sharing, including a kofta, dumplings, salad with a yoghurt dressing, and flatbreads with dips

I’ve been stuck in a very delicious rut when it comes to Berlin eateries – everywhere I’ve been in the past is so delicious that I just don’t feel tempted to try any new spots. It’s a shame to take that attitude when the vegan scene is thriving so much. So when Dr HH and I visited in June, we decided to make space in our eating itinerary for one new place, and we chose Dervish, which is an all-vegan Uzbek restaurant. I’ve never had Uzbek food before, so this was an exciting opportunity to try something completely different. And generally, it was a success.

A bowl of piled up dumplings garnished with dill

We ordered the potato manti plate (dumplings), but were told shortly afterwards that they were short of potatoes so we only got a couple of potato ones and the rest pumpkin, which was another option on the menu. Running out of potato before 6pm on a Saturday seems like an unpopular move! Sure enough, the pumpkin ones were a little too sweet and otherwise bland for our tastes. The potato ones also included onion and were much tastier, so it’s a real shame we didn’t get more of them. The dumplings were quite large and nicely steamed. They were garnished with dill, which I’m not crazy about, but it worked. It was served with a salad which was absolutely swimming in yoghurt. I’m not crazy about salad, so that’s certainly one way to improve it.

A large kofta sitting in a red sauce, garnished with bean sprouts and fresh herbs

We also shared a kofta, which was sensational! The kofta itself had a good texture with a nice crispy shell and a well-packed, meaty inside. The tomato sauce was really rich and flavoursome. I would definitely order this again.

Two large semi circles of filled flatbread, with four small pots of dip in the middle of the dish

And we also shared the qatab plate, which is these stuffed flatbreads. One of them was filled with spinach, and was a little dull and under seasoned. The other was filled with potato and cheese, and was totally delicious. The important takeaway from this dining experience is that potato is the best filling – as if we didn’t already know! The dips and sauces in the middle were a little underwhelming, to be honest. The vegetable pot at the top was quite good, but again a little under seasoned. The hummus was disappointingly bland, and needed more seasoning. The yoghurt dip was fine, and the tomato one was again a little bland.

Overall, it wasn’t an all-round hit like many of our other Berlin spots, but I think we’re both intrigued enough that we’ll go back again for another try. There are some fried breads on the menu that we somehow overlooked this time, so we’re really keen to try them. And hopefully we’ll get lots of koftas and potato manti, now that we know what’s good!

One negative point is that it was cash only, so make sure you are prepared for that. Service was great, and the interior is really nicely decorated. I’d been a little worried to see in a Happy Cow review that there were low tables that required you to sit on the floor – it turns out there are some tables like that and some ‘regular’ tables and chairs. If your creaky bones could not handle sitting on the floor for an hour or so, make sure you get yourself a table and chair!

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Vegan in Manchester: Maki & Ramen

Posted on August 26, 2024 by Jenny
A bowl filled with clear brown broth and thin noodles, topped with bok choy and lots of slices of vegan bacon

Our other stop for vegan ramen in Manchester was Maki & Ramen, which is a chain with several branches around the country. The Manchester branch is quite central, and had enough vegan options (several ramens, along with katsu and noodle dishes) to lure us in.

An open bao bun with a fried vegan chicken patty inside, drizzled with red and white sauces, along with some garnish.

We started with the vegan bao, which has a surprisingly vague description on the menu – it doesn’t tell you what the bao contains, merely that it’s vegan. We were pleasantly surprised then to learn that it was filled with a crispy mock chicken patty. You can see in the picture how well fried it was, it had a fantastic texture. It tasted and looked good too – much more visually appealing than the bao at Shoryu Ramen. My only complaint is that the patty was actually far too big for the bun, making it a messy dish to eat.

A bowl filled with clear brown broth and thin noodles, topped with bok choy and lots of slices of vegan bacon

Dr HH and I both ordered the black garlic tonkotsu ramen, which I’ve never seen on a menu in Prague. It didn’t quite live up to the name for me – I was expecting a proper smack of garlic, but it didn’t taste strongly garlicky at all. I was also expecting the broth to be a bit thicker, based on my (admittedly limited) understanding of tonkotsu, so I was a little disappointed on that front, but I can accept that I simply don’t know what a tonkotsu should be like. Nevertheless, it was a good savoury broth that we both enjoyed, even if we weren’t fully dazzled. The noodles were good. Alas, there’s bok choy, but it was fine. It came topped with vegan bacon, but we both ordered extra for ours, so these pictures do not represent the normal ramen. The bacon did not have what I remember as a very bacony texture, but it was meaty and flavoursome, and I absolutely loved it. I’d definitely order extra again in the future, because it really was the highlight of the dish.

I find the ramen spots in Prague have a lot of what I consider to be filler for the toppings, particularly loads of sweetcorn, so I enjoyed that both of the spots we tried in Manchester didn’t waste our time with the filler. The toppings were good, and the broths were generally more exciting than what we get in Prague. Even if you’re used to getting good ramen, I’d recommend Maki & Ramen!

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Vegan in Manchester: Shoryu Ramen

Posted on August 19, 2024 by Jenny
A big bowl of creamy broth topped with seaweed, large slabs of tofu, tenderstem broccoli, and bamboo.

Regular readers will know that I’ve been exploring all the vegan ramen dishes in Prague lately. My quest for good ramen is not limited to this city though, and when I was in Manchester earlier this year I squeezed in not one but two dedicated ramen restaurants with vegan options. Shoryu Ramen is very conveniently located at Piccadilly Gardens, right in the city centre, and has a few labelled vegan options.

Two bao buns sitting in a steamer, each containing a big slab of tofu with some lettuce and cucumber visible underneath and red sauce on top.

We started with the crispy tofu bao buns. As the name promised, the tofu was good and crispy. However, the accompanying lettuce, cucumber, and tofu watered everything down a bit too much for my taste. Additionally, they just didn’t look that appetising. I would have liked a bit more care with their appearance, like a drizzle of sauce rather than a blob, and shredded lettuce rather than big leaves. Ultimately, they were neither the best nor the worst baos I’ve had, and I felt like the crispy tofu deserved more.

A big bowl of creamy broth topped with seaweed, large slabs of tofu, tenderstem broccoli, and bamboo.

I ordered the vegan white natural ramen, which is not a ramen I’d ever encountered before. The broth was creamy and savoury, and I absolutely loved it. There was a generous portion of noodles. The toppings were unfortunately a little boring – two good slabs of tofu but no flavour to them. The broccoli was an improvement on the usual bok choy, buy the long stems meant that it was a little tricky to eat.

A big bowl of creamy light brown broth topped with seaweed, large slabs of tofu, tenderstem broccoli, and bamboo.

Dr HH had the vegan spicy natural ramen, and found again that it lived up to its name with a good kick to the broth which he loved. The toppings and garnishes were the same as on mine above. We both felt that our broth was the most exciting element of the dish by some distance.

We really enjoyed this spot, not least because when a dish is ready to serve the staff ring not a bell but a gong, which lends a suitably dramatic feel to the occasion. It was a popular place on a week day lunchtime, but not too crowded, and service was still fast and friendly. The broth makes it well worth a visit!

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