Home to the most people in the world and also ranked as one of the most expensive places to live, Tokyo has an abundance to offer visitors looking for an authentic travel experience. But what about vegan cuisine? After a week in this chaotically vibrant capital city, we had a clear picture of the green scene, no sushi required.
1. Cori – Vegan
Address: 〒154-0011 4-2-20 kamiuma, setagaya, tokyo
Hours: Thu 6PM – 11PM; Fri – Mon: 12 – 4PM, 6PM – 11PM
Phone: 03(6450)7556
Jazzy, cozy and — slightly a secret — this hard-to-locate vegan bistro is worth the extra scavenger hunt necessary to find it. Their soy chicken Namban Burger is juicy and saucy and comes topped with a creamy tartar sauce to offset the sweet and sour chicken nuggets and their potato wedges were crispy and perfectly fried, though we wish there were more than four small pieces! They also serve organic beer and have a few homemade desserts.
2. T’s Tan Tan – Vegan
Address/Hours/Phone: multiple locations
Hearty, savory vegan ramen at palatable set meal prices abound at T’s Tan Tan, an all-vegan restaurant with convenient locations inside Tokyo train stations (yes, this is a thing in Tokyo: fully stocked malls and restaurants inside train stations!). We stopped by the Ueno location, which had two choices of ramen sets and two rice sets paired with an excellent quality coffee or tea (their coffee was, by our estimation, the best tasting one during our whole trip!).
3. Ain Soph. Soar (formerly Ripple) – Vegan
Address: 〒170-0013 Union Building 1F, 3-5-7 Higashiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Hours: Lunch 11:30-16:00 (LO 15:30) Dinner 18:00-21:00 (LO 20:30)
Phone: 050-3733-9419
4. Ain Soph. Ginza – Vegan
Address: 4-12-1 Ginaza, Chuo 104-0061, Tokyo Prefecture
Hours: Sun – Sat 11:30AM – 4 PM; 6PM – 9PM
Phone: 050-3134-4241
The most pricey restaurant out of our list is also one of the most stylish, for good reason. A carefully curated menu and dessert list that includes macrobiotic bento boxes, homemade tiramisu and cake-like fluffy pancakes a la mode. A takeaway patisserie is on the first floor, while seated dining is located on the second. While we loved the flavors, the high price point and small portion size was forbidding.
5. 8ablish – Vegan
Address: 〒105-0001 東京都港区虎ノ門5-8-1 麻布台ヒルズ ガーデンプラザA 2F Azabudai Hills Garden Plaza A 2F, 5-8-1, Toranomon, Minato-ku,Tokyo 105-0001 ✴︎東京メトロ日比谷線神谷町駅 5番出口から直結
Hours: 11:00 – 19:00
Phone: 03-6432-0288
High on clean, minimal and eco-friendly style and a bit low on flavor, 8ablish is a good pick for those worried about their waistline. A rotating menu is featured everyday, with all choices written in neat markerboard. We had both their special (yellow mung bean Italian stew) and their fixed menu item (tempeh, grilled vegetables and tofu skewers with pitabread and rice). Everything was pretty flavorless and we left still a bit hungry. On Mondays, they give you a shot-sized dessert in honor of Meatless Monday.
