18 Awesome Vegan Restaurants to Visit in Tokyo

Ask any vegan visiting this country, and they’ll say the same thing – “Plant-based food isn’t as easy to find in Japan”. It’s true.

Japanese food has a reputation for being one of the world’s healthiest cuisines. However, after transitioning to a more plant-based diet, I would quickly learn that “healthy” doesn’t necessarily mean vegan- or vegetarian-friendly.

Japanese cuisine favors fresh, nutrient-rich ingredients like vegetables and grains, but it also relies heavily on fish, seafood, and lean meats. Dashi, a fish-based stock, is a foundational ingredient in Japanese cooking. And although shojin ryori (traditional Buddhist cuisine) is inherently plant-based, the traditional Japanese diet is seafood- and meat-heavy, making veganism a relatively niche lifestyle in Japan.

Stand on any busy street corner in Shinjuku or Shibuya, and you’ll have hundreds of traditional Japanese restaurants to choose from. It isn’t hard to find great food in Tokyo, but sadly, only a minute fraction is vegan or offers vegan options.

That’s exactly why I’ve put together this guide – to help make it easier for vegan visitors to find good plant-based food in this city.

THE BEST PLANT-BASED RESTAURANTS IN TOKYO

1. Sougo

Are you familiar with the term shojin ryori? It translates to “devotion cuisine” and refers to a vegetarian style of cooking that was introduced to Japan with the arrival of Buddhism in the 6th century.

There’s no better place than a Koyasan temple to experience authentic shojin ryori, but if you can’t make the pilgrimage to Wakayama, then you can enjoy a more modern version at Sougo in Roppongi. Sougo is an upscale shojin kaiseki restaurant helmed by leading plant-based chef Daisuke Nomura.

In traditional shojin ryori, all the dishes are served together, but Chef Nomura offers them one after the other in a kasieki-style course meal. Pictured below is a dish of fried taro served with walnuts, shishito peppers, and puffed rice stalks. Isn’t it gorgeous? It was the first of seven artfully plated dishes we enjoyed tonight.

Sougo offers two types of shojin kaiseki at night – Hasu (aperitif, 9 dishes, 2 desserts) and Zen (7 dishes, 1 dessert). We experienced Zen shojin kaiseki but with sake and wine pairing, an exclusive offering available only through Wabunka. Each course is paired with sake, wine, and other domestic spirits, all of which are carefully selected by Chef Nomura.

If you’re looking for a more upscale shojin ryori experience in Tokyo, then Sougo is a great place to consider. Chef Nomura is from the family behind Daigo, another highly acclaimed shojin ryori restaurant in Tokyo that has held two Michelin stars since 2008.

You can learn more about this unique experience in my article on shojin kaiseki at Sougo.

Invisible to passers-by, Sougo is located on the third floor of the Roppongi Green Building.

Sougo

Address: Japan, 〒106-0032 Tokyo, Minato City, Roppongi, 6 Chome−1−8 3F
Operating Hours: 11:30AM-3PM, 5:30-11PM, Mon-Sat (closed Sundays)

2. Saido

Speaking of highly acclaimed plant-based restaurants, Saido is another restaurant vegans should visit in Tokyo. It was rated the number one vegan restaurant in the world by Happy Cow in 2020.

Saido offers set meals with soup, salad, your choice of main dish, your choice of dessert, and any two drinks. A great deal to begin with, it’s made even better by the unexpectedly high quality of the food.

Take this garden salad, for example. Not only is it artfully arranged, it was also served in a small glass cloche filled with vapor. How beautiful is that? And yes, it was every bit as delicious as it looks.

For my main dish, I went with the katsuju. It’s a plant-based version of katsu or deep-fried cutlet coated with panko bread crumbs. Similar to the garden salad, the main dishes are served in these lacquered boxes filled with vapor.

Mrs Traveleater went with the unaju or plant-based version of unagi over rice. This was delicious and a clever interpretation of our beloved unagi. I don’t have a picture of it, but the chef even mimicked the skin that’s typically served on the underside of these eel fillets. So cool!

We both got rice dishes for our main course, but Saido offers a selection of plant-based noodle dishes as well.

For dessert, we had this rice flour chocolate cake…

…and this uber kawaii raspberry mousse served in a pot with crushed nuts and an edible matcha tree. How cute is that tiny shovel spoon?

Before having lunch at Saido, I questioned how one restaurant can be declared the top vegan restaurant in the world, but not anymore. I’ve been on mostly a plant-based diet for over two years, and Saido is my favorite vegan restaurant in over a dozen countries thus far. This place is awesome.

Saido

Address: 2 Chome-15-10 Jiyugaoka, Meguro City, Tokyo 152-0035, Japan
Operating Hours: 12NN-2PM, 6-8PM, Thurs-Tue (closed Wednesdays)

3. Veganic Monkey Magic

As mentioned, vegan restaurants are still relatively rare in Tokyo – but do you know what’s even rarer? A vegan restaurant that serves plant-based tasting menus. And if that’s not uncommon enough, they’re all prepared by a chef wearing a full-body monkey costume and kooky face paint. Oh Japan.

Located in Asakusa, just a 5-minute walk from Senso-ji, Veganic Monkey Magic is a reservation-only vegan restaurant offering 10-14 course tasting menus prepared by the one and only Chef Monkey-san.

The monkey costume may seem gimmicky and over the top, but as many reviewers have remarked, the food is not. Pictured below is one of the courses from my visit to the restaurant – tempeh from Nagano and vegan yakiniku made with konjac. Pretty inventive, right?

There’s no a la carte menu at the restaurant – only tasting menus that I believe change week to week. You can see more of Chef Monkey-san’s dishes in my article about Veganic Monkey Magic.

Veganic Monkey Magic is open only from Thursdays to Saturdays and can accommodate a maximum of seven diners at a time. Reservations are a must and can be done through the restaurant’s Google Docs form.

Veganic Monkey Magic

Address: Japan, 〒111-0032 Tokyo, Asakusa, 2 Chome−27−16 お宿 松むら 1階
Operating Hours: 7-10:30PM, Thurs / 12NN-3:30PM, 7-10:30PM, Fri-Sat (closed Sun-Wed)

4. Coret

Coret is one of my favorite vegan restaurants in Tokyo, located in one of my favorite neighborhoods in Tokyo – Koenji. They offer a variety of vegan set meals consisting of a main dish, rice or bread, salad, and your choice of side dishes from a daily buffet.

Pictured below is the veggie katsu and dry curry. It consists of vegan wheat cutlets and veggie dry curry served with fermented brown rice (or rice flour bread), a leafy green salad, pickles, and four side dishes, which I selected myself from their buffet.

Here’s a look at Coret’s side dish buffet – I love being able to pick out whichever dishes catch my eye on that day.

Coret is a warm and welcoming vegan restaurant with friendly staff and a seemingly loyal Japanese clientele, which is surprising because veganism still feels very much like a niche pursuit in Japan. Over time, I hope more restaurants like Coret pop up throughout Tokyo.

Coret is located in a quieter, more residential part of Koenji. You can refer to the map at the bottom of this article for its exact location.

Coret

Address: Japan, 〒166-0002 Tokyo, Suginami City, Koenjikita, 4 Chome−1−7 高円寺アパートメント テラス棟
Operating Hours: 11AM-7PM, daily

5. Vegan Bistro Jangara

I had heard great things about this popular vegan restaurant in Harajuku – including from a plant-based chef who couldn’t stop singing its praises – so I was happy to find that the hype was well deserved.

Vegan Bistro Jangara offers a selection of plant-based dishes, from burgers and tacos to Massaman curry and vegan mentaiko. Where they really shine, though, is in their ramen and noodle dishes. They offer a tasty selection of Asian noodle soups – including Singaporean laksa and Taiwanese spicy noodles – but their signature bowls are the vegan karabon and vegan kobonshan, both of which are plant-based versions of Hakata ramen.

I love spicy food, so I tried the vegan karabon, a spicy rendition of tonkotsu ramen. Topped with grilled soy meat, kikurage (wood ear mushroom), onions, and scallions, this supremely tasty ramen will have you sweating and sniffling from your first slurp to your last.

Vegan Bistro Jangara is located on the second floor of a small building in Harajuku, so it can be hard to spot. Just navigate to its location on Google Maps and look for this elevator.

Vegan Bistro Jangara

Address: シャンゼール原宿２, 号館 ２Ｆ, 1 Chome-13-21 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan
Operating Hours: 11AM-9PM, daily

6. Vegan Gyoza

I love restaurants with a focused menu and a clear identity, and that’s exactly what Vegan Gyoza is. From their name alone, you know exactly what you’re going to get – gyoza filled with a variety of plant-based ingredients.

Aren’t these pretty? Vegan Gyoza offers eleven types of handmade plant-based dumplings, which you can get either steamed or pan-fried. You can take them home frozen as well. Each gyoza is made with a different-colored wrapper, so you know exactly what you’re biting into.

At the time of my visit, Vegan Gyoza offers dumplings filled with mushroom, celery, green pepper, chives, green onion, ginger, corianger, kimchi, eggplant, and garlic. All dumplings are filled with soy meat and seasoned with olive oil and sea salt.

Here’s a closer look at the garlic gyoza filling. Every gyoza was delicious, but this was one of my favorites. It was absolutely bursting with garlic flavor.

Aside from animal products, Vegan Gyoza doesn’t use any artificial food coloring, artificial flavors, additives, alcohol, or GMO products in their dumplings.

Aside from their delicious dumplings, I love the restaurant’s clean and minimalist decor as well.

Vegan Gyoza is located in Negishi, a quiet residential neighborhood just north of Ueno.

Vegan Gyoza

Address: 3 Chome-11-17 Negishi, Taito City, Tokyo 110-0003, Japan
Operating Hours: 12NN-9PM, Wed-Sun (closed Mon-Tue)

7. Brown Rice

Brown Rice is a more upscale plant-based restaurant in the luxurious Omotesando neighborhood. It isn’t fine dining like Sougo (#1), but they do offer a more refined experience in a stylish, tastefully decorated space.

Brown Rice offers a handful of a la carte dishes, but their meal sets are the most attractive items on the menu. The beautifully presented tray below is the bamboo basket steamed vegetable set. It consists of over ten different vegetables steamed in a bamboo basket and then served with miso soup, brown rice, dipping sauces, and a few side dishes.

What you’re looking at here is the seasonal set menu. It consists of a main dish, two seasonal side dishes, miso soup, brown rice, and pickles. The main dish changes every week, but tonight, they served us agedashi tofu with an assortment of potatoes.

Brown Rice is owned and operated by Neal’s Yard Remedies, a UK-based retailer of organic health and beauty products. It’s pricier than some of the other plant-based restaurants on this list, but you’d expect that from a stylish place like this in Omotesando.

Brown Rice

Address: 5 Chome-1-8 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan
Operating Hours: 11:30AM-6PM, daily

8. Rojiura Curry Samurai

Alongside sushi and ramen, Japanese curry is regarded by many as one of Japan’s national dishes. It’s a dish you should probably try at least once on your trip to Tokyo.

The problem is, the base of Japanese curry is often made with animal products like meat- or fish-based stock, so you’ll need to find a restaurant that offers fully vegan versions of this beloved Japanese dish. Thankfully, there’s Rojiura Curry Samurai.

Rojiura Curry Samurai is a popular restaurant chain that offers different types of Japanese curry. It isn’t a vegan restaurant – they serve pork and chicken – but they do offer curry made with just vegetables and a non-meat base. Just tell the waiter that you’d like a vegan soup base for your curry.

This mouthwatering bowl of curry is made with twenty kinds of vegetables. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s rare to enjoy so many fresh vegetables in just one dish.

Rojiura Curry Samurai has multiple outlets throughout the city, but there’s no better branch to visit than the one in Shimokitazawa, the unofficial curry capital of Tokyo.

Rojiura Curry Samurai

Address: Multiple branches

9. Gopinatha

If you’re planning on spending a day in Nakano Broadway, then Gopinatha is a great restaurant to enjoy a quiet meal. Emphasis on quiet because the owner and cook stresses the importance of enjoying your meal with as little noise/conversation as possible.

Open for lunch and dinner, this tiny one-woman show offers just one set meal consisting of a few plant-based dishes, salads, brown rice, and soup. Like the offerings at Coret (#4), it’s a simple and hearty meal that leaves you feeling full and satisfied.

Gopinatha is located just a short walk from the otaku haven that is Nakano Browadway.

If you look at the right side of the picture below, you’ll see a small sign that says the restaurant is for single diners only. This is in line with the owner’s request for silence during your meal, but couples can go as long as they keep their voices down and conversations to a minimum.

I don’t know the reason behind this, but I appreciated it. It allowed us a few moments of Zen and mindfulness to enjoy a nutritious home-cooked meal, a rarity in lightning-paced Tokyo.

Gopinatha

Address: Japan, 〒164-0001 Tokyo, Nakano City, Nakano, 5 Chome−17−10 天神ハウス
Operating Hours: 12:10-2:30PM, 6-8PM, Thurs-Mon (closed Tue-Wed)

10. Vegan Soba Tokyo Ayler

Ever since I switched to a more plant-based diet, soba has become my go-to dish in Japan. Made from 100% buckwheat or a buckwheat-wheat blend, soba noodles are typically vegan, but the other components they’re served with may not be. Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about any of that at this next restaurant.

Vegan Soba Tokyo Ayler is a tiny one-man vegan soba shop in Shimokitazawa. It offers a focused menu of fully vegan soba-centric dishes like zaru soba, tempura soba, curry soba, and wakame soba.

I was especially hungry today, so I went with this special New Year Soba. It’s made with soba noodle soup topped with vegan tempura, yuba (tofu skin), and gobo (burdock root) chips. Oishi!

Here’s a better look at the vegan tempura.

I love finding hidden gems like Vegan Soba Tokyo Ayler. Pictured below is basically the entire restaurant. It consists of just three small tables and an open kitchen in a minimalist space.

The owner is a super-friendly guy who has a passion for good music, as evidenced by his impressive sound system and record collection. Very Tokyo cool, very Shimokitazawa.

Vegan Soba Tokyo Ayler is about a 15-minute walk north of Shimo-Kitazawa Station. There’s hardly a sign, so look out for the space pictured below.

Vegan Soba Tokyo Ayler

Address: 4 Chome-24-15 Kitazawa, Setagaya City, Tokyo 155-0031, Japan
Operating Hours: 11:30AM-5PM, Mon-Tue, Thurs / 11:30AM-4PM, 7:30-11PM, Wed, Fri / 7:30-11PM, Sun (closed Sat)

11. Oscar

I love Chinese food. But as much as I hate to admit it, I may love American Chinese food even more. I don’t know who General Tso is, but he’s my hero.

At fully vegan restaurant Oscar in Shimokitazawa, you can get plant-based versions of American Chinese classics like General Tso “chicken”, kung pao “chicken”, “beef” and broccoli, and sweet and sour “pork”.

Pictured below is a heaping platter of General Tso “chicken” and “broccoli” and beef, with half-and-half brown rice and chow mein. If no one told me this was plant-based, I may never have guessed.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d find a vegan restaurant serving my favorite American Chinese dishes, especially in Tokyo. Thank you Oscar.

Oscar is located in the Bonus Track complex in Shimokitazawa, which, as you can probably tell by now, is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Tokyo.

Oscar

Address: Japan, 〒155-0033 Tokyo, Setagaya City, Daita, 2 Chome−36−15 BONUS TRACK 2F
Operating Hours: 12NN-11PM, daily

12. Marugoto

If it’s your first time in Tokyo, then you’ll undoubtedly find yourself at some point in chaotic Senso-ji, the city’s oldest temple and one of its busiest attractions. The approach to Senso-ji is just as famous for its many street food options, but if you’d prefer a healthier meal in a less hectic environment, then make your way to Marugoto.

Located just a short walk from the temple, Marugoto offers home-cooked vegan lunch sets, curries, and desserts. All their dishes and desserts are gluten-free and made without any added sugar. I’m guessing the owner might be Buddhist because they don’t use any pungent vegetables in their cooking either.

Featured prominently on the menu is a lunch plate that starts with this mixed green salad topped with a homemade organic carrot dressing.

Behold the vegan lunch plate! It consists of chickpea-flour vegetable tempura, oil-free curry, multi-grain brown rice, and vegan karaage made with fried peas and fava beans drizzled with a homemade tahini sauce. It’s amazing how good they can make everything taste without using any onions or garlic.

Marugoto also offers full orders of their vegan curry and rice served with different side dishes like tempeh or avocado. The five-vegetable tempura is the most popular.

Marugoto is just a 5-minute walk from Senso-ji, but the difference in atmosphere is like night and day. Compared to chaotic Senso-ji, Marugoto feels more like a temple.

Marugoto

Address: 1 Chome-3-13 Hanakawado, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0033, Japan
Operating Hours: 11:30AM-3PM, 6-8:30PM, Sun-Mon, Thurs / 10AM-3PM, 6-8:30PM, Fri-Sat / 9AM-3PM, 6-8:30PM, Wed / 11:30AM-3PM, Tue

13. Komaki Shokudo

Komaki Shokudo is another vegan restaurant that serves plant-based set meals centered around Japanese favorites like curry, omelette rice, and kitsune udon. Depending on your appetite, you can enjoy simple set meals or feast on multi-dish spreads like the one pictured below.

What you’re looking at here is the koufuku-gozen, the largest set meal on their menu. It consists of soy meat karaage and curry served with a plethora of side dishes like fried tofu, red bean rice, miso soup, potato salad, stewed mushrooms, and more. Beautiful to look at and quite satisfying.

Komaki Shokudo is located in Akihabara, just a short walk from Akihabara Station.

Komaki Shokudo

Address: CHABARA 内, 8-2 Kanda Neribeicho, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 101-0022, Japan
Operating Hours: 11AM-4PM, 5-7:30PM, Mon-Fri / 11AM-7:30PM, Sat-Sun

14. T’s Tantan

Ramen is such an important (and delicious) dish in Japanese cuisine that you’ll probably want to have it a few times on your next visit to Tokyo. My personal favorite so far is the vegan karabon at Vegan Bistro Jangara (#5), but this golden sesame tantanmen special from T’s Tantan is pretty darn good too.

This pretty bowl of vegan ramen is made with soy meat miso and “char siu” served with peanut cream, vegan cheese, microgreens, and sesame seeds. Topped with an edible monaka wafer sporting the restaurant’s logo, it’s a creamier type of ramen that may be a better option for people wanting less heat in their food.

T’s Tantan is a popular vegan restaurant with several branches throughout Tokyo. The outlet pictured below is located within the bowels of Tokyo Station.

Because of the restaurant’s name, I thought that T’s Tantan offered only vegan ramen, but they serve a wider range of plant-based dishes like curry, doria, Hamburg steak, and pizza. Check out their lunch and dinner menus for more options.

T’s Tantan

Address: Multiple branches

15. Alaska Zwei

If the type of vegan meals served at Coret (#4), Gopinatha (#9), and Marugoto (#12) appeals to you, then you may want to pin this next restaurant as well. Located in stylish Nakameguro, Alaska Zwei is a neighborhood vegan cafe that serves simple sandwiches and rustic lunch plates.

For lunch, you can choose from one of four plated meals – a brown rice plate, a soup plate, a salad plate, and a curry plate. Pictured below is the brown rice plate featuring soy meat karaage and a beet quinoa salad served with brown rice, pickles, dashi, and leafy greens. The main dish and side change daily, but the rest of the plate remains the same.

Alaska Zwei is located in Nakameguro, a charming area that’s particularly beautiful during sakura season, when the Meguro River is framed by blossoming cherry trees on both sides. The area is also home to the Starbucks Tokyo Roastery, one of just six Starbucks Reserves in the world.

Alaska Zwei

Address: 2 Chome-5-7 Higashiyama, Meguro City, Tokyo 153-0043, Japan
Operating Hours: 9AM-6PM, daily

16. Loca Kitchen

Loca Kitchen is a small restaurant in Koenji that serves a motley mix of simple plant-based dishes like ratatouille, falafel, Japanese curry, brown rice risotto, and baguette pizzas. It’s operated by a woman who appears to do all the cooking and food preparation herself.

When I first sat down, there was just one other diner at the restaurant besides me. He was eating this delicious-looking (and sounding) baguette pizza, so I asked for the same. It’s a margherita-style baguette pizza made with the crunchiest French bread, topped with tomato sauce, eggplant, mushrooms, basil, and vegan cheese.

If you were wondering what those blue specks were in the previous picture, they’re from some type of edible flower. I couldn’t really taste the flower, but the pizza itself is absolutely delicious. The baguette she uses is fantastic – crunchy on the outside but very light and airy on the inside.

When writing this article, I was surprised to learn that Loca Kitchen’s long-standing location under the JR overpass appears to have closed. According to the restaurant’s Facebook page, the overpass is being redeveloped, so the owner was forced to move her restaurant to a new location.

Loca Kitchen’s new location will be near Shin-Koenji Station, around a 15-minute walk north of its previous space in Koenji Gado-shita. The owner hopes to open around the end of April 2026.

Loca Kitchen

Address: 166-0003, 3-68-1, Koenji-minami, Suginami-ku, Tokyo (previous location)
Operating Hours: 6-11PM, daily

17. Komeda Is □

Spend enough time in Tokyo, and you’ll likely see your fair share of Komeda’s Coffee cafes. The oddly named “Komeda is □” is the popular coffee chain’s foray into plant-based food. I’ll explain what that box means in a bit.

Komeda is □ brands itself as a plant-based kissaten. A kissaten, or kissa for short, is a traditional Japanese tearoom or coffee shop that serves hand-drip coffee and light meals. That’s exactly the type of food you’ll find at Komeda is □. They serve simple, plant-based fare like salads, pasta dishes, burgers, and sandwiches.

Pictured below is the avocado teriyaki burger. Served with a side of fries, it consists of a grilled soy meat patty sandwiched in a bun with tomatoes, lettuce, thick slices of avocado, teriyaki sauce, and vegan mayonnaise.

Taste-wise, the burger was decent – the patty is obviously plant-based – but it’s pretty big and quite filling.

Komeda is □ is a lovely cafe located in Tokyo’s Ginza district.

The blank after “Komeda is” is meant for you to fill in with whatever adjective you think best describes the restaurant. I have no opinion.

Komeda Is

Address: Japan, 〒104-0045 Tokyo, Chuo City, Tsukiji, 1 Chome−13−1 銀座松竹スクエア 1階
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, daily

18. Planet of Curry

As its name suggests, Planet of Curry is another restaurant in Shimokitazawa that specializes in Japanese curry. Like Rojiura Curry Samurai (#8), it isn’t a fully vegan restaurant, but they do have something tasty for plant-based eaters on their menu.

What you’re looking at here is the potage curry of beans and vegetables. One of just four dishes on their highly-focused menu, it’s a simple, non-spicy curry made with chickpeas and lentils. They serve it with yellow bulgur rice, microgreens, and a side of pickles.

Two women were walking out of the restaurant as I was entering, and they stopped to tell me just how good the curry at this restaurant was. I would agree, but I did find the portion to be a little small.

Planet of Curry is one of several curry restaurants – and one of just two I know of with vegan options – in trendy Shimokitazawa.

Planet of Curry

Address: Japan, 〒155-0031 Tokyo, Setagaya City, Kitazawa, 2 Chome−33−11 SY-I ビル 1階
Operating Hours: 11AM-3:30PM, 5-8PM, daily

TOKYO VEGAN RESTAURANTS LOCATION MAP

To help you navigate, I’ve pinned the plant-based restaurants recommended in this guide on this map. Click on the link to open the map in a new window.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON PLANT-BASED FOOD IN TOKYO

I just googled it, and there are an estimated 160,000+ restaurants in the Tokyo area, more than any other city on earth. Considering the dizzying number of restaurants to choose from, you’d think vegans wouldn’t have a problem finding good food in Tokyo. However, that isn’t the case, at least not in my experience.

An infinitesimally small percentage of those restaurants serve plant-based food, so I had to do all my research beforehand and pin all my options on a map. Vegan restaurants can be few and far between in this city, but with this vegan restaurant guide, I hope you’ll never be too far from a delicious plant-based meal in Tokyo.

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