Cafe Eight

We stumbled into Cafe Eight on a cold day in January, expecting something a little bigger from a venue that already boasts a small publishing empire. A snug but well-lit little venue hidden on an Aobadai backstreet, evidence of its literary endeavours line a corner of the room; books on vegan cooking and life philosophy, written and produced by the café owner, Reiko Kiyono, published in both Japanese and English. It doesn't boast the city's most original decor, but a kind of rustic healthiness abounds. If a café could be said to have wind-wrought rosy cheeks, then Cafe Eight could certainly use the description.

We began our lunchtime special with a green salad, so often the curse of Japanese set menus. While other restaurants routinely offer up a small glass bowl of uninspired shredded lettuce, Cafe Eight raised eyebrows with a bowl of fresh green leaves — nothing pre-preppared about them — settled around a full and juicy cut of tomato, all melded together with a surprisingly rich tahini dressing. If the idea of vegan cooking leaves you cold, find the time to try this concoction. Your prejudices may yet leave you feeling foolish.

For our main course, our partner selected a tenpe tatsuta-age donburi, while we went for the vegan curry. Whether it was because the first course had already set an improbably high standard, or because it came served with a side of hard-to-chew genmai rice, the curry felt like an apportunity wasted — served attractively enough in a lopsided and pristine dish, but disappointingly bland in taste. A blip, perhaps, for on the opposite plate sat the donburi, one of the meal's real treats. Sweet and sour, the deep fried tofu had substantial volume, any sense of undue heft offset with a light seasoning of finely chopped negi onion. Vegan heaven in a dish? This was food to turn even the most rabid of carnivores.

The final coup de grace came with dessert. Cafe Eight's owners obviously knows that this is where their strengths lie, the refrigerated counter that sits opposite the front door heaves with tantalisingly attractive offerings. We plumped for the banana bread pudding and crunchy apple crumble, served in tofu and rum sauce. Both were baked expertly, neither dry nor too sloppy, incredibly moreish — dangerous to both waist and wallet.

Very little can be said about the café's service, other than that it was neither intrusive nor icey — refreshing to find ourselves eating without contiunuous water refills and the noise of staff greeting customers at the top of their lungs. All in all, a very pleasant place to break the habit of a lifetime and leave the meat on the rack.

Bill (for two)

Set lunch menu, including a drink, 1,000 yen each Apple crumble and banana bread pudding, 630 yen each

Total 3,260 yen

Cafe Eight map and opening hours