Tokyo’s top vegetarian restaurants

‘Is shrimp okay?’ Being vegetarian in Tokyo, you get used to hearing questions like this all the time – the well-meaning but rather clueless attempts of restaurant wait staff to comprehend how and why someone would choose not to eat meat or fish. Yet life has improved for the capital's long-misunderstood herbivores: as diners get increasingly health-conscious, we've seen farmers' markets become a regular feature on the urban landscape, and Yoyogi Park now even hosts a dedicated festival each year, Tokyo Vegefood Festa. On the restaurant scene, more places are indicating which dishes on their menus are suitable for veggies, while the floor staff seem to be getting savvier (even if there are still plenty of exceptions). Still, sometimes you just want to go somewhere you can enjoy your meal with having to triple-check about whether there's bacon in the salad or katsuobushi flakes on the tofu. Read on for 14 restaurants that are guaranteed to satisfy even the strictest Tokyo vegetarians.

Deva Deva Café

Get meaty, meat-free fast food at Kichijoji’s Deva Deva Café, which offers vegan alternatives like the chickpea ‘Yogi Burger’ and soymeat chicken nuggets. They also do takeaway, which is a tempting option when Inokashira Park is so close by. Read more

Eat More Greens

Modelled after the kind of eatery you might find in New York's Lower East Side – complete with high ceilings, long counter and ample terrace seating – Eat More Greens draws a cosmopolitan crowd with the promise of meat-free taco rice and vegan pecan pie. Read more

Meu Nota

Well worth seeking out, this vegan café hidden amongst the used clothing shops in Koenji serves an eclectic menu, including pastas, taco rice and more inventive offerings like black soybean hummus and 'taramasalata' made from potato salad and amaranth. Read more

Pure Café

Occupying the ground floor of a holistic spa complex in Aoyama, Pure Café melds its health-conscious, near-vegan principles with a bright, contemporary interior, while the early opening hours make it just the place for a revitalising breakfast. Read more

Chien-Fu Roppongi

Vegetarians stranded in Roppongi have a new haven following the opening of this Taiwanese veggie restaurant earlier in the year. Meat and fish are out at Chien-Fu, along with strong-smelling veg like onions, garlic and shallots – not that you'll notice. Read more

Chabuzen

This small, slightly shabby eatery in the backstreets of Shimokitazawa is a haven for medicinal yakuzen cuisine. You'll certainly feel invigorated after trying Chabuzen's vegan soup curry and ramen, available at levels of heat ranging up to giga-kara ('giga-spicy'). Read more

Brown Rice Café

It's all about the vegetables, beans and – yes – brown rice at this long-running veggie stronghold in Omotesando, a staunch adherent to the 'whole food' philosophy. The terrace seating is a real draw in the warmer months, and they also do reasonably priced bento boxes. Read more

Nataraj

While you can get veggie food at practically any Indian restaurant in Tokyo, few of them banish meat and fish from their menus altogether. 'Natural is healthy', say the folks at the 100% vegetarian Nataraj – and on this evidence, it's also damn tasty. Read more

Little Cucina Yume

This tiny eatery, located in a quiet residential area between Nishi-Nippori and Tabata, is a true hidden gem. Using only fresh, seasonal veggies for all dishes, the chefs here are particular about bringing out the original tastes of the ingredients, forgoing all kinds of artificial seasoning. Read more

Garden Café

The Sincere Garden spa on Aoyama-dori is home to an organic restaurant that's likely to appeal to vegetarians – especially female ones. Choose from a selection of veggie salads, curries and soups, including a Sri Lankan combo plate that's based on ayurvedic principles. Read more

Nagi Shokudo

Shibuya's best vegetarian restaurant is tricky to find, but the generous lunch and dinner sets reward the effort. A casual setting, consistently interesting soundtrack and well-stocked library of Japanese and English 'zines further sweeten the deal. Read more

Kuumba du Falafel

The finest falafel shop in all of Tokyo, Kuumba makes stuffed-to-bursting sandwiches that are like starter and entree rolled into one. The menu is actually entirely vegan, but they're not the kind of place to make a fuss about stuff like that. Read more

Island Veggie

We weren't hugely impressed by this 'Hawaiian macrobiotics' eatery when it first opened in Hiroo, but Island Veggie has got much better over time. Everything on the menu is meat- and fish-free, and available for takeaway as a vegetarian bento box. Read more

Crayon House Hiroba

Housed in the basement of a children's bookstore in Omotesando, Crayon House Hiroba isn't exclusively vegetarian, but it's easy to put together a filling veggie meal from their ¥1,260 lunchtime buffet of nutritious organic grub. Read more