Mame no Hatake

That evening we made a visit to Kobe to visit a Japanese friend. She took us to a very nice tofu restaurant inside a small shopping centre, Shin Kobe Oriental Avenue (新神戸オリエンタルアベニュー), and a short subway ride away from Kobe's main station, called Mame no Hatake (豆乃畑). Mame is beans/peas, as in soy beans.

It was another viking buffet, and while it wasn't entirely vegetarian there was a very good range of vegetarian choices. The restaurant was presented as serving 'tofu cuisine and healthy/natural eating', with 20 types of tofu (including handmade ones), plus a variety of vegetables, noodles, and assorted hot and cold food items on offer. We tried some of the vegetable tempura, noodles, salad and several different types of tofu (check out the purple and green tinged ones below!).



There were also pickles and konnyaku, which our friend was surprised that we liked so much as she thought it would be too weird for non-Japanese. Tea and miso soup were also included in the price, and there were even a couple of different teas to choose from! A waiter also came around to offer some special tofu (the small dish in the photo below) to all the customers, but I can't remember what was so special about it! It was quite tasty though. There were also a decent selection of fish (including sushi) and meat items being served as well, so it would be a good place to go with non-veg friends that want their meat intake.



Of course there was a selection of desserts too, happily including our favourite, green tea ice cream:



The price for this healthy buffet is ¥1580 per person for 90 minutes, very good value even if you don't eat any of the fish sushi! Most of the vegetarian options were cold, so it might not be that fulfilling if you are in the mood for a big hearty meal. However, if you want something on the lighter side that taste healthy and refreshing, Mame no Hatake is definitely worth a visit.


豆乃畑
兵庫県神戸市中央区北野町1-1　新神戸オリエンタルアベニュー２Ｆ　
TEL: 078-252-7778

Far D

Next day we were at Hep Five in the Umeda area, famous for its big red ferris wheel although we didn't go on that. There 10+ restaurants and cafes on the 7th floor, but we didn't want to spend or eat too much. It would have been interesting to try one of the dessert viking places, デザート王国 (Dessert Kingdom), but I wasn't in the mood to eat lots of cakes and sweets. We tried to find something suitable by looking at all the food models on offered and in the end we settled for Far D, partly due to the bizarre claim of their cooking style made outside.



Vegetarian options were limited but to their credit they were quite happy to accommodate us. We showed the host our 'no meat no seafood' writing, and he checked with the kitchen and assured us it was ok. He spoke a tiny bit of English, and suggested that they make the dishes without some of the ingredients listed - for example, taking the ham out from the creamy pasta (no hamu!). The food was a bit closer to Western style than other places we went to.



The carbonara pasta type dish (minus the ham) was nice, and the cheese and tomato pizza wasn't bad. We probably could have found something better if we bothered to go around other areas nearby, but the food did the job for something simple and not that expensive (less than ￥1000 for each dish), even though we weren't any closer to understanding what was 'Canterbury' cooking style.


Far D
〒530-0017 大阪市北区角田町5-5 HEP FIVE 7F
TEL: 06-6366-3686

Kushiya Monogatari - Kagura Syokudo

The next restaurant we went to was right in the middle of the Dōtonbori area (near the giant crab) and on the 9th floor, meaning that from our seat we got a great view of, well, the tops of the other tall buildings across the street. Some confusion about what the name where we were actually was - different sites have slightly different variations. The name seems to be Kushiya Monogatari (串家物語, and sometimes with 神楽食堂), from which monogatari (物語) means story and kushiya (串家) is in reference to its food being kushiage - fried things on sticks, is a popular specialty of the Osaka region! It is a national chain of deep fried skewers buffet restaurant.


The poster for their 'Winter sensation fair' outside of the restaurant gave an idea of what to expect. Although it's clearly not catered for vegetarians, there were quite a lot of veggies-on-sticks on offer here. And while the staff's English didn't seem that extensive the tables helpfully had cards explaining the idea of the restaurant in various languages:



For some reason 'please put only sticks in the fryer' made us giggle! Anyway, the all-you-can-fry buffet provided a wide selection of ready-prepared sticks on cooled shelfs, including lots of different types of raw vegetables and a couple of different cheeses. We picked up a bunch of said sticks, brought them to the table, dipped them in the liquid batter and breadcrumbs and then put them in the fryer. There was a ninety minute time limit but if you can eat fried sticks (and a selection of other cooked choices, although these mainly were't vegetarian; we did have some salad and plain udon) for more than an hour even you either go very slowly or have a much bigger appetite than us.

This dining experience lent itself well to lots of pictures... All set up and ready to go.



A couple of sticks in the fryer at our table...



It took a couple of goes to get the hang of how much to put on and how long to leave them in so as not to end up with too thick/fried a layer of batter. Then part of the fun was juggling eating and frying so as to get it right and not leave any waiting time. There were a wide variety of condiments and sauces for you to choose and mix to compliment your fried items.

Finished sticks (lotus root and konnyaku) and uncooked sticks (pumpkin, button mushroom, aubergine, onion, pepper and bread):



After a while...



Yes, I really did get through that many sticks myself! Went back for more a couple of times, with the different types of mushrooms, cheese and konnyaku were particular favourites.

There were even a selection of desserts and fruits to choose from afterwards if you could somehow still manage it. Sight of a piece of mostly eaten waffle, chocolate cake and think pancake shown below; ihascupcake had some coffee flavoured grass jelly. We also had some oranges for good measure.



Finally, after we were all finished, the resulting carnage:



Eating this food all the time would surely be a quick route to heart disease even if you don't have to worry about your waistline, but as a one off it was great fun as well as tasty. At ￥2,625 it was not the cheapest thing we had but when you look at the number of sticks we got through it was actually great value too, even if we hadn't been lucky enough to be given discount vouchers in the lift on the way up. You can also add all-you-can drink for an additional ￥1,050, so might be a good place for a fun evening with friends.


Kushiya Monogatari (Dōtonbori branch)
〒542-0071大阪府大阪市中央区道頓堀1-6-15　ﾄﾞｳﾄﾝﾋﾞﾙ 9F
TEL/FAX：06-6214-5494

Green Earth, Osaka

Green Earth was the second strictly vegetarian restaurant we successfully went to in Japan (vegan restaurant in Shibuya was still closed for New Year holiday and a shojin ryori/buddhist cuisine restaurant in Kyoto was just closed). We ended up going there twice, which is a sign of how impressed we were the first time!

According to directions that we looked up on the internet, the restaurant is closest to Honmachi Station (exit 15, 5 minute walk), which is north of the restaurant. But since we were coming from Shinsaibashi area, which is south of the restaurant, it took us a bit to find it even though we had some indicators (e.g. the restaurant is near a shinto 難波神社 and the street is parallel to the main road Midosuji). Luckily we weren't going in too many circles before we found the Green Earth sandwich board on one of the smaller streets.



The restaurant was actually quite roomy, at least for Japanese standards. The kitchen/counter was near the front, and the dinning area was at the back. There were a few customers in there already, including some people from Sweden (we overhead them telling the owner later on); I guess the place must be a known spot for other fellow Western vegetarians. There are Japanese and English menus. We found a wide selection of adapted Western style dishes, including pizza, pasta, hamburger, sandwich and hotdog. There was also a daily special set for ¥700.

I decided to try the mushroom curry, and IF went for pizza. We also got a side order of something that was sort of like veggie fried 'chicken' pieces, I have a weak spot for fried stuff!



The fried pieces were sort of prepared in the Japanese deep fried style, karaage (唐揚げ), only maybe not as fried. I have to say it was very tasty!

My mushroom curry came with brown rice. I'd say although the dish wasn't really entirely 'Western' or 'Japanese', probably a bit of both. The curry was very nice, though not particularly spicy.



IF's pizza looked really good (and tasted good too)! It came with assorted vegetables and veg ham on wholemeal dough.



The prices were quite reasonable, with the non-daily specials being less than ¥1000 each (cheaper prices for sandwiches and hotdogs, etc. about ¥500-600). The daily special seemed like a good deal and we saw other customers getting it. We decided to come back 2 days later before we left Osaka because we liked the prices and food there, plus wanted to show our support to a vegetarian restaurant!

This time we seemed to be the only non-Japanese customers there. We got the fried 'chicken' pieces again, as they were just that tasty. We also went for something healthier - mushroom salad.



It had a lovely dressing, and it was quite big (probably enough as a meal if you're not very hungry)! Great mix of lettuce, bell pepper, sprouts, arame (or similar type of sea vegetables) and mushrooms - nutritious and yummy!

I went for more fungus - mushroom pasta! This was definitely a fusion creation, pasta in Japaese style. It was almost like a noodle type dish. It had a soy type sauce, topped with Asian mushrooms, a bit of seaweed and baby sprouts. It's quite simple yet satisfying.



IF went for the curry this time, aubergine curry with brown rice that was. He enjoyed it too, even though normally he's not a huge curry fan.



We didn't have room to try any of their cakes and desserts because we got a bit greedy with our order this time; they did seem tempting though. We chatted a bit with the owners during this visit, since they probably remembered us from the other day. They spoke some English and were very nice. Green Earth offered homely yet wonderfully made vegetarian dishes. The name of the place probably gives a healthy eating undertone; however, it is definitely not a 'rabbit food' type of place (which is something I don't really fancy), in fact probably somewhere vegetarians and non-vegetarians could enjoy. The prices were also very reasonable, especially handy for budget travellers. It is currently only opened for lunch, and the food is mostly vegan. We would definitely go back, once or twice, next time when we are in Osaka.


Green Earth
4-2-2, Kitakyuhoji-machi, Chuo-ku, Osaka
大阪府大阪市中央区北久宝寺町4－2－2　久宝ビル1F
Tel: 06-62511245

Fugetsu okonomiyaki

Next stop after Kyoto was Osaka. After walking in circles for a good while, we simply couldn't find the restaurant that we planned to go to in the Dōtonbori (道頓堀) area, the famous eating area where you find the famous giant Glico Man sign and giant crab, giant blowfish etc. signs. But luckily, being in the food central of Osaka, we had a few other possibilities for plan B. We had been looking forward to eating the one of the Kansai region specialities, okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), Japanese style pancake, at some point of during our Osaka visit, so we decided to try Fugetsu (鶴橋風月), which was quite near the Glico man neon sign.

For those who haven't tried the wonders of okonomiyaki, the name 'okonomi' means 'what you like' or 'what you want', and yaki meaning 'grilled' or 'cooked', and idea is a bit similar to pizza or Dutch pancakes, where you can choose a variety of toppings/fillings. There are two different styles, Hiroshima and Kansai, of which the latter is much better in my view! We had checked out the restaurant's website, which indicates that it has quite a few branches across the country and that there was a vegetarian option (only one at the time although looks from their website like there are now two).



Fugetsu was on the 3rd floor in this building full of other restaurants, a common (though slightly confusing) arrangement in Japan.

We were placed on one side of a very narrow booth, on seats with lids that lifted up to give much needed storage space for bags and coats. We got an English menu and picked the vegetable (carrot, pumpkin, potato, sweetcorn) option. We tried to get one without sweetcorn but while they understood the request there was a bit of trouble in communicating the answer, which eventually turned out to be that it wasn't possible (presumably the mixes are already made up). So be warned if you aren't a big fan of any of those vegetables!

Now I know 'cabbage cakes' don't look or sound particularly tasty to some (the picture below got a response from a friend, 'They dropped your coleslaw!'), and the okonomiyaki at this place seemed to have a thinner batter mixed in than we are used to; however, you don't really taste the cabbage in it all! The server cooked ours on the hot grill at our table in front of us, which is always fun to watch, but at some places you can even cook it yourself!



Here is the okonomiyaki almost ready...



The final touch is to apply the special okonomiyaki sauces, a sort of barbeque/teriyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. Generally you also get bonito fish flakes dancing on top but we obviously passed on that. It actually looked just like the picture on their sign!



Although the sweetcorn inclusion was a disappointment, it was really good and any sweetcorn taste was partly covered by the heavily applied sauces anyway. Plus prices were cheaper than we are used to from London okonomiyaki - ¥700 for standard size and ¥780 for large. The restaurant seemed quite popular and was quite full when we were there. We would have liked to try a non-chain okonomiyaki restaurant as well, but probably would take a bit more work to work out the menu or to communicate the dietary needs - hopefully next time!

Fugetsu (Dōtonbori branch)
大阪市中央区道頓堀1-9-1　ベルスードビル　3F
Tel: 06-6212-5990

Akoya Chaya

After visiting the famous Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, we walked back down the hill along the stone-paved Ninenzaka towards Kodai-ji and stopped for some lunch at Akoya Chaya (阿古屋茶屋).

Chaya means teahouse, but while there was some tea on offer, the main attraction was the unlimited buffet of around 25 different kyo-tsukemono/Kyoto pickled vegetables (京漬物), another of Kyoto's specialities which is served with rice and is a popular souvenir for Japanese from other areas (we tried some in a kyo-tsukemono shop earlier on Ninenzaka). The selection here was almost entirely vegetables; there were a couple of small dried fish things but these were easy enough to spot and avoid!



I think you could order a la carte options, but most of the customers seemed to have got the buffet option (¥1,250). We placed our order with one of the servers, and prompty we were each presented with a tray with miso soup, cold tofu, an empty bowl and an empty plate. The empty plate and bowl were for the unlimited pickles and rice (we got options of white rice, rice porridge and, I think, sweet potato rice). With such a bewildering array of options of pickled vegetables, the only sensible way to go about it really was to take a little bit of everything and try it out, then work out which to go back for more of. The juicy aubergine was probably the best one. To be honest, we weren't quite sure what some of the vegetables were, but most were nice and interesting enough as far as pickled vegetables goes. Pickled vegetables alone as a meal is an odd idea, but the strong taste went nicely with white rice or white rice porridge so it was quite a good value meal together.

This was probably one of the more 'interesting' or 'unsual' meal we made in Japan, since we probably never thought of having a pickled vegetable meal/buffet before. We only came across this restaurant in some Chinese (think Taiwanese) website when doing our pre-trip research. We can't seem to be able find any English websites giving any reviews or information. We certainly didn't see any foreign tourists (or not that we could tell) there; other customers included young adults, families, middle age couples - a variety of clientele. The restaurant was certainly at a great location for East Kyoto temple/shinto sightseeing and a (almost) fool proof Kyoto special vegetarian option (watch out for the fact that it closes at 5pm though!)

阿古屋茶屋 Akoya-chaya
京都府京都市東山区清水3-343
Tel：075-531-0056

Tsujiri (Gion)

Thanks to our massive tofu meal in the afternoon, we didn't really need a full meal that evening. We wandered the streets of Gion to see a bit of this historical district of Kyoto and also because we were told the Ebisu Matsuri/Festival (Ebisu Shrines are dedicated to Ebisu, the patron deity of business) was happening in the area. We were hoping to try another Kyoto favourite, green tea desserts and sweets and came across a few restaurants and cafes exhibiting green tea dessert models along Shijo-dori . We knew we came to the mecca of green tea dessert heaven when we saw Tsujiri (茶寮都路里) and a massive queue. When you see people queuing for a place down the stairs and out along the street, it's probably a good sign:



We really wanted to try this place but were a bit deterred by the queue. We decided to check out the festival first and ate some yummy street food at there to hold us over. We returned to Tsujiri and found the queue luckily got a bit shorter. We joined the wait on the street, and turned out it was moving quite quickly. We later spoke to a Japanese friend about this, and apparently there is always a wait there! While you are waiting, you can see what is in store from the food models:



We got seated after 15 minutes. You could find all sort of green tea food items including assorted types of hot or cold drinks, shaved ice, anmitsu, dessert sets and even green tea udon! We eventually settled for some green tea parfaits (抹茶 パフェ). For those who haven't tried green tea icecream it may seem a slightly odd idea, but the sweetness and creaminess mixed with a hint of bitterness from the tea is a delicious combination. And for anyone who has tried and loved it, Tsujiri is the place to go. The enormous parfaits are not cheap (the pictured below were ¥880 and ¥1,200 respectively), but seriously, we can almost let the picture speak for itself here:



That's orange pieces, cream, sponge cake, mochi, grass jelly and azuki beans mixed in there, and it was every bit as delicious and luxurious as it looks. The one on the left was the 'basic' Tea & Parfait (茶々パフェ) and the one on the right was the 'greedy' monthly special parfait.

There are 2 other branches of Tsujiri in Kyoto and 2 branches in Tokyo.

〒605-0073 京都市東山区祇園町北側275倭美坐（わびざ）祇園くろちくビル2F
Kyoto City, Gionmachi-Minamigawa 573-3