vegan ramen at Chabuton!

Hello there!  It has been a long time, hasn't it?  Pardon the extended silence, I've been busy with a number of other projects including researching grad school options, and contributing to another blog.  The latter deals with a rather old Japanese law (from 1948), and a recent police crackdown on the crime of dancing in clubs, which you may be surprised to know is more often than not an illegal activity in Japan.  I was pretty upset when NO DANCING signs (backed by staff enforcers) started popping up in the clubs I frequent, as cutting loose on the dance floor is one of the best natural highs I know.  If you're interested, please check out Dance Out Loud Japan.

Enough about that, what you're really after is the vegan ramen, isn't it?  If you've been a VegOut Tokyo follower for a while you'll know I share your love for a good bowl of ramen.  I've blogged about the delicious offerings I've tried at It's Vegetable, Loving Hut, T's Tan Tan, and shared a bad experience I had at Kamukura.  Today I'd like to add another veggie ramen option to the basket: a steaming bowl of green noodles from Chabuton.

Though I'm not usually a fan of chain restaurants, there's something satisfying about the lack of pretentiousness involved in a place like this.  Come inside to a greeting of "irasshai!" make your selection at the ticket machine, take a seat at the counter, and hand over your tickets to the chef.  I like the everyman feel of these places, the fact that one can just as easily come solo as with a friend.  Cheap, relaxed, and satisfying, this is the gaishoku (eating out) comfort food of Japan.

When I first saw the "vegetable-only" vege ramen posters outside Chabuton, I was skeptical.  A vegetarian seasoned to life in Japan sees this and thinks, "oh, maybe the noodles are made with vegetables, but of course their stock will be made with pork!".  It was worth a try though, and a chat with the staff ensured me that there are no animal ingredients used in the making of their vege-ramen.  Hurray!  An added delight was when I discovered that they also have vege gyoza!  Double GETTO!*

The vege gyoza (300¥), also green, were pleasantly greasy and chewy.  We split a plate of them between the two of us, and with a glass of cheap beer, it made a nice appetizer to start us off.

The vege ramen (780¥) itself is green due to the addition of spirulina, which a quick online search informed me is a complete protein containing all essential amino acids.  As this ramen doesn't contain any other obvious protein sources like soymilk or TVP, I'd say this is a thoughtful addition.  I liked that Chabuton's vege ramen was topped with a sizable portion of vegetables including mizuna, carrot, daikon, and red pepper.  The crispy topping sprinkled over the veggies, which for a moment looked alarmingly like something meaty or fishy, was in fact dried onion flakes.  

The Chabuton we went to was the Shimokitazawa location, though as it's a chain you'll find many of them around.  If I've understood the Japanese on their Wiki page correctly, there are 267 locations across Japan, and 7 overseas!  The one in Shimokitazawa is easy to find.  As you come out of the south exit (南出口), head to the left, passing under the tracks.  Follow the road for a minute, it's right after the open air fruit and veggie shop on the right side.

address: 東京都世田谷区北沢2-10-10

 2-10-10 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo

hours: This location of Chabuton is open daily from 11am to 11pm.  

You'll find Chabuton right after this wonderfully chaotic fruit and veggie shop. 

*Language note: Getto (ゲット) is a Japanese expression adapted from the English word "get".  As Japanse is a verb final language, you'll find it stuck to the end of the thing that has been gotten.  It's often used in a triumphant way when one has won something, or when something desirable has been obtained unexpectedly.   

Kohrinbo

Taiwanese vegetarian restaurant 

After reading about Kohrinbo in the Japan Vegan Restaurant Pocketguide I'd been meaning to check out this little place for quite some time.  When the lure of Nakano's used camera shops brought my companion and I to the area, I finally got my chance.

Located on the second floor of an aging mall, Kohrinbo's neighboring shops are filled with the stuff otaku and collectors' dreams are made of: Gundam models, cosplay getups, old movie posters, and original figurines from 1980's kids shows that are now worth more than I make in a month. Although the merchandise ignites no yearning in me, I loved the atmosphere of the place, living in a city where so much is shiny and new, there's something comforting about a place where most shops look like they haven't changed in decades.   

Kohrinbo is a tiny place with a small menu.  Check out the photos and (if your Japanese is decent) the 本日の定食 (today's set meal) board outside to see what's being served.  Step inside, take a seat at the counter, and the owner will pour you a cup of tea and take your order.  While all food is vegetarian, some dishes are made with eggs, so let the lady know if you'd like yours without. (For those who don't speak Japanese, a simple way of saying this is "tamago nashi-de onegaishimasu".)     

One of the things that struck me about Kohrinbo is the feeling that I was having dinner at someone's long lived in house rather than at a restaurant.  In the family photos on display, I recognized a younger version of the lady cooking our dinner, and wondered about the laughing baby- a grandchild perhaps? whose photo sat on the shelf amongst cups and an accumulation of trinkets.  A TV mounted in the side of the shop was playing a reality TV show about a 12 member (nuclear) Japanese family, and I let go of my tendency to irritably resist the television's lure, and allowed my mind to slip into that confortable zone of passive entertainment.

My meal, the 精進カツ定食 (shoujin katsu teishoku 1100¥), was a pleasantly salty omelette with renkon chunks tucked inside, a sweet miso eggplant dish, a simple clear soup of enoki mushrooms and wakame, and a delicious katsu (breaded cutlet) stuffed with mushrooms and vegetables. Accompanied by a bowl of rice and pickle slices, this made for a filling meal with the satisfying level of fattiness I associate with Taiwanese veggie cuisine.

My companion's set, the 日替わり定食 (higawari teishoku 940¥) included goya chanpuru, a popular Okinawan dish of stir fried veggies and tofu, featuring the squash known in English as bitter melon.  A hijiki, bean, and vegetable salad, a bowl of the enoki and wakame soup, rice, and pickles were served aside a few slices of vegetable tempura.  Both meals had a definite home cooked taste, and being a real one-dish-dinner cook myself, I left with great admiration for the lady that whips everything up singlehandedly in Kohrinbo's small kitchen.  

Practical Information:

how to get there: From Nakano station, take the north exit, head straight out and into the shotengai (covered shopping arcade).  After a few minutes, the shotengai ends at a mall called Nakano Broadway, head inside and take the stairs to the 2nd floor (avoid the escalator as it goes straight to the 3rd floor!).  Once you get to the 2nd floor, take a right from the stairs, then the next right shortly after, and follow the lane to the very end.  

address: 東京都中野区中野５−５２−１５ブロードウェイ２F

Nakano Broadway 2F, 5-52-15 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 

hours: 11:30-3pm (last order), 5pm-8:00 (last order), closed on Sundays 

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It's Vegetable: Taiwanese vegetarian cuisine in Tokyo

Vegetarian restaurant, vegan friendly

A random Wednesday off today gave me a chance to check out a place I'd been meaning to go to for ages. Back in August I went on a short trip to Taiwan and since then I've been craving another dose ever so delicious Taiwanese veggie cuisine.

A 30 minute subway ride away from Shibuya, It's Vegetable is a bit of a hike out the areas of Tokyo I usually frequent, but a satisfying meal tonight and a good book for the train convinced me it was time well spent.

Some of the reviews on Happy Cow had mentioned that it was necessary or at least a good idea to make a reservation for this place, but I got the feeling one would be fine without one.  That being said, the restaurant was nearly full when I left around 7pm (on a weeknight), so perhaps during peak times a reservation would be a good idea.

 Lunches run buffet style, with all you can fit on a small, medium or large plate system (with some weight restrictions).  Dinner can be ordered from an extensive menu of dishes, most of which feature soy based fake meats.  Many of these items can be ordered either small (630¥) or large (840¥).  I tried the braised "chicken" and mixed veggies with hot sauce, a flavorful dish with chewy meaty bits reminiscent of the sweet and sour pork of my childhood.

While nearly all of the menu is handwritten in both Japanese and English, the soup noodle section curiously has no English translations.  The friendly owner kindly walked me through the soup varieties, and I selected the first one on the list, a shoyu (soy sauce) based soup topped with a variety of veggies (900¥).

My only regret with this dinner was that with only one stomach, I was limited in the number of items I was able to try.  Given that there were so many yummy looking options I'd like to sample, I'll try to return here with friends and share a feast of little dishes.

It's Vegetable is easy to find.  From Kinshicho (on the Hanzomon and Sobu Lines), head to exit 5, turning to your left as you exit.  Take the first left from there, and you'll find the restaurant on your right within the first block.

As mentioned on the menu, while all items are vegetarian and contain no egg, some items do contain dairy products.  If you are vegan, let the staff know and they'll point you in the the right direction.

Practical information...

address: 東京都墨田区錦糸4-1-9


4-1-9 Kinshi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo


telephone: 03-3625-1245

closed on Mondays

opening hours: lunch 11:45-2:30 (last order 2pm), dinner 5:30-10:00 (last order 9:30)

Ohana

Organic Vegan restaurant 

It's been a while since I've added a new restaurant review to the blog, so when I had a rare Tuesday off a few weeks ago, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to try out a new place.  I met up with a friend in Shibuya, and we initially headed over to Vegan Healing Cafe, only to find it closed.  This is the 3rd time I've gone during supposed opening hours and found it closed.  Does anyone know for sure if it is still open?  The website is up and running, and it seems like everything is fine.  Do they just keep erratic hours?

Lunch venue plan B required a quick ride on the Denentoshi line over to Sangenjaya.  A quick walk from the station found us stepping off the noisy, highwayside sidewalk, and into a little oasis of hippie vegan calm of Ohana.

We were pretty hungry but not particularly excited by the (Japanese only) menu.  As far as I could decipher, the lunch menu choices consisted of an onigiri (rice ball) plate (780¥), a soup set (Tuesday's was a white stew with beans) with bread (880¥), a curry plate (880¥), or the daily plate served with rice (980¥), which was featuring white stew with beans.  My friend and I decided to share the soup/ bread set and the onigiri plate, as curry is a too often used fallback for the hungry vegetarian or vegan dining out in Japan.

If I had to sum up Ohana's food in one word, I would say it was nice.  The meals were simple, wholesome, and tasty enough.  It was nothing mindblowing, and nothing that one couldn't fairly easily make at home.

The dessert plate (480¥) we ordered, a little piece of chocolate cake, and a slice of (if my memory serves me correctly) banana and ginger loaf didn't pack the decadence I hope for in a dessert.  They reminded me more of the vegan banana bread I often bake for a healthy-ish at work snack when I am trying to avoid junking out on cookies and other tempting goodies.

Overall, our meal at Ohana was pleasant enough, but I can't say I'll be making any special trips to Sangenjaya to return.  I could see eating there sometimes if I happened to work or live close by, or perhaps it would be a nice stop for a traveler tired of heavy restaurant food.  

How to get there: From Sangenjaya station (on the Tokyu Denentoshi line and Setagaya line), take the south exit.  Setagaya-dori and Route 246 merge in a Y shape right at the station, so you want to head along Route 246, towards the upper left arm of the Y.  Ohana is just a couple blocks away from the south exit.

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Tokyo Vege Food Festa 2011

Due to some stormy weather on the morning of Saturday the 15th, day one of this year's festival was cancelled.  Lucky for vendors and festival goers alike, Sunday was a lovely day- it was even a bit hot!  Lots of people came out and I was happy to see the vendors making pretty good sales. Many of the stands even had quite long lines.  How great was it to see people lining up for vegan food in Tokyo?!

I purposely ate a light breakfast that morning, and A-chan and I hopped off the train early, so we got a good 30 minute walk on the way to the park.  I wanted to make sure I'd have a good appetite for sampling the festival's offerings.

We hit up the ingredients/ cook at home section first, did a lot of browsing, and picked up a jar of my favourite organic peanut butter and a Viana "Picknicker" veggie pepperoni stick.  I was also tempted to buy some agave syrup, as I see it pop up so often in tasty looking vegan recipes.

After heading over to the read-to-eat area,  I couldn't resist trying a nikuman from the Loving Hut stand.  I've noticed this item on the menu in the restaurant, but I think they don't actually offer it anymore.  No surprise, it was delicious, with a soft, doughy exterior and chewy little chunks of salty-sweet mock meat inside.  I'm always curious to hear how mock meat dishes compare to the original, and my omni co-tester said our nikuman was a convincing fake.

 We did some browsing to see what other goodies were on offer.  This stand had an interesting concept.  Apparently aiming to cash in on 萌え (moe) appeal, these girls dressed as cheerleader/ furry animals would shake your karaage with spices while saying "furi-furi" (shake-shake) and flashing sugary smiles.  It's not really my thing but I can see it working in Akihabara!

A-chan tried some harumaki (spring roles) from Chein-Fu's stand.  This amazing Taiwanese vegetarian food company used to have a restaurant in Osu, Nagoya and one in Tachikawa, Tokyo.  As far as I know both closed down.  Did they open up new locations?!?  I really wanted to ask the people working at the booth, but they were pretty busy serving customers.  I'll have to research this, as the Chien-Fu restaurants served up some of my favourite veggie meals I've enjoyed in Japan.

My next order was a bowl of colourful taco rice from Blue Cafe, which featured a pickled beet and onion topping.  I'd never heard of this restaurant before, but according to the flyer they gave me, this place is an Okinawan and Mexican food joint in Fujisawa, Kanagawa.  As far as I know, the restaurant isn't actually vegetarian (though I imagine they offer some veg-friendly dishes), but it looks pretty cool and laid back.

Alas, by the time I saw this Indian place grilling up (what looked like) veggie versions of tandoori kebabs, I was already pretty full. 

I also wanted to try these tasty looking veggie burgers from Ain Soph.  Lucky for me, I bumped into a friend who was about to bite into one, and was kind enough to offer me a taste.  Don't you love friends who share food?  It was a pleasant bite, and I've put Ain Soph on my list of restaurants to try. 

 All in all, I was satisfied by my experience at the Vege Food Festa.  It was great to see lots of public interest in vegan food, many happy faces of people chowing down on their meals, and also to pique my own interest in some new restaurants.  For those of you who made it to the festival, I'd love to hear what you thought of it!

hisashiburi veggie dog

Sunday morning we rolled out of bed and over to Spiral Aoyama to catch the film Romeos, presented by  the Tokyo International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.  We really enjoyed it, and it was great to see such a crowd come out on a Sunday morning to support queer film.  After the show was over, A-chan had a craving for soymilk ramen, so we hopped on the subway and made our way to Yotsuya-sanchome to pay a visit to Loving Hut.  

If you've been following my blog for a while and have read my original Loving Hut review you'll know I'm a big fan of this place.  While I was tempted to order up a bowl of soymilk ramen myself, I opted for the veggie dog plate, as it was one of the only Loving Hut meals I haven't tried.  While I don't really think of veggie dogs as restaurant food, they're not something you can buy in a grocery store in Japan.  In fact, I think this was the first veggie dog I've eaten since I moved to Japan three years ago.  Crazy!  While they're certainly not my favourite vegetarian meal, a veggie dog is such a tasty, simple comfort food that it's hard to believe I went so long without eating one.  The Loving Hut version was satisfying enough, but I have to say the star of that plate was one of the tiny side dishes.  This morsel of sweet and sour mock meat packed a punch!  I hope to see it appearing as a main dish someday soon.  

I mentioned that the veggie dog was one of my few remaining yet to be sampled Loving Hut dishes.  Lucky for me, my friend ordered the only other meal I hadn't tried, which was the curry plate.  Given that Indian food is an often used safe bet for me when dining with omnivore companions, I hardly ever order curry when I make it to a vegetarian restaurant.  So I was quite pleased when my friend opted for the curry plate and put up no resistance when I demanded a spoonful for my "research".  It was a nicely spiced, but not too spicy curry, peppered with chewy, ground meat-like TVP.  

We finished off our meal by sharing a piece of vegan cheesecake, topped with blueberry sauce, between the four of us. Very impressive!  I've tried a number of vegan cheesecakes in my time, and generally they are tasty enough as long as one doesn't try to compare them to an actual cheesecake.  (Which is probably easier for long time vegans!)  Loving Hut's vegan cheesecake was truly delicious and didn't have that tofu taste that vegan versions sometimes do.  This guy has won a place on my Loving Hut recommendation list!

 Now that I've tried all the main dishes, I can confidently recommend the veggie burger plate, soymilk ramen, and cheesecake as my top Loving Hut picks.  What are your favourites?

*Language note: hisashiburi, which appeared in the title of this post, means "it's been a long time" or "long time no see!"

Loving Hut

vegan restaurant 

This building!  Head up to the 2nd floor.

On Sunday we paid a long overdue visit to Loving Hut.  Despite being impressed with this place the first time I went there, around 2 years ago, I never find myself in the Yotsuya-sanchome neighborhood.  I realize this is quite a ridiculous excuse, as it's literally a 5 minute subway ride from Shinjuku.

In the mood to take a little walk, we hopped off the subway at Akebonobashi station.  That area has nostalgic value for me, as the Ace Inn Hostel was my original Tokyo homebase, back when I was night bussing up from Mie for little weekend hits of urban life.  Walking those streets I can still feel traces of those Tokyo butterflies, and it reminded me how lucky I am to call this amazing city home.

On the way we found an alcohol vending machine, which seem to be becoming less common these days.

Booze vending machine!  And yes, that is a zebra print dress I'm wearing.  A-chan calls it my Osaka obasan dress, which is not a compliment.  

We arrived at Loving Hut and promptly ordered 3 meals to share between the 2 of us.  I felt like a bit of a glutton when the three trays arrived, but as the food is pretty light so it turned out to be a good amount for 2 hungry people.

The first to arrive was a delicious bowl of soymilk ramen topped with green onion and ground mock meat (650¥).  It had a lovely, rich flavor, though I wouldn't have minded seeing a few more vegetables involved.

Next came the zen tanpin* (500¥), a slab of mock unagi on a bed of rice.  Though I can't compare the taste to real unagi (as I've never tried it), I found this dish reasonably tasty, but a definite third place to the two other yummy meals we ordered.  As the name suggests, this can also be ordered as part of a meal plate.

My favourite of the three was the veggie burger plate (1000¥).  The very tasty, though little, burger is accompanied by an assortment of sides: a soup, a salad, pickles, a tiny side of curried vegetables, a piece of vegetable korokke and a few bites of dessert.

Loving hut is a small place with just a few tables and lunch bar type seating along the windows and back wall.  The interior is clean, bright, and homey, with little grannyish touches like handmade fabric cozies for the napkin dispensers.  You'll find copies of vegetarian magazines and other animal loving books, and perhaps not to everyone's liking, a (rather unobtrusive!) video looping religious vegan propaganda playing softly in the background.

Would it be too cheesy of me to say that I feel the love that goes into running Loving Hut?  From the decor to the carefully prepared, healthy meals, it's clear that a lot of heart goes into the finished product.

  

See what I mean by grannyish touches?  I love the wallpaper in the washroom.

Language note:
*tanpin (単品 or たんぴん）means a single item or à la carte.  When ordering an item that can be ordered with or without a set, this is a useful word to know.

。。。。。。。

おすすめ / recommendation: veggie burger plate 


good points: cheap, healthy, delicious vegan meals, cute decor, easy to find


bad points: the religious element may not be everyone's cup of tea, big eaters may find the portions a bit small


address: 6-15 2F Yotsuya Sanchome, Shinjuku-ku


東京都新宿区四谷三丁目６−１５２F　


how to get there:
Take the Marunouchi line to Yotsuya Sanchome station, and use exit 4.  From the exit, head slightly to the left (walk past Bakery Cafe Antendo).  Take a left at the first corner, and you'll see Loving Hut on your right on the second floor.


大きな地図で見る

wagashi boom

"My boom" or "(***)boom" are expressions used by Japanese speakers to talk about something they've been really into lately.  For example, 最近サングリアブームです！(saikin sanguria boom desu!)  Means that you've been really into drinking sangria recently. (See postscript on this language below.)

My boom at the moment is wagashi (Japanese sweets), in particular, 豆大福 (Mamedaifuku).  Daifuku is a mochi (glutinous rice) cake stuffed with anko, or sweet red bean paste.  Anko is a common component of traditional Japanese sweets, and a flavor that it took me a while to warm up to.  As a vegetarian in Canada, beans were a regular part of my diet, but the idea of sweet bean as a dessert flavor took some getting used to. There are several different kinds of daifuku, but my very favourite is mamedaifuku, as it contains whole beans tucked into the mochi portion.  The addition of these beans doesn't change the flavor so much as adds another interesting dimension to the texture palate: thick, sticky anko, chewy mochi, and harder beans.

Daifuku can be found at combinis, supermarkets and specialty shops.  I think the main catalyst for my wagashi boom is that I discovered a lovely little wagashi shop by my work.  Though the price is double what one pays at a combini (200¥ rather than 100¥), the difference in flavor is well worth it.  My specialty shop's diafuku is so much more flavorful, and a look at the ingredients reveals a better quality and a simpler list.  The specialty shop's daifuku are made from rice, beans, and sugar (and starch?), while the combini version is a longer and more artificial list, allowing a cheaper product with a longer shelf life.  I also love that my local shop is a small business, and the employees are able to interact in a more genuine and less scripted way.

Though mamedaifuku is my #1 favorite, I've tried a few of their other goodies too.  The photo below is a seasonal treat, with a pancakey outside and mochi inside.  I was assured that the fish link was in shape only!

So pretty.  Wagashi are popular as gifts so presentation is extremely important.

Unlike most western desserts, wagashi are generally vegan.  The little jellied ones below, however, appeared to be made with gelatine.  When I inquired about this, the lady behind the counter said they indeed were made with gelatine, but the older man resting in the back of the store insisted they were made with kanten (a seaweed based jelling agent).  They insisted back and forth for a bit (family businesses are cute!) and the matter was never solved.  I'm going to assume they are not vegetarian, but they sure are nice to look at.    

Postscript: The above use of "boom" was ok'd by my Japanese advisor #1.  But, as I'm paranoid about teaching you bad Japanese, I ran it by a few Japanese coworkers today, and they said it was a bit off.  Both said that the expression (***)boom is used when something is popular with a big group of people, while one should say "my boom" when talking about something that one person is into.  They suggested: 

最近のマイブームはサングリアです。

saikin no maiboom wa sanguria desu.

Do any Japanese speakers want to weigh in on this?  

Another interesting note about this language is that you can also talk about another person's "my boom". So it would be permissible to ask your friend the equivalent of "what's your my boom these days?".