Well we have shared our findings for food and drink in Korea, in Busan, Jeju and Seoul, then in Osaka and Kyoto and we are finally in Tokyo looking for stuff to eat and drink, here is what we found – Don’t worry it’s a short post!
Now whether we liked it or not the food in Japan is notorious, interesting and at times a challenge for a veggie or anyone with allergies. We are allergic to a few things that a are staples of veggie cuisine – like Aubergines, Pumpkin and Courgettes, so it can be a challenge at the best of times in the UK, but in Japan there is a major additional problem – for any real veggie – Dashi, the oil EVERYTHING is cooked in, it is basically fish oil. Whenever you see Vegetarian YouTubers or read reviews by bloggers who live in the city or the country they don’t seem to have any problems, but that is because there are lax veggies at best, more pescatarian or ‘just don’t ask and pretend we didn’t know’. Bob is not that way inclined and we are just Allergic, so we struggled to find food.
Unlike Korea the ‘Dairy’ is not Soya Based, so gone were the days of Ice-Cream and Iced Mochas and we were back to searching for Alternative Milk and restaurants catering for Vegan – which is difficult in a city where it’s your own fault if you are allergic and you just take our what you don’t eat from the meal they cook for you – and when that is the fish oil, that’s easier said than done!
So what did we find?
The Bento Box on the Shinkansen
Ash wanted to try the ‘Must Try’ Lunch on the Shinkansen, the Bento Box! We found the kiosks in the station of Osaka Central and he chose a chicken, rice box and stored it on the hook provided on the back of the seat on the train.
An hour or so into the super speed train journey he opened the wooden box and pulled out the chopsticks and tucked in. It tasted plastic or rubbery and within five bites the headache hit, another allergy is MSG and the box was smothered in the powder to make it look all shiny and appealing to people who like plastic looking food! Ash couldn’t eat it and had to drink all the water we could get to wash the toxins out of his system.
Bob had an expensive apple which was pretty much a Braeburn – in the UK would be 40p – there it cost £10 for 3 which I savoured over the 3 days.
When we got into Tokyo Central Station we walked around the subway for over an hour, trying to find the way out, we literally traipsed up and down, round and around, looking for a way back up to the surface and it took over an hour just to find an exit.
Then Hope came in the form of Gong Cha
Since we had already heard of the brand in Korea and UK- and it advertised vegan options we all but ran in!
In our usual Bubble tea/milk tea shop fashion we ordered two Black Sugar with Almond Milk! Then finally took a sip without worrying about instant pain, so we drank while we continued to wander as confused as a cloud in a tunnel!
Just by the Sumida River is a hostel, for backpackers and in the foyer is a bar, with an eclectic mix of tables and chairs, staff and customers and a most unusual bar made of an oddly shaped old tree.
We ordered a couple of drinks – large ones, after the day of travel from Osaka to Tokyo we needed a good, long drink and boy did we get it.
A HUGE glass of IPA and a ‘Litre Mojito’. We also order two Falafel with Pitta, fries and Hummus – not very Japanese and by this stage that was a bonus!
We sat and chugged on our giant drinks and waited for the food. The portions weren’t massive, having not eaten much and thrown up most of what we had found in Osaka we were more than a little hangry, but what we received was still pretty good and the platters of bread, salad and chickpeas didn’t last long, we may have ordered a 2nd drink – hey we deserved it! Before heading back to our new accommodation.
Day 2 in Tokyo (our first full day)
We got coffee in the really nice art gallery/coffee shop called Think Coffee with a truly beautiful Barista who spoke pretty good English and chatted with us about London and Tokyo.
The coffees were good, but a little small and we shared a vegan cookie – which was chewy but not bad! The shop was pretty nice, there was a spacious upstairs area and seemed to be a place that stayed open for music nights.
This was before heading to the castle grounds and traipsing around trying to find food.
We finally found Shin Okubo aka Little Korea and finally Bob was happy!
We started with a Korean Mozzarella dog from Jongno Yataimura – always a good solution to hunger and then realised there was a Chicken shop directly opposite called Nene Chicken that had a number of Veggie Options.
Finally Bob could 1. Understand the menu and 2. Found a selection of food she could eat!!!!!!!
Ash got Chicken Jjigae, Bob got Dolsot Bibimbap and a Spring onion Jeon
Day Two
We went to Teamlabs wandered around a lot – tried to go into a smoothie shop where the staff were ridiculously rude and pretentious. So instead we opted for a rude pretentious French Restaurant because there was a sour beer.
This beer although large was one of the foulest drinks I have ever tasted in my entire life, the man was rude and this place sucked!
Next we went to Shibuya Sky to see the famous Scramble Crossing, everyone goes to the top floors, but we had a little secret, the coffee shop on the 11th floor is called 5 Crossties Coffee and gives a great view of the junction, the neon signs and the rest without the masses of people jostling for a view over the rail on the 50th floor.
We sat with our coffee and watched over the crossing – we got two Iced Brown Sugar Oat Mochas which were pretty good. The building was clearly a business office space so there was a lot of corporate people and lunch time menus – so there was a lot more choice than seemingly anywhere else.
Day 3
Park – Shinjuku Gyoen had a Starbucks!
Yay! Starbucks coffee so we got our usual two Soya Frappuccinos – Ash had a conversation with a fellow Bunny (New Jeans fan) then we drank our drinks out on the lawn.
There’s not a lot to be said about Starbucks – we had it multiple times whilst in Japan as it is safe.
After a long time and a huge walk we wandered around Harajuku searching for food, Vegan food at that! We found one.
The food was pretty small – 4 pieces of fake chicken was the share dish, Vegan Ramyeon which was supposed to be spicy but was more bland than anything and Ash had a vegan chicken burger with fries which literally tasted of nothing, which in itself is quite an achievement!
Day 4 Kimono Day
After shopping for Kimono’s in the rain we went to a little coffee shop called Tarot which was a coffee shop/ tarot card museum.
We meant to go and look upstairs but there was already a couple of people up there so it was packed! We got one Black americano and one Soya Mocha with a Muffin (I don’t recall which one)The coffees though small were pretty good and the muffin was not bad – not great but to be honest our standards at this point were fairly low.
We were planning on going to get a tattoo but then took one look at the prices and laughed plus small tattoos simply do not exist here much like …. you guessed it the UK!
So instead we went to one of the most spoken about vegan restaurants
This plastic sheet covered building is literally down an alleyway, through someone’s garden, into a municipal plant then through a couple of walkways down tiny roads and then end up next to someones house and here this is – so you know the usual!
What started as promising was a Bad BAD idea – the Vegan Mocha made us sick and the Gyoza was a selection where you had to pick 8 but half of them were inedible for us – so it was very limited. When it arrived which took AGES, whilst we sat in the freezing plastic sheeting area. Don’t let the pretty presentation fool you they were completely disgusting!!!
After this we went looking around Akihariba again and popped in to Maiddreamin’ to experience a Maid Café but it was pretty dead and uncomfortable, so we only stayed for a single drink and then left. Which is a shame because the omelette’s are supposed to be amazing!
Day 5 Harajuku –
This was a let down and so after wandering the tourist packed streets for too long we looked for restaurants – however most were shut being as it was 6pm on a Saturday!
The exception being Las Dos Caras. An unusual place in Tokyo, a different vibe and style to the rest of the restaurants and bars we found, a real cosmopolitan experience.
The staff were multilingual, speaking English, Spanish and Japanese, the atmosphere was busy and sophisticated and the food was pretty good.
Again a little small in portions, but really tasty and the buritto even had the name singed into the pastry – It’s the little things that stick with you! We even got Caprinias which were very heavy on the alcohol just how we like it!
We had seen a little Dive Bar called The Half Moon bar while wandering around and we wanted some nightlife, but the clubs are notoriously difficult to get into without a local to accompany, so we headed up the long, steep stairs to a tiny pitch black room and a tiny bar, we were shown to a table and given menus for drinks, we ordered bourbons I think and sat in the dark, while everyone else laughed and got along, ignoring the weird foreigners in the corner! The bar maid brought us two appetisers, Ash dared to eat the food wrapped in a banana leaf and with some sort of rice thing inside, it was disgusting, whatever it was!
The bar had a good atmosphere if you were with someone who could could converse with the owners and who the owners wanted to talk to, but we were alone and we were left alone!
At least we finally got to get served in a Japanese bar!
Day 6 Asuksa –
We found Asuksa on the last afternoon with little time left to fully experience it, but we did finally get to experience Conveyor Belt Sushi in Kura – ordering 16 of each plate was a mistake we quickly learnt! The orders on the screen showed a single piece so we ordered 4 pieces and the plates arrived, with 4 long pieces on each! But it was good and weren’t hungry after that.
Tip:You have to enter the game because otherwise it’s just not as fun sliding the plates in the recycling bin. The dessert was tiny, literally a tea spoon size slice of cheesecake, shame because it was nice, maybe we should have ordered 16 of them!
Then back to the wonderful Litre Mojito in Nui
The final drink was the Craft Beers in Haneda Airport at 1am waiting to board when we saw NCT Wish run past and San from Ateez, the beer was quite good actually shame we didn’t find it earlier in the city!
Well there we go the food and drink of Tokyo for veggie/vegan who is allergic to too much and a meat eater who is allergic to everything else. It’s not the typical review of Japanese food (or the city in the other post), but it is our experience, having waited to visit for nearly 30 years in Ash’s case, we found it hard to eat or drink without dyer consequences, but it shows the issues you may have if you are planning a visit to Japan and have dietary needs – basically if you have any problems, know it is your fault and they will not help you with your problems!
Climbing Moss 
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