Vegan in Kyoto

Part two of my review of vegan finds on a trip to Japan. (Part 1: Tokyo)

After a speedy shinkansen trip from Tokyo, dampened only by my growling tummy and my inability to find fishless onigiri at the train station, we found ourselves in Kyoto. We hiked our luggage to the hotel, then set out to locate Nishiki Market.

Nishiki Market


The market stretches for several blocks along Nishikikoji-dori, near the popular covered shopping arcades of Teramachi and Shinkyogoku. It's no surprise that the majority of the vendors sell seafood, but there's also a variety of produce, pickles and preserves, sweets, crafts, and other items



There was a wide selection of yuba, tofu, and gluten.


I was also finally able to find vegan onigiri! I bought a red bean one, and they also had umeboshi and a sea vegetable options.


Sunshine Cafe


On our first evening, we ate at Sunshine Cafe, located in the Sanjo-dori covered arcade. (Covered arcades are amazing things to have when it rains.) We started the meal with lightly fried tempeh chips with a tangy, peppery ketchup. I had the tofu steak, which was a straightforward slab of tofu, pan fried, and served with greens and a thin brown sauce. It sounds boring, but it was actually very tasty, and was a nice, solid meal to have after not eating much all day.



Shane had the tofu burger, which he enjoyed immensely


Cafe La Siesta (website)

They could not have possibly made this place harder to find. We actually intended to eat there the previous night, but gave up and went to Sunshine instead. The restaurant is on Nishikiyamachi-dori, apparently, but street signs were no where to be seen. It's just east of the Kamo-Gawa and if you can find the A Bar, look for a small hallway that leads to the cafe.

Most of the food was great though. I had a gyoza set and shane had the tempura set. We also had pajeon (Korean onion pancake) that tasted ok, but was very heavy and oily. Shane especially enjoyed their generous servings of pickled burdock.





Biotei


Look out for the sign on this tiny, second-floor cafe, or you'll miss it. The internet and travel books seem to rave about this spot, but I can't say that I was too impressed. The food was good, but not spectacular. The staff is friendly though, and if you're into fried gluten like shane, you'll be happy.

Sauteed radishes that smelled like sauerkraut (yuck). I let shane enjoy them.


Greens with a sesame-tofu dressing. Yum!


More pan fried tofu with salad and a sesame-shoyu dressing.


shane's beloved panko gluten


Cafe Proverbs 15:17 (website)
“Better is a dish of vegetables where love is, Than a fattened ox and hatred with it.”

We hiked long and far through a gravel desert known as Kyoto Goen to get to this cafe near Kyoto University.

We started off with tasty spring rolls with a superpungent mustard.


I had the TLT, which was drowned in a finger-licking basil sauce. It was delicious. My only complaint is that they used white sandwich bread, which could have at least been toasted, as it fell apart too easily for the sauce-filled sandwich.



shane had a tempeh sandwich.


The desserts were too beautiful to pass up; the strawberry cake was calling my name. It was a bit disappointing though, with a coarse crumb and beany frosting.


The cheesecake was also beany and TINY. Seriously, this photo isn’t much smaller than life-size


Shigetsu, Tenryu-ji, Arashiyama


The absolute highlight of Kyoto, if not the whole trip, was the Shojin Ryori restaurant at Tenryu-ji, a temple in Arashiyama, about 30 minutes west of downtown Kyoto. I really wanted to experience a temple meal, but was shocked at some of the prices I found for the prix fixe meals at various locations. Some were upwards of of 8,000-10,000 yen (approx. 1/10o of the US dollar)! The 9-course Snow menu at 3,000 was a steal. Still, we expected this to be somewhat of a splurge for a meal that would be remembered more for the physical experience than tasty grub. We were blown away as they brought us dish after dish of delicious and beautifully prepared food.

In the upper right is goma tofu, a curd made from sesame seeds and starch. It was soft and delicious.


Various vegetables and jellies.


Miso soup


Deep-fried eggplant with miso and fruit plate


Happy, full bellies.


So, there you go. Proof that good vegan food is fairly easy to find in Japan. Don't forget to look for matcha soy milk! And thanks to shane for being so patient while I fumble to adjust white balances and apertures before he can dig in.