I Went Vegan for a Day in Tokyo!

I would devour this in an instant even though it is a little messy so you got to eat it carefully but it's so good finding the best food options in Tokyo can be a challenge especially with the language barrier but it's even more challenging if you're looking for vegan foods that's why today I'm going to be showing you some of the best plant-based restaurants in Tokyo and how to navigate the city as a vegan or if you're showing vegan friends around so let's go explore before we go don't forget to subscribe for more Japan Adventures I almost forgot that [Music] [Applause] [Music] time so today I'm going to be starting off in shuya where you can actually find a number of vegan options so let's go check some of them out our first one is over there let's go isak kayas are Japanese style dining bars they're basically the OG bars before western style bars came into Japan and it's definitely part of the quintessential experience when you come to Japan if you want to grab a bite to traditional bite to eat or something to drink however it can be really difficult if you're vegan or vegetarian to find a full meal at an isaka but today I found the perfect isaka with authentic Japanese isaka Vibes but all of the food they serve there is vegan and I've never seen anything like this before so let's go check it out here we we are this is vegan isaka masaka and it's an isaka where all of the foods are vegan it even says right here all vegan let's go see what they've got let's [Music] go wow it's like a really classic isaka I love the atmosphere and all of the menues on the wall I love it you actually wouldn't believe that you were in a department building in the basement this is awesome and it seems like you order using a QR code with your with your smartphone so there are so many things to choose from I'm actually not sure what I should get so I think I'm going to ask for a recommendation for okay so I'm looking through the online menu here I'm definitely definitely going to get the KAG fried chicken and I'm also going to get the mot tofu cuz I love mapu and I really appreciate a meatless option and I'm also going to try be fried mushrooms because it's kind of an alternative to the imitation Fried Chicken it's really just mushrooms and I think you can't go wrong with that okay my last one I want to get oh just these fried vegetables these look really good um it's nice to have a little bit of color in there too so I'm going to get one of those lots of food today [Applause] [Music] o so okay let's do it I feel like I have to start with the K it's really really calling to me it looks so good it is really crispy looking KAG it is absolutely drenched in vegan tartar sauce and it looks like real eggs to me it's very convincing let's try this top one that is completely covered all right this is definitely the sauciest piece that I can choose let's give it a taste M the texture is very convincing you can tell it's not real chicken but it's very similar to chicken and it's super juicy on the inside and it's got this great meaty texture it even looks like meat on the inside I'm super impressed very high quality if you want like a great Japanese food that's vegan you got to come here I am blown away by the creativity they really come up with great ideas for how to kind of IM not quite imitate but kind of re-imagine um in a very realistic way what some of these foods are for people who can't eat them anymore it looks amazing I don't know what to start with I might as well start with this cuz I'm really curious all right I'm going to try a piece of asparagus with this non-fish and chovy sauce let's see how it tastes here we go M that sauce is really good and the asparagus I don't know if you can hear it but that crunch is so delicious I love it that is so good okay now let's try the fried mushrooms look at how big these fried my mushrooms are this is one piece look at how big that is oh my gosh okay give my wrist a break for a second let's give this a try it looks so good the mushrooms are so juicy like you bite into it all of the juices come oozing out the outside is super super crispy so since there's a lot of fried foods here at this isaka which is very common at all izakayas to be honest um I think they would go really really well with beer and I was thinking that as I was eating this this is a beautiful label it's got a beautiful artwork of Mount Fuji on it it's apparently totally organic uh it's called Fuji beer and it is certified vegan it's got the certified vegan um mark on [Music] [Music] it what did you see my St like wow oh my gosh wow it looks so good it came out so piping hot in this Stone Bowl all right let's mix it up and put some in my bowl that's still very hot as expected coming out of a stone bowl like that M but that's tasty you can't even tell that it is vegan it's just great flavors lots of tofu as there always is in a mble tofu yeah this is a great dish that everybody can enjoy honestly everything here was fantastic I'm really impressed at how Innovative they are with their vegan foods and there's something for everybody you can have vegan dessert vegan lunches vegan isaka foods vegan beer so definitely check it out but I have another great vegan stop to show you guys so I'll see you guys over there [Music] for this restaurant you actually have to go inside the Loft building in Chia it's on the second floor let's go inside and check it out here we are on the second floor this is two Foods this is a wonderful Cafe that serves plant-based and environmentally conscious foods that everyone can enjoy and they call it healthy junk food which I think is really fun and it's also important to note that recently I noticed that two Foods had appeared in LA in the US and I thought that maybe this was an American brand but no it actually started here in Japan and is starting to expand to the us all right let's take a look at the menu ooh everything looks so good they have really incredible looking donuts I think I'm going to have to try some donuts actually also their burgers look really good little bit of everything but I think I'm going to try this original spicy Burger cuz it looks incredible and I'm going to try an omu rice with a demig glass sauce which is usually a beef based sauce so I want to see how they interpret that in a plant-based style let's try one of those I'll order on my phone cuz these days most cafes and restaurants in Tokyo do a QR code ordering system so I'll scan and order online what wow for [Music] okay I'm going to start with the demig glass omu which is a classic japanese dish the fact that they were able to make this entirely plant-based is remarkable and I've heard a little secret about the eggs that they use they have a very original egg that they use and there's no tofu in it whatsoever they actually use white kidney beans also known as I think canellini beans and carrots to make The Omelette which I I think is really cool so let's give it a try and see what it tastes like m m o yum the sauce is so good that's a really good Demi glass sauce I'm really impressed by how much richness is in the sauce it tastes like a slightly sweeter version of the classic like beefy Demi glass I think the reason why it's a bit sweeter is cuz you can really taste the stewed onions in it so far highly Innovative if you want to try an omu rice that's totally vegan in Tokyo this is definitely worth a try but now let's try the burger cuz that's calling to me it's actually so filled with um with sauce I don't know if I'll be able to eat this neatly but I'm going to do my best okay I'm just going to give it a try here we go I'm going to do my best that M uh-oh M yum oh it is very messy but it is delicious it's cheesy it's spicy um there's some of these like crispy onions in there let me get a bite of the Patty again here we go it's delicious I would devour this in an instant even though it is a little messy so you got to eat it carefully but it's so good all right I'm going to finish this up and then let's have some dessert [Music] o all right let's start with the classic glazed donut because yeah it looks I mean I think it's good to try the most classic ones and I should mention that the just by picking it up it's got this really bouncy doughy texture it's hard to believe it's totally fli based no eggs no milk no nothing all right let's give it a try this is not just a regular icing it tastes really fresh and Lemony almost I'm going to take a bite of the raspberry one next cuz I think the citrusy flavors are going to go citrusy and then tarte raspberry one also looks beautiful it looks kind of like a Simpsons donut classic donut m Donuts that's Homer Simpson if you didn't get that okay let's try the raspberry donut here we go that's so good and once again the dough is incredible and I actually have more vegan foods and plant-based foods to check out today so I'm going to wrap up these I'm going to do my best to finish everything and then let's head over and find find some more vegan foods see what we can [Music] find our vegan guide would not be complete without hitting up one of Japan's world famous comini short for convenience store and this is not just any old convenience store in Japan this is actually a natural lawen which is the bougie kind of fancy version of the standard lwen convenience store there very special because they actually specialize in healthy foods and organic foods you can find a lot of healthy lunch foods snacks and even some vegan foods as well so let's go inside and see what we can [Music] find I got the goods let's go sit down somewhere and try them out all right I've had a little seat where I could find one so that I can try some of the goods that I found and I was very pleasantly surprised to find quite a good selection ction of vegan foods at the natural law I'll show you what I got I found a vegan protein drink it's cacao soy latte labeled vegan uses um soy protein so it's it's a vegan protein drink and it's also certified vegan you can see the label on the [Music] back oh that's really good that's actually not quite how I was expecting it to taste it really tastes like a classic traditional soy milk with just a little hint of cacao on the end but if you like the taste of soy milk this is a really great one Japan specializes in small desserts basically I think Japan has a very healthy perspective when it comes to decadent things and sweets so it's vegan and gluten-free and it's also certified Halal all right let's give it a try M they use cashews to make this cheesecake and cashews actually have a cheese likee quality when you blend it up so it's used to make a lot of vegan cheeses I found two snack bar picks at the Lawson there was actually more than that there's quite a variety to Cheese room some of them are labeled vegan some of them are not and you can find out by actually reading the ingredients in Japanese so I'm going to show you what I found this is clearly labeled vegan it's called the vegan caramel crunch M this is really creative tastes really nutty almost like peanut butter or almond butter and wow the texture is so great it's like soft like peanut butter with these like crunch from the puff all right I'm going to continue exploring some vegan restaurants follow me for my last stop I've changed locations to a neighborhood in the northern part of Tokyo called ugui sanii which is very close to ueno park and my last restaurant is said to have a very colorful vegan option so let's go see what it [Music] is here we are I've just arrived at a vegan guza restaurant just a 5 minute walk from ug Sani station and they have lovely outdoor seating and a wonderful selection of yoza so let's go inside and give it a try all right so this is the menu basically they specialize in um both pan fried and steamed guza they also offer Frozen guoa I think for takeout they come with a mix of a variety of different colors and they all have different types and different flavors so there's like the yellow one is a mushroom guza with a yellow skin 11 types of flavors in one set so let's get a set of steamed GZA I think that looks really good here we go we've got our beautiful steamed yoza you can choose from pan fried um which will be more like crispy it'll have that that um that brown crispy side on it but I think the most colorful and like visually appealing option is the steamed GZA so definitely recommend this one this one actually it already has plenty of flavor wrapped up inside so you don't need any sauce also I just noticed that this paper actually tells you what each flavor of each one is sure let's try like a a shake mushroom soy meat one it's the yellow and the pink one all right I'm going to start with the yellow one let's give it a try M that is really flavorful really tasty M all right I can't wait to try what other flavors they got here next I'm I have my eye on this Ginger miso it should be the purple one let's give that one to try next all right here's the purple one beautiful color and the flavor is ginger and miso let's see if it's very different from the first one it's totally different look at the inside it's like very meaty I think the Miso being um fermented soybean paste it adds a lot a lot of umami flavor to go with the soy meat so it just has like this Umami Rich punch to it tender chew and then this kick of Ginger afterward which gives it a little bit of spice that's a really good one I'm impressed and I love how you can kind of go through all of them and enjoy all these different flavors kind of like a box of chocolate it is really fun and super delicious well unfortunately that's all the time that we have for today but I had a lot of fun exploring all of the vegan options that are available in Tokyo in Shibuya and ugu sadani specifically and yeah let me know what you think about all of the wonderful vegan options that I discovered today which one would you guys want to try the most and which one are you most curious about whether you're vegan or not I think a lot of these are some really really fun foods to try and I'm just blown away by the creativity I hope you guys enjoyed this video and if you did please make sure to like comment your favorite food in today's video and don't forget to share and subscribe for more Japan Adventures as always see you guys soon in another video bye guys

Channel: Japan by Food

Views: 30,508

Keywords: japan, japan by food, vegan, vegan japan, vegan gains, japan travel, vegan in japan, tokyo guide, where to eat in tokyo, vegan in tokyo, vegan travel, tokyo hidden gems, 東京, convenience store, lawson japan, vegan food in tokyo, vegan travel food, japanese convenience store food, japan travel guide, vlog, vegan travel vlog, shimokitazawa, japan open for tourism, japanese, tokyo vegan food, itineraries in japan, tabieats, abroad in japan, paolo from tokyo, street food

Id: JpgVrocNo8Y

Length: 20min 12sec (1212 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 17 2024