Chabuton Restaurants (Has Vegetarian Noodles + Dumplings)

Akihabara location (now closed)

Two vegetarian dishes that are very difficult to find in Japan are ramen and dumplings (gyoza). A chain of restaurants called Chabuton sells both, and they're pretty good. The shop had a location in Akihabara, but it appears to have either closed or moved. The last time I checked, there was still a location in Shimokitazawa.

First you pay for the tickets of the dishes you want.

Veggie gyoza

Veggie ramen

Plenty of toppings, including sesame seeds and hot sauce. Delicious!

 Bon appetit!

Tokyo Vegefood Festa

This weekend at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, a small but well attended veggie food festival was held. (The much larger Spain Festa going on nearby was huge.) At the Tokyo Vegefood Festa, there were a few dozen stalls selling Indian, Japanese, Taiwanese, and other types of veggie, vegan, and macrobiotic food.

Events like this are rare in Japan, so it was nice being able to walk around and try food from different vendors.

Most of the food was good. Portions were small, though. On the bright side, that made it easier to sample a number of stalls. Some things were reasonably priced, while others were out there, even for Japan.

No complaints from this happy dude.

 More after the jump:

Some useful info for vegetarians in Japan

Being a vegetarian or vegan in Japan can be tough. You can't just roll up to a place, say "I'm a vegetarian," and then get food free of beef, ham, bacon, shrimp, fish flakes, etc. You literally need to run down a list of things that can't be added to your meal. And that's because there's still limited understanding of what it means to be a vegetarian.

Over time, one gets used to it, but from time to time, you might forget to say "Katsuo mo tabenai." (I don't eat dried fish flakes either.) And then voila there's your beautiful yaki udon absolutely covered with katsuo.

Fortunately there are some useful sites and tools out there to help you find veggie restaurants, like Vege-Navi, Vege Tokyo, and Happy Cow. Other sites help you navigate your way through non-veggie restaurants. I posted this a few years back.

I just discovered a fantastic new post on the website Just Hungry. It includes a set of printable cards indicating specific dietary preferences and restrictions. The cards are bilingual (English and Japanese) and cover veggies, vegans, pescatarians, and others. Here's a sample for lacto-ovo vegetarians:

 And one for vegans:

 

So you print the ones you need or save them on your smartphone and show them to your server. Each of the cards can be downloaded in PDF form, either in A4 or letter size. Click here to head to the post.

Keep in mind a sizeable number of restaurants will still not be able or willing to make adjustments for you. But plenty will. The key is being clear and polite up front, to minimize miscommunication.

I think in general, for restaurants and other businesses, the language barrier creates a lot of misconceptions. It's not like they don't want to help you - it's more a matter of their not wanting to misunderstand you or make a mistake. Plus there's a high inclination in general to avoid hassle and conflict.

So I think tools like these cards, which are written in crystal clear Japanese, could be very helpful. Itadakimasu (Bon appetit)!  :)

Earth Garden Festival at Yoyogi Park

Today it was time to take out the tie dyes and dig up the didgeridoo, as central Tokyo's Yoyogi Park hosted the Earth Garden festival. The event is as close to a New Age gathering as I've seen in Japan, but while you had your drum circles, candle sellers, and meticulously untrimmed beards, you also had some decidedly Old Age price tags. Hug life in Japan don't come cheap!

Scenes from Yoyogi Park as we made our way to the festival.

These Rockabilly dudes were at the periphery of the park, making a bold statement that they were *not* there for the tahini.

Hula hoopers in central Tokyo? Yes indeed.

The whole park was packed with folks soaking up rays before the winter arrives.

Ah, the didgeridoo welcoming committee. We were getting close!

And here we arrive at Earth Garden:

More after the jump:

Tokyo Farmer's Market

Today I thought I'd work in a Slice of Life (or as the naysayers say, SOL) post. Today's topic: Green Cuisine.The wholefood/macrobiotic scene has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. Time was you could barely find anything green (besides edamame) on a restaurant menu. Now, you've got restaurants like Watami with literally a dozen vegetarian (or vegetarianable (ie, "I'll take it, but hold the hamu.")) options. Worth noting: Watami has also got a great nomihodai (all you can drink) deal.

In recent years, there has also been huge growth in the natural foods scene, with supermarkets like Natural House offering lots of organic produce (though there's plenty of room for more variety....please!!) as well as pasta, boxes and canned goods, and daily life goods like shampoo and detergent. Plus there are many more smaller organic food places, where we usually shop. There are probably hundreds of these in Tokyo, and they are of the goodness.

Then you have farmer's markets. They pop up on the weekends. One of the nicest is in Shibuya, just down the road from Shibuya station. In toy geek terms, it's just a few minutes walk from Billiken Gallery.

The market (open on weekends, with vendors wrapping up in the late afternoon) is a great place to stroll around, sample fresh produce, grab a bite, and listen to live music. Here are some shots.

Produce

 

More after the jump: