Vegan curry, burgers, sushi… You can get all of that for less than 1000 yen in Japan. But where? Read this how-to guide to cheap vegan food under 1000 yen in Japan and find out!
While Japan is known for being quite an expensive country to visit, eating out in Japan can be relatively cheap. For about 500 yen (at the moment 3,50 euros) you can already get a decent meal at one of the many chain restaurants in Japan. Unfortunately, most of these meals aren’t vegetarian or vegan. It is, in fact, one of the most difficult countries for finding vegan food. Many meals contain meat, fish and often, even if it might look vegetarian, a soup or sauce contains Katsuodashi (fish stock). Eating vegan therefore often means finding quite expensive specialised vegetarian/vegan restaurants, Shojin Ryori (buddhist cuisine) or simply cooking yourself.
Nevertheless vegan food is slowly becoming increasingly popular in Japan. There are over 2 million vegans in Japan, over 2% of the population! The main reason for veganism in Japan is often health related, while in the Netherlands, or in the west in general, veganism is often more related to animal welfare and the climate. No matter the reasons though, veganism is expected to slowly increase in the coming years. And since I’m travelling Japan on a budget at the moment, I thought there must be some cheap vegan options already. After some field research I’ve made a short guide on where to find cheap vegan food in Japan. Enjoy and add your own suggestions in the comments! I would love to try them out.
Mos Burger
Mos Burger is a famous Japanese burger chain. It started as a small restaurant in the town of Narimasu, but has grown to become one of the biggest Japanese burger chains with over 1300 restaurants throughout the country. While the name might sound a bit strange, there’s actually meaning behind it. As Mos Burger itselve explains:
“MOS stands for Mountain, Ocean, and Sun.
Mos Burger
It means “standing tall and firm like a Mountain, having a heart that is broad and deep as the Ocean, and having passion like the Sun that never burns out.” That is our founder’s neverending love for human beings and nature.”
It’s always a bit strange to hear about a love for nature when you decide to sell beef and fish. Anyway, I can say this about every restaurant on this list basically. Nevertheless, recently they have added two vegan options to their menu! Something I can only cheer for :). They already had soy patty burgers since 2015, but the sauce on the regular burgers is not always vegan, and so aren’t the buns. In 2020, being the first burger chain in Japan to do this, they therefore introduced their first fully plant-based burger (even without the 5 pungent vegitables buddhist often avoid): the Green Burger.
So meat substitutes have become increasinly available, but their famous fish patty didn’t have a replacement yet… until March this year! Mos Burger now has two fully vegan options on the menu – their Teriyaki Burger and their Soy Sea Burger. Both can be found in a green section on the left side of their menu, where it clearly says plant-based.
I can honestly say, both burger are amazing! I’ve already had them a couple of times and they’ve exceeded my expectations. For only 490 and 590 yen, I can highly recommend them to anyone looking for a nice vegan Japanese style burger every once in a while :).
CoCo Curry (or CURRY HOUSE CoCo ICHIBANYA)
CoCo Curry, or officially called CURRY HOUSE CoCo ICHIBANYA, is a famous Japanese-style Curry Specialty chain offering a wide range of variations on the delicious Japanese curry. Japanese curry? Yes, Japanese! While most of us are familiar with Thai and Indian curries, Japanese curries have always been a bit under the radar. Just wait until you’ve tried one, you’ll never forget how good it tastes! They are the perfect combination of sweet, savoury and spicy combined with delicious Japanese rice.
In the past it was very hard to find a place with vegan curry since most curries are pork or beef based. And while you could cook it yourself, by using a package of the vegan-friendly Golden Curry brand, it does not taste the same as in a restaurant. Luckily, Japan’s largest curry chain decided to create a vegetarian and vegan friendly version of their curry and add it to their menu!
On the standard menu you can find two vegan options – the vegetarian curry with a soy patty and the vegetarian curry with vegetables. Make sure you don’t accidentally order the pork based curry with vegetables or other toppings, since this is also in a green box on the menu. But if you ask for the English Menu, there are many more options! You will get a kind of guide-book on how to order, which guides you through the options. Simply choose the vegetarian curry base, your spice level, the amount of rice and the toppings you want and you can just make your own curry!
So if you’re looking for a simple, but traditional Japanese meal, go find a CoCo curry! There are over 1000 restaurants in Japan, so in every bigger city you will find plenty of options :).
Yakiniku Like
Yakiniku?? But isn’t that grilled meat? Yes.. it is. Yakiniku is a very famous dish in Japan and many non-veg people go to Yakiniku restaurants for a nice night out with friends, colleagues, family. But what about the vegetarians and vegans among us? We want to try BBQ-ing!!
Finally the chain restaurant Yakiniku Like has partnered up with the Japanese start-up Next Meat to offer a 100% vegetarian and vegan friendly soy-based meat option. While I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, I’ve hear and read many good things about it! And since you can have your own grill at these restaurants, you also don’t have to worry about cross-contamination.
Look for the Next Kalbi option on the menu, but make sure you don’t order it together with real meat. It would be good to tell the waiter/waitress you are vegan/vegetarian (see below). The soy-meat costs around 320 yen per 50 grams and you can, for example, order it with a bowl of rice. Keep in mind that many side dishes, such as the kimchi, might not be vegan, so make sure to ask the waiter about that as well.
Just a disclaimer, I cannot guarantee they will have the vegan option at all the Yakiniku Like places in Japan. But I expect they would.
Conveyer belt sushi
Kaitenzushi, or conveyer belt sushi restaurants are conveniet and affordable ways to get your lunch or dinner for a cheap price. There are several conveyer belt sushi chains in Japan. As they pass by you can simply pick up any plate with any sushi you want. Including vegan options. The best thing – the vegan options are often the cheapest and green tea and pickled ginger are free of charge. Sushi is generally between 110 and 500 yen per plate.
One of the most famous kaitenzushi restaurants is Kura Sushi. I often visit this place for a quick snack or sometimes even dinner. Unfortunately at Kura sushi, there are not many vegan options. The options you’ll have are Inari sushi (a riceball packed in tofu), cucumber maki, pickled daikon radish, natto and sometimes gourd. They also have onion rings and fried corn but I haven’t been able to find out if it’s vegan. Also they have some vegan desert and deliciour Kura sushi cola made from fermented rice!
What I would recommend is to find a conveyer belt or other type of sushi restaurant nearby and check their menu. Some of them have much more vegan options such as avocado, eggplant etc. Make sure you tell them you don’t eat Katsuoboshi/Bonito flakes because sometimes they put them on the sushi as garnish.
Some phrases to help you out
It can be hard to explain your dietary restrictions in English, since I often encountered that people didn’t understand what I was saying. Therefore I compiled some sentences that can help you out:
Explaining your diet: Watashi wa bejitarian/bigan desu β I am vegetarian/vegan (often people don’t know what bigan means though, so you’ll have to continu to explain yourself)
Ingredients to avoid: Niku = meat; sakana = fish; shiifuudo = seafood; katsuodashi = fish stock, tamago = egg; cheezu = cheese; gyuunyu = milk; kuriimu = cream; katsuobushi = bonito flakes
Explain what you can’t eat: _____ wo tabemasen/taberaremasen β I donβt/canβt eat ____. You can combine several things by using the word “to”. So for example: Sakana to Niku to dashi wo tabemasen.
Check if something contains animal products: _____ haiteimasueka? β Is there _____ in it?
Request the dish without the addition of a certain animal product: _____-nashi, kudasai – without _____, please. For example Katsuoboshi nashi wo kudasai.
Request the dish with only vegetables: Yasai dake, wo kudasai β vegetables only, please.
I hope you enjoyed my guide on where to find cheap vegan food under 1000 yen in Japan. Mind you, these restaurants you can find in the bigger cities. The countryside can be a lot more difficult, so these phrases can really help you out when you go off the beaten track.
Want to read more tips for travelling in Japan as a vegan? Check out these blogs:
