Vegan Ramen in Tokyo

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Travelling through Japan as a vegetarian has been a little challenging at times. My partner is vegetarian, although has travelled extensively throughout Asia, and so has learned how to deal with that fact in cultures that can be very carnivorous.

Also, the idea of vegetarianism is very foreign — it is actually a modern Western concept. Vegan food is actually somewhat easier to find (and if you don’t know the difference, vegan is basically no animal product; whereas a vegetarian may be ok with eggs, milk, cheese, etc.)

So for our final night in Japan, I voted we find a specifically vegetarian/vegan meal. Plus, I wasn’t really feeling like eating meat, as I try to keep it to maybe 2-3 times per week. However it feels like I’ve been eating mostly meat this past week.

We were in Harajuku doing some last minute tourist shopping for my daughter, so used the happycow.com website to find what was around us.

And we discovered Kyushu Jangara Ramen.

I was using my Maps app to find it, and was having trouble. My daughter stopped to squeal in delight at a sign for a Hedgehog Cafe, and that’s when we saw that we had arrived. We had to take some stairs to enter, which you need to look for on the left of the window. So if you’re looking for it, look for the signs for Hedgehog Cafe!

It’s quite a groovy little place, over-looking the busy streets below, so we got a great chance to people-gaze during peak hour.

They have menus in a few languages, not just English. Again, simple selections, although they give you options for the two different types of ramen: a sour Yuzu-flavoured one (Yuzu is a type of citrus fruit), or a soy sauce-based one. My partner chose the Yuzu, I chose the soy with extra veggies. You can also choose from a selection of sides, and toppings.

The servings as usual were incredibly generous. My partner couldn’t finish hers! The soy ramen was divine, and I found it quite light, and yet satisfied my hunger perfectly. The noodles were thin, and the tofu was possibly grilled or BBQed, I wasn’t sure. I complemented it with a Highball, which seems to be quite a thing here.

The prices are very reasonable, we ended up paying a little over ¥4000 for the three of us including drinks. I’ve found eating out in Japan a helluva lot cheaper than in Australia, and mostly better quality to be honest.

Harajuku is a trendy shopping precinct a little west of Tokyo central, right next to the Meiji shrine, so it’s worth coming here for a vegetarian/vegan meal after a day of walking through crowds amongst the crazy shops and beautiful old Shintō shrine. And it’s only a couple of stops away from Shinjuku. There’s a couple of metro train lines that bring you here, including the JR Yamanote line (said to be Tokyo’s busiest line).
[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 35.669603 lat 139.703494 long Vegan/Vegetarian Ramen d3scr)