Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, a leader in Japan’s luxury hospitality industry, is committed to accommodating a wide range of dietary preferences and needs. Our restaurants, all located in the heart of Tokyo, proudly offer options for customers with vegan, vegetarian, halal-friendly, pescatarian, and gluten free restrictions, as well as catering to various food allergies.

This time we would like to introduce the exquisite vegan menus available at our four major restaurants, which are open to both staying guests and visitors.

Japanese cuisine, registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, is celebrated for being healthy and nutritionally balanced, its emphasis on the natural flavors of ingredients, and its seasonal dishes. The wide variety of plant-based ingredients in Japanese cuisine makes it highly versatile; creating delicious and authentic vegan meals is a natural extension of this rich culinary tradition.

In particular, Japan’s centuries-old fermentation techniques allow basic ingredients to be enjoyed in numerous ways. For example, soybeans, a valuable source of vegetable protein, can be enjoyed as edamame when fresh, unfermented as tofu and soymilk, and fermented as soy sauce, miso paste, natto, and more. These traditional food processing and cooking methods offer endless culinary possibilities.

Moreover, Japan boasts a rich tradition of plant-based Buddhist cuisine known as shojin ryori, which features a wide variety of dishes completely free of animal-derived ingredients.

At Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, we embrace these traditional cooking methods to craft high-quality meals that capture the essence of Japanese cuisine. Being vegan in Japan has been notoriously challenging in the past, but in recent years there’s been a surge in vegetarian and vegan meal options across Japan. Here, we present the vegan and vegetarian courses available at our main restaurants: Miyuki, Ryotei Kinsui, Il Teatro, and Mokushundo.

Miyuki: Shojin Kaiseki Cuisine

At Miyuki, our Japanese cuisine restaurant, guests and visitors can savor a wide range of dishes, from teppanyaki grilled cuisine to tempura deep-fried delights.

For our vegan customers, we proudly offer the Shojin Kaiseki dinner menu (14,400 yen), a plant-based course inspired by Buddhist cuisine.

The menu consists of an appetizer, vegetable sushi made with ingredients like dried gourd, a salad, grilled and simmered dishes, a hot pot dish with mushrooms and other vegetables, tempura (a deep-fried dish), rice, and a fruit dessert. The dashi broth that enhances the flavor of the simmered ingredients is made using kelp extract.

We use only seasonal vegetables and fruits in this menu, ensuring that guests enjoy a unique combination of dishes depending on the time of year they visit.

At Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo, guests can experience Japan’s seven seasons, and the Shojin Kaiseki menu at Miyuki beautifully reflects these seasonal variations through its selection of ingredients and tableware. This allows guests to fully immerse themselves in the current season through all their senses.

Miyuki’s commitment to an authentic Japanese experience extends beyond its cuisine. The restaurant’s interior decoration and ambiance are meticulously designed to provide a genuinely Japanese cultural  experience. 

Guests can also enhance their visit by first taking a stroll through Chinzanso Garden to absorb the colors and sounds of the season, and then savoring their meal at Miyuki where the seasonal features are artfully expressed through the flavors and presentation of the dishes.

To make a reservation in English at Miyuki, please use this online booking page.

Ryotei Kinsui: A Vegan-Friendly Shojin Kaiseki Course

Ryotei Kinsui, Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo’s premier Japanese restaurant, is ideal for special occasions and formal gatherings. Guests can indulge in sophisticated kaiseki cuisine crafted by highly skilled chefs.

Kinsui offers a Vegan-friendly Shojin Kaiseki course (20,300 yen with tax) that masterfully blends the techniques of plant-based Buddhist cuisine with those of traditional kaiseki meals. The dashi cooking broth is vegetable-based, primarily using kelp stock.

The appetizers feature vegetable sushi and aemono (vegetables served with a Japanese dressing sauce). The soup incorporates ingredients such as mushrooms, greens, fragrant yuzu citrus, and sansho leaves. The fried dishes are prepared with five types of seasonal vegetables, and the dessert highlights the fruit of the day.

The course content remains consistent throughout the seasons, though some of the vegetables and fruits vary to align with the principles of traditional kaiseki cuisine, which reflects seasonal changes through flavors and appearance.

Dining at Ryotei Kinsui is an extraordinary experience, offering the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine alongside a refined Japanese ambiance that permeates every corner of the restaurant. Located in Chinzanso Garden, Kinsui’s lobby and some of Kinsui’s dining rooms provide an exclusive, breathtaking view of the garden and the Tokyo Sea of Clouds. Please note that a prior reservation is required to access and dine at Ryotei Kinsui, regardless of whether you are staying at the hotel or not.

We encourage our cherished guests to fully savor the dinner course at Kinsui, then spend the night at the hotel, and take a morning walk in the garden to feel refreshed and reinvigorated. Early in the day, the garden is less crowded, allowing guests to leisurely enjoy its serene beauty.

Reservations at Ryotei Kinsui can be made online in English using this booking page.

Il Teatro: Vegan and Gluten-free Italian Cuisine

Il Teatro, specializing in Italian cuisine, is the restaurant where guests with a breakfast-inclusive accommodation plan will enjoy their first meal of the day.

We are pleased to offer a Vegan and Gluten-free menu (15,500 yen with tax) at Il Teatro, available for lunch or dinner. This menu, free from meat, dairy products, eggs, and other animal products, excludes gluten while incorporating superfood ingredients such as quinoa and chia seeds. Carefully crafted to ensure nutritional balance, it is satisfying in both quantity and presentation.

While some table seats at Il Teatro offer garden views, we recommend complementing your dining experience with a stroll through the garden to enjoy the sea of clouds. Whether during the day when the sun shines brightly, at twilight when the sky is adorned with warm hues, or after dark when the garden is illuminated, Chinzanso Garden can be enjoyed as an oasis in the center of Tokyo that reconnects us with nature.

To make a reservation at Il Teatro, please use this online booking form.

Mokushundo: Vegetarian Gluten-Free Stone-Grilled Kaiseki Cuisine

Mokushundo specializes in stone-grilled cuisine, using lava stones from Mount Fuji. This restaurant offers a Vegetarian Gluten-free Stone-Grilled Kaiseki menu (15,000 yen) available for lunch and dinner that features high-quality ingredients from both Japanese and Western cuisines. These include bamboo shoots, soymilk skin, red beets, and vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, cabbage, and others. The final rice dish also comes with delicious Japanese pickles.

The vegetables are grilled with simple seasonings such as sesame, wasabi, and truffle salt, allowing diners to savor their natural flavors and nutritional content. This menu remains consistent throughout the year.

Nestled deep in Chinzanso Garden at the base of Camellia Hill, Mokushundo offers a picturesque walk that lets visitors enjoy seasonal highlights, such as cherry blossom projection mapping in spring or charming wind chimes in summer.

For a truly unforgettable dining experience, consider stopping for a drink at Le Marquis, the hotel’s bar, before leaving. The bar’s exquisite selection of beverages perfectly complements the stone-grilled cuisine offered at Mokushundo.

To make a reservation at Mokushundo, please use this online booking form.

*Please note that the restaurant reuses their stone grills for all of their dishes.*

Enjoy Exquisite Vegan Food in Tokyo at a Luxury Hotel

The four major restaurants at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo offer vegan menus perfect for various occasions—from casual dining to sophisticated kaiseki-style cuisine. These menus provide more than just a meal; they offer an insight into Japanese culture, showcasing respect for the inherent flavors of ingredients and the mastery of food preparation perfected over centuries. Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo is the perfect destination for anyone searching for vegan restaurants in Tokyo.

Thoughtful, flavorful, and aesthetically pleasing, the vegan menus at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo make it a premier destination for plant-based cuisine in Japan’s capital.

Updated on November 25, 2024