Restaurants Information
Vegan restaurants in Kamakura
There are many types of restaurants that offer vegetarian and vegan cuisine in both traditional Japanese and international styles.
You will find lots of recommendations at Happy Cow (an online community about the vegan lifestyle as a healthy way of living). Among the 39 listings there are many cafes, bakeries, sweet shops, pizzerias and ethnic restaurants included.
Listed below are the places to eat where you can enjoy Japanese style tastes.
Kaikoan Restaurant is located inside the Hasedera temple, situated next to the viewing platform. The large window provides a beautiful view of the Yuigahama beach in the distance. The menu choices are limited to the vegetable curry and the pasta which are prepared by a monk who works at the temple. Tea matcha and some sweets are also to be enjoyed.
www.happycow.net/reviews/
Cafe Guri offers one menu of Shojin-vegan "Toki Gozen" including a dish with about 5 different kinds of vegetables and tofu, soup, rice, pickles and sweet (2250 yen).
A unique feature of this cafe is that all of the food and drink are served on Kamakura-bori (traditional art crafts of carving and lacquering) tableware.
It is a rare opportunity to touch them directly and feel the wood carvings/lacquering made using techniques passed down over 800 years.
Cafe Guri is also a nice place to have a tea and vegan ice cream (700 yen) made using rice and coconut milk as the main ingredients.
The ambiance is spacious and relaxing.
No menu in English but English speaking staff are always available.
Located between Kamakura Sta and Hachimangu Shrine. On the first floor of Kamakura-bori Kaikan. Open 11h - 17h.
https://kamakuraborikaikan.jp/access/
www.happycow.net/reviews/cafe-
The museum on the 3rd floor exhibits about 50 masterpieces of Kamakura-bori displayed along with the historical commentary of each era starting from
Muromachi, 15th century. (entrance fee is 300 yen) http://kamakuraborikaikan.jp/
"Bistro & Izakaya style" restaurant with lots of plant-based menus, Onari Yokocho, just opened in Kamakura, 3 min from the west exit. The wish of Mr. Yamanaka, president of a web design company, "To open a restaurant both vegans and non-vegans can enjoy" has been realized !
Among 20 dishes, 90 % are vegan. Gyoza, Spring roll, Hummus... to accompany the drink (more than 20 choices including vegan wine) and curry, ramen, risotto... The menu is proposed by the chef Saki-san specializing in seasoning spices and dashi stock. The "fusion" taste makes us forget what we eat is vegan or non-vegan and we can enjoy it together.
5-41 Onarimachi, Kamakura-shi. about 15 seats.
Open 16h - 21h. (Lunch will start sometime soon) Closed Monday.
Yoshie and Manami propose 4 choices of menu (¥1500 & ¥1800). More than 20 varieties of vegetables and ingredients used in the menu "Buddha Plate & Bowl".
As the number of dishes prepared is limited, it is recommended to go there at the opening time (11 a.m.) and enjoy "brunch" in a cozy tatami room.
Afternoon Tea menu (15 - 18 p.m.) with several choices of drinks (tea, coffee, organic beer...) and gluten free sweets. Between ¥550 - 1000. Also 30 kinds of medicinal herbal tea "all-you-can-drink" and 5 types of vegan sweets without using white sugar replaced by date/maple syrup, amazake. (¥3300)
Take-out lunch boxes can be reserved by phone. 0467-25-5508.
Closed Wed. & Thu. 2-10-34 Hase, Kamakura.
www.facebook.com/GIGI.KNITTING
www.instagram.com/cotonoha.kitakamakura/
Chirashiya is a small vegan sushi restaurant, opened July 2022, with less than 20 seats open from 11 am to 5 pm. [Dinner by reservation in advance]. Sushi is made with vegetables like tomato, pumpkin Kabocha, paprika, radish... also with tapioca, tofu, konjac... and with vinegared red rice. It is possible to order take-out. (9 sushi for 1500 yen). It could be a good idea to bring it for hiking (The trail starts from the backside of Kenchoji temple) and have lunch on top of the mountain. Map in English
Closed on 2nd Wednesday and every Thursday.
https://chirashiya-kamakura.
www.happycow.net/reviews/chirashiya-kamakura-326795 *On the page Happy Cow, the open hour is listed until 3 pm. but now they are open until 5 pm.
It used to be the restaurant Hachinoki known for Shojin Buddhist temple cuisine. Since last year, it has been changed to Tenshin-an but keeping almost the same interior decoration for the main hall with tatami and chairs.
For the menu, only 2 choices without meat and fish. Kenchin-jiru veggie soup, 2 onigiri rice balls, a dish with simmered vegetables and pickles Tsukemono (990 yen) or Kenchin-jiru Soba buckwheat noodle (1020 yen). They say that the recipe of Kenchin-jiru is the same as what is served at the Temple Kenchoji.
There are severals sweets (Gateau au Chocolat, cheese cake, panna cotta, Matcha Ice cream, pudding) but none of vegan dessert. Only during the summer time (June - August), there will be "Kaki-gori", shaved (snow) Ice with tea matcha, sweet red beans etc.
Located next to the entrance of Kenchoji temple, the first Zen temple in Kamakura. It is a nice quick lunch before or after the visit to the temple.
11 am - 5 pm. Closed on Tuesday. 7 Yamanouchi, Kamakura. Tel. 0467-55-9350.
Kitotoki was started by Hiroko Nagao almost 10 years ago. Her carefully prepared vegan cuisine comes from her own farming of pesticide-free, fertilizer-free vegetables. The vegetables are mainly grown from native seeds in a field she rents nearby. Seasonings such as koji mold, miso, olive oil and soy sauce are organic and often made by herself.
She first started to be conscious of food for the health of her daughter and went on to study macrobiotic and organic foods etc.
Lunch includes more than 10 dishes with rice, soup, drink and a small sweet for 2200 yen. By reservation only.
www.happycow.net/reviews/
Shokudo Pace is open about 10 days a month. It is worth the effort to make plans to visit and meet the couple who runs the restaurant and who hopes to contribute to the environment, to experience the atmosphere of a 100 year old house where their grandparents used to live, as well as enjoy a menu they call Jomon Teishoku. They say, “It seems that the Jomon people did not have a sense of possessiveness and lived by sharing. Everyone was part of nature and there were no boundaries...". The set menu with organic vegetables, nuts, grains, brown rice, and soup is about 1500 yen.
www.happycow.net/reviews/
The Vegetable Café, now called Sorafune, is known for their macrobiotic style cuisine. Fried soy meat is their speciality and large amount is served. Customers have a choice of sitting on tatami mats or on chairs in this renovated old traditional house with a small garden. Soy meat lunch set is 1500 yen.
Vegetus is typically open only for dinner. Lunch is possible if the reservation is made more than 1 week in advance. Their European-style course meal with carefully selected local and seasonal ingredients pairs well with the Japanese wine that the owner-chef recommends. Course menu of amue, salad, appetizer, main dish and dessert is 6000 yen.
www.happycow.net/reviews/
Shiori Soba is located between Hase Station on the Enoden Line and the Big Buddha Daibutsu of Kotokuin temple. Soba noodles are 100% buckwheat and prepared in the restaurant by the owner who gives a Soba-making lesson. The vegan dashi stock is available. But with the influence of covid, the restaurant is closed. Only Soba making lesson continue. https://shiori-an.com/
www.happycow.net/reviews/
The video of making Soba (30 min)
www.youtube.com/watch?
Magokoro specializes in hemp and Hachinoki, from the Buddhist tradition of vegan food. They are profiled in the article, "Japan's 6 most vegan-friendly cities" on the Cutluretrip, as well as on the pages of Happy Cow.
www.happycow.net/reviews/
www.happycow.net/
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/japans-6-most-vegan-friendly-cities-ranked/
Kamakura feels like a chunk of California blended with Kyoto – plating up organic cuisine to match. The city’s two golden arcs of sand attract a stream of visitors an hour south of Tokyo throughout summer, and beachfront eateries like hemp-obsessed hippie café Magokoro cement that West Coast vibe. But scale the hillside temples that peer over the coast to discover shojin ryori, the centuries-old Buddhist tradition of vegan and vegetarian food.
Kamakura Hachinoki isn’t quite that ancient – it has only sat here surrounded by Kamakura’s leafiest Zen temples since 1964 – but it still presents an authentic shojin ryori multi-course menu fit for a monk in an exclusive dining room shrouded in forest. And they’re only two of the many plant-based restaurants and cafés that make Kamakura Japan’s most underrated vegan destination.
Attention> Hachinoki near Kenchoji temple is closed and the main restaurant Hachinoki is no longer serving vegan meals.
Narutoya is known for the Japanese style vegetable dishes but the Katsuobushi, bonito is used for the stock dashi. The owner-chef Yosuke Ichikawa replies that it is difficult to prepare the vegan stock even for the group reservation in advance. This restaurant is recommended for "Pesco-vegetarians".
3 min from the Kamakura JR Station. They are open for lunch and dinner. Reservation in advance recommended as they are often fully booked. Tel. 0467-23-7666
www.instagram.com/narutoyakamakura/ www.facebook.com
Specialise in soba, buckwheat noodles.
There are 2 choices of Soba vegetarian using the broth made from vegetables (No bonito stock).
They also have 10 kinds of sweets based on azuki sweet red beans and kanten agar-agar.
Tel. 0467-24-9244
Cosmo Kitchen is a restaurant specializing in enzyme brown rice and fermented dishes. It is also a shop for
the "beauty and health" products. Among 5 or 6 menus, there are choices without fish and meat : vegan curry and ramen. Their concept is cleaning the body, activating cells and increasing
immunity with high-energy enzyme brown rice and fermented dishes.
Yuigahama bldg. 2F, 1-3-3 Yuigahama, Kamakura. Tue./Wed. closed. As they often have the reservation by groups or events, it is important to check if they are open before going. The schedule is announced on the page
News. https://cosmotics.net/news/
https://cosmotics.net/restaurant/ (in Japanese only)
Info in TOKYO
KOMAKI SHOKUDO in Akihabara run by Komaki, daughter of Mari Fujii, specialist of Shojin Ryori - Buddhist temple vegan cuisine, celebrate its 10th anniversary on July 5th.
Three main menus: fried gluten, soy meat and vegan curry for weekday lunch. Other choices for dinner; Eggless omelet made with chickpea, udon noodles... and the sweets; Matcha cake, white sesame soymilk ice cream, Shiratama/agar/red beans etc. Evening hours are short, and some menu items may be sold out. Reservations recommended.
11h-15h（L.O. 14h30), 17h-20h（L.O. 19h3０). Weekend 17h-20h. Closed Monday.
3 min from Akihabara Sta (Denkigai-guchi exit).
Situated in Chabara shopping mall representing the local food products of more than 30 prefectures. www.kamakura-komaki.com @komakishokudo