Vegan
International
Japanese
Organic
Juice bar
Beer/Wine
Fusion

Kyoto branch of Ain Soph vegan restaurant from Tokyo, opened here in 2018. Features plant-based fusion cuisine. Sample dishes such as mushroom hayashi rice, taco rice, and green curry with brown rice. For dessert try matcha pancakes, creme brulee, vegan cheesecake, or ice cream soda. Lunchtime food is served till 4pm. Note that a minimum is required for card payment. Often closed for dinner various days of the week so check their Instagram for details or call in advance. Open Mon-Tue 9:00am-4:00pm, Wed-Thu 11:30am-4:00pm, Fri-Sun 9:00am-4:00pm. Last order is 1 hour before closing time. Hours can be irregular; please call ahead.


Venue map for AIN SOPH.Journey
© OpenStreetMap contributors

519 Reviews

First Review by kat.ross

94-oj

Points +94

Vegan
21 Jul 2023

Great lunch

Great tasty lunch, just a shame they don’t open in the evenings!

SophiaMT

Points +300

Vegan
15 Jul 2023

Great find!

Went at 2pm on a Friday and it was very easy to get a table and the food came out quite quickly. I got the burger which was very fresh and filling - not heavy at all. Very tasty - a great little find! The deserts look delightful and they have some sweets to go. Definitely worth checking out!

Updated from previous review on 2023-07-15

Pros: Tasty, Filling , Quick

Cons: A little pricey , A little tricky to find

TanLC

Points +111

Vegetarian
10 Jul 2023

Delicious vegan food

Their bowls are exceptional. Very tasty and fresh. Would definitely eat there again. A little on the pricer side for dessert. But overall worth it.

Pros: Vegan , GF options

Cons: Pricey drinks and dessert

DominikFöldes

Points +259

Vegan
02 Jul 2023

Great food

We had a menu special, it was very good. However, the vegan cheesecake they have is incredible. I never had a vegan cheesecake that had a cheesy taste like this. It took some time to prepare desserts, so perhaps they do not just take it out of the fridge. Amazing chain!

anutthar

Points +889

Vegan
24 Jun 2023

Lovely homely food

We had green curry, soy cutlet burger and the crème brûlée (best ever!)

bettafrg

Points +2903

Vegan
19 Jun 2023

Delicious Matcha Pancakes

I’m very fond of Ain Soph chain and the Kyoto branch is as delicious as the others, but the best dish of this restaurant are definitely matcha pancakes!! They are amazing and you can have them only at the Kyoto branch, so I can’t recommend this restaurant enough!

pukiiland

Points +507

Vegan
16 Jun 2023

Loved

Loved everything, food I expected to eat in Japan but veganized.

CMack95

Points +207

Vegetarian
15 Jun 2023

Soy teriyaki is amazing!

Had a really great soy teriyaki dish with avocado and then a tasty chocolate banana parfait after.

The prices were reasonable but the portion size was pretty small.

The staff were super nice and when I spilled my coffee immediately after getting it (like the clumsy person I am) they replaced it for free which was really generous.

Updated from previous review on 2023-06-15

RemiOkamoto

Points +762

Vegan
04 Jun 2023

Very nice restaurant

I really liked the atmosphere of the restaurant and friendly staff.
I ordered " Teriyaki don "and it was really tasty, i loved the vegan mayonnaise. My friend ordered Taco rice and it looked really tasty as well.

Mowsea

Points +104

Vegan
03 Jun 2023

A bit disappointed

The food was good but nothing to write home about. Even though I was full by the end of it I still felt like I was craving something else / not actually full. The menu also showed burgers with huge patties but when the food actually came out they were quite thin with only a smattering of fries. Again, since I ended up full (I think?) it’s fine that the patties were thin but it was unfortunate that the menu was so misleading. I was starving when I got there so I was honestly excited to eat anything they put in front of me but flavor-wise it was just a basic vegan burger I could make and eat at home, the only difference being eating here is much more expensive.

Pros: Tasted good, Nice atmosphere

Cons: Run-of-the-mill burger, Expensive, Menu misleading

SabrinaJaffe

Points +862

Vegan
02 Jun 2023

Best burger

We ordered two katsu burgers and one pancake dessert. The burger was probably my favorite burger ever and the pancakes were so good (especially the whipped cream and jam that comes with it). These 3 items cost us about 5000 yen total. They only allow you to be at your table for 90 minutes, but this was not an issue for us as we received all of our food well before the 90 minute time limit.

Pros: Delicious , All vegan , Desserts

Maurice_Harvey

Points +25

Vegan
31 May 2023

Maybe just a bad night?

First up: I really, really, really don't want to tip on this place because we all know how hard it is to get ANY vegan food in Japan. So full acknowledgement to Ain.Soph for making it accessible. I had a large group booking (8) for my birthday last week and had emailed a month in advance to lock in the reservation. Ain.Soph asked us to pick main dishes or journeys a couple of days ahead so they could prepare, which is completely fine for a small business. They were friendly and accommodating.

Overall: the food was fine. Okay. Honestly, if you're looking for the most magical vegan food in Tokyo save up and go to Faro. It serves omni too but it is AMAZING. Ain.Soph was just regular vegan food, nice pancakes but nothing to write home about.

My main issues with the evening were this:

1. Our booking was at 7pm. And it was my birthday, we were there to drink and eat and have a good time. At 8pm our server told us 'last drinks'. I had not been told in advance that there was an 8pm cut off time for drinks and it seemed kind of weird that we had a two-hour booking but weren't allowed to drink past 8?

2. Once the server got annoyed with us for wanting to order drinks (and there was some confusion with how many journeys we'd ordered, which I don't blame anybody for - just miscommunication I think) they basically wanted to get rid of us, plonking the pancakes down on the table when we'd only just started our mains. Nothing like staring at your melting dessert course right when we're eating karaage.

I was obviously bummed because I'd brought my omni mates there and it was my birthday, so I wanted everything to go seamlessly. Maybe they were overwhelmed by the big group, maybe they've got set rules on drinks that I missed but it made my heart a bit sad.

Cabeto

Points +390

Vegan
29 May 2023

Vegan heaven !!

Burgers, salads and pancakes were so good !!!! Everything is so flavorful and unique. A must if you’re in Kyoto. You can reserve online to be sure you get in. Staff speaks english. Enjoy !

Esor

Points +555

Vegetarian
25 May 2023

Good food

We came around 2 pm for lunch and waited for about 20 minutes to be seated with only one person in front of us in the queue, so I'd say calculate about 10 minute wait per person/group in front of you in the queue. The waitress was extremely friendly and apologetic about the wait, so I don't know if they were just short on staff that day. Food came fast though. We had the teriyaki fried "chicken", which was really good and the taco rice, which was alright but nothing special. The raspberry cream sodas were also really good.

HeatherHarrower

Points +446

Vegan
23 May 2023

Incredible! Must visit

Cutest little restaurant! I had the best vegan burger I've ever eaten!! The pancakes and brulee were insane too. So happy that I went out of my way to come here.

Pros: All vegan, Near cool shopping alleys

mod_blah

Points +24

Vegan
22 May 2023

Delicious Burger

Got one of their burgers and fries. It was really good and filling. All items on the menu are vegan. It’s a smaller restaurant and has a quaint esthetic.

Auje

Points +46

Vegan
21 May 2023

Amazing Desert

I don’t eat many deserts but the Matcha Pancake had to be one of the best I have ever eaten. The food was very good though tended to lean more salty than I would like. Worth the trip if you are in Kyoto.

Pros: Desert, Aesthetic, Staff

Cons: Food A Bit Salty (Only Tried Two Options)

tessssaa

Points +64

Vegan
17 May 2023

Must go in Kyoto or Tokyo!

Vegan options are slim in Japan but I was very impressed with the food. Although it wasn’t Japanese food, it was still delicious!!

fastertori

Points +80

Vegan
27 Apr 2023

This place kept me alive

I lived in Japan for 3 years, and in one of the suburbs of Kyoto (out in Shiga Pref) for my last 2 years.

Vegan food, ESPECIALLY during COVID, was so hard to find. Thankfully this place kept on going and kept me full! I loved eating there when visiting Kyoto on weekends. The “chicken” burger is my favorite dish in the menu- so, so good. Highly recommended! And there is so much shopping to do before and after you go there.

Pros: ALL VEGAN!!! YUMMY

Cons: May have to wait if it’s super busy.

Evrinomi

Points +736

Vegan
27 Apr 2023

Amazing burgers and even more amazing desserts!

The soy cutlet burger and cheese burger were so good. You can rarely find vegan crème brûlée and it tasted so amazing. Everything from the whipped cream to the pancakes were so good.

Nattata

Points +365

Vegan
25 Apr 2023

They definitely need to hire more staff...

I feel bad giving them only 3 stars but honestly this place felt like a bit of a disaster. I think I heard having trouble hiring staff so maybe not their fault per se but...

I got there 10 minutes or so after opening for lunch as a solo diner with no reservation. They sat me at a large table where another couple already was, which I said was fine. I suppose I was lucky because after that I watched them turn away dozens of people who didn't have reservations. The service was extremely slow, it took absolute ages to get my food. And the food was good, but probably not worth the trouble.

Pros: Food is pretty good, English menus

Cons: Very long waits , Unlikely to get in without a reservation

AllicatAlli

Points +48

Vegan
22 Apr 2023

Meh

The Spanish omelette was very bland and the main flavour came from the tomato sauce drizzled on top. The karage was one of my least favourite mock meats I have ever tried. Ever. It was very spongey with a weird peanut aftertaste, probably from the oil. However, it's a cute, all vegan restaurant so I would still suggest going, just with average expectations for the food quality.

Updated from previous review on 2023-04-22

HugoIan

Points +569

Vegan
21 Apr 2023

Very tasty food

It is a lovely place with really good food. There was no pancakes so I will need to come back again, it looks like the top dish

Pros: All vegan, Tasty

Cons: Expensive , Hard to have a spot

ArchieAnderson

Points +24

Vegan
14 Apr 2023

Long wait time but worth the wait!

Make a reservation! I made a reservation and we got our food about an hour after that reservation. So quite a long wait time but the food was SO good. Got the chicken patty burger which was so freakin good. And then the matcha pancakes. Delicious food kind staff. Definitely check it out, eat a little snack before you go maybe.

Pros: All vegan, Filling , Delicious

Cons: Long wait time

ClaireBoyle

Points +189

Vegan
05 Apr 2023

Yummy good

The pancakes are so yummy & the burger was good. Sadly we traveled far to come at night and they seem to not be open at night at the moment.

Pros: Vegan, Lots of seating

Cons: Closed when says should be open, Long wait for pancakes but hand prepared

SaraSeylani

Points +451

Vegan
01 Apr 2023

Yummy

I had the teriyaki chkn rice bowl, cream soda, and the matcha pancakes. All were delicious especially the pancakes! The rice bowl didnt blow me away but was still nice. A bit pricy but worth it

Pros: Great options, Delicious

Cons: Bit expensive

jadeeeeechen

Points +255

Vegan
01 Apr 2023

服務態度有提升的空間

3月29日下午12點45分,跟朋友電話預約後才過去,搞了好久店員才找到我們的預約紀錄。終於坐下點餐。等了半小時左右才吃上飯,而且不是只有我們兩人在等,廚房動作不夠快,二樓整層的客人(5桌)都在等餐。

昨天晚上六點過去,店裏完全沒客人,服務人員聽到我沒預約,臉板板地直接說我們不接待直接過來的客人。

Updated from previous review on 2023-04-01

Pros: 甜點好吃, 餐點還行,70分吧

Cons: 整體服務態度讓人不太舒服




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