Vegan
Japanese
Beer/Wine
Take-out

Traditional vegan Japanese restaurant, which specialises in chazuke, a simple Japanese dish made by pouring green tea, dashi, or hot water over cooked rice. Accompany dishes may include stewed shiitake mushrooms, housemade nijiya seaweed, and nama-fu, grilled gluten in a vegan dashi stock. Address in Japanese: 中京区南車屋町287 木屋町会館1階. Open Mon-Sat 5:30pm-9:00pm.


Venue map for Vegan Izakaya NIJIYA 虹屋
© OpenStreetMap contributors

233 Reviews

First Review by pareman

leibnadi

Points +30

Vegan
16 Jul 2025

Best vegan izakaya in Japan

Very small izakaya, very authentic izakaya experience. I had the place to myself so got to speak to the owner which was lovely. She puts so much time and effort into every dish and every single dish was amazing. The yuzu sauce with the fresh tofu was very refreshing on a hot day. The homemade miso sauce and on the onigiri was amazing and the best onigiri I have ever had. The star of the show is the soy meat yakitori which she grills with a blow torch. The best vegan meat I have ever had in my life. Can’t give this place enough praise, I loved it so much. The price may seem expensive but you get high quality food that tastes amazing and you actually feel full after the meal so it’s worth every penny. Definitely give this place a visit if you are ever in Kyoto

Alodia

Points +139

Vegan
06 Jul 2025

Comida casera increíble

El sitio es muy muy pequeño. Caben solo 6 personas aquí que ve pronto si no quieres hacer fila.
La comida consta de un menú cerrado. Pagamos 2.980Y cada uno(bebida aparte).
La verdad es que la calidad de la comida y el servicio lo valen con creces. La dueña es un encanto.
Todo estaba buenísimo. Nos dijo que va cambiando el menú cada cierto tiempo.

Updated from previous review on 2025-07-06

Yi-HueyHament-Yong

Points +19

Vegetarian
01 Jul 2025

Delicious vegan Japanese food in Kyoto

The best in Kyoto, come early and if you have to wait it’s worth it!

HartatyWidodo

Points +66

Vegan
27 Jun 2025

Very nice vegan izakaya

Good vegan food and great service.

Updated from previous review on 2025-06-27

Pros: Food, Ambience, Service

Cons: Small place, so couldn't fit big party (6 seats), Long waiting time

PhoebeLa

Points +94

Vegan
19 Jun 2025

Absolutely incredible food

One of the best meals of my life. I ordered Course Meal 1 and it tasted phenomenal. I did have to wait in line 40-50min (7:30pm-8:20pm) due to there only being 6 seats in this restaurant, but it was totally worth it. An incredible, intimate dining experience. The two chefs are lovely!!

Pros: Food tasted phenomenal , Cute vibe , Friendly staff and cost of food

Cons: Wait time , Only 6 seats available unluckily

robb26

Points +38

Vegan
17 Jun 2025

Wonderful!

This is some of the best food I have had hands down. It is a tiny place but in a way it adds to the vibe. It has a proper Japanese feel to it. The food is out of this world. Every mouthful is Devine. There is nothing I had that I disliked and I could have had the whole menu again and again and again. DO NOT MISS THIS!!

Pros: Vegan, Extremely good food, Friendly staff

Cons: Limited seating

TheAdventurousKoala

Points +34

Vegan
17 Jun 2025

Super yummy Japanese food

Yummy food. Spent 30, but just because I added more, cause it was so good.

Updated from previous review on 2025-06-17

Genery

Points +107

Vegetarian
15 Jun 2025

Very delicious food and great atmosphere

Originally we tried to go there for dinner, but it was a bit crowded so we decided to go there the next day. We were very lucky to be for the lunch time there, because the menu was a hot pot, which we tried for the first time and we absolutely loved it. The really nice and kind lady explained to us how to prepared and eat it and told us a little bit about the restaurant. You could really feel the passion for vegan cooking (homemade miso paste and shoyu) all with organic and regional ingredients from family business. The dessert was a delicious yuzu sorbet. Besides she gave us some yakitori for testing, which is part of the dinner menu and it was absolutely great. Thanks for this great experience! We hope we can visit the place sometime again!!

Updated from previous review on 2025-06-15

BennyWah

Points +50

Vegetarian
13 Jun 2025

Not Worth The Price!

1) The space is very cramped, can only catered 5-6 pax.
2) Price is very expensive, not worth it at all.
3) Fully not recommended !!!

Updated from previous review on 2025-06-13

Pros: None.

Cons: Limited items to choose from., Each serving a very small portion. Very expensive!, 2 slices of short 烤肉 cost Y890? ridiculous!

NymSkye

Points +72

Vegan
02 Jun 2025

Amazing!

We had a 8 course menu that was delicious. The place is really small so there's usually a long wait, but it's really worth it.

Updated from previous review on 2025-06-02

meowy24

Points +363

Vegan
01 Jun 2025

Amazing food

Really great vegan food and a lovely, friendly vibe. Cosy space and great flavours

Updated from previous review on 2025-06-01

SouthernmostVegan

Points +2040

Vegan
30 May 2025

One of the best

It’s highly rated for a reason. Be prepared to arrive early and wait. Get the full set because you need to justify the long wait.

Robert80

Points +20

Vegan
21 May 2025

Top Küche!

Sehr exklusives Menü. Maximales aus der veganen Küche herausgeholt.

Pros: Essen, Vielfalt, Japanische Spezialitäten

Cons: Wartezeit (nur 7 Plätze)

veganator89

Points +49

Vegetarian
15 May 2025

Good experience

Kyoto has limited complete vegan experiences. This was one of the rare ones.
The food is average but the experience, presentation is what you pay for.
Pls note : you almost always wait for an hour to get a seat inside.

BiancaLStarr

Points +281

Vegan
14 May 2025

We stood in line and...

it was 1000% worth it! We got the tasting menu and it was worth every penny, second, and calorie. There women make amazing food and know how to serve it with a celebratory flare. Due to demand and the fact that they only have 7 seats, you only get to stay for about 1 hour, but in that hour you will have an amazing food and drink experience!

Pros: Phenomenal flavors, Gorgeously presented, Friendly staff

Cons: You'll have to wait., You'll be under a time limit.

frdpls

Points +28

Vegan
13 May 2025

Great hotpot, recommended

We went here for lunch, they offer a fixed menu with hotpot and ice cream as dessert. The "à la carte" menu is only for dinner.
Everything was fantastic, the hotpot had tofu, noodles, mushrooms and mixed veggies which were super fresh and tasty. They also offer home made miso paste, yuzu vinegar and chili flakes if you wish to spice up your broth.
The yuzu ice cream at the end was also very tasty and the lady running the place was lovely.
Absolutely recommended if you're in the area.
PS the place is super tiny (like 5 or 6 seats), we were lucky to not find a queue but it might be that you have to wait a bit.

Updated from previous review on 2025-05-13

Prachi’s

Points +13

Vegetarian
05 May 2025

Amazing start to finish

Everything was amazing, especially the soy skewers

MeaganKiely

Points +997

Vegan
03 May 2025

Incredible experience 🫶🏻

When in Kyoto you must try this place. Food was absolutely incredible. The course meal was delicious, fresh and tasty food. Could not have been happier with the whole experience. Has been very hard to find places serving good amounts of protein and these ladies did just that! Full of protein and very healthy. Only seats 7 so make sure you’re there right on time (or before). They pumped the good out nice and quickly. Desserts were divine! You must do the course meal 🤤🤤🤤

Pros: Fresh & local ingredients , Lots of protein & healthy , Quick service

Cons: Small seating

isaacalpizar

Points +24

Vegan
02 May 2025

Amazing food and experience

The obanzai set was amazing! Great taste! They deserve a Michelin star! And the two staff were super friendly! Please come here 😀

Updated from previous review on 2025-05-02

touches

Points +116

Vegan
30 Apr 2025

Bestes Essen meines Lebens

Ich denke der Titel sagt schon alles. Das beste Essen das ich jemals gegessen habe.

Updated from previous review on 2025-04-30

Mai_l

Points +445

Vegan
29 Apr 2025

Great experience and great food

This place is great. The food, the atmoshpere, and the service. That said, we weren’t aware that it seats only 7 people and buy chance got there at the right turnover of groups so we waited “only” 1 hour.
There is a wait, be prepared.
We got dishes a la carte and not by the set menu, which ended up being the same price, mostly the same dishes, but we could share and choose our portion sizes.

I will say, as a vegan who is with a non-vegan that for me it was definitely worth the wait. He was also very impressed but not sure if without a vegan by his side he would wait.

Kyoto is a bit challenging in terms of food, all great places have lines. I would say that it’s probably best to arrive right when it opens or about 30 min before closing and be in the last batch

Pros: Amazing food, cozy place

Cons: long wait

Kwr_

Points +2018

Vegan
28 Apr 2025

Insanely good - can’t miss it !

Definitely on the pricier side but worth every penny. This restaurant has 7 bar seats and is run by two workers, so there may be a lineup! My partner and I shared the large set meal for dinner which allows you to try everything on the menu. It was an unforgettable experience! We also got a non alcoholic yuzu drink which was fantastic! Highly recommend

SKCBrowners

Points +106

Vegan
28 Apr 2025

The other reviews say it all.

A must experience.
You can’t book this place, we got there at 5 and were the first people in the queue. The people who turned up at 5.30 were waiting for the first sitting to finish which was about an hour and the queue was long at that point.
Beware you have to book nearly all vegan places in Kyoto, so it’s worth working your day around getting here early.

Pros: Yuzu Tofu, Fake meat skewers, Vibe and the people (and plum wine)

Cons: That everywhere isn’t like this!

haubi66

Points +339

Vegan
26 Apr 2025

Flavorful a* f*

Plain and simple: the best vegan restaurant in town. I've never felt so much flavours Thank you!

Updated from previous review on 2025-04-26

Pros: Food, FOOD!, Foooooood

Linivini

Points +205

Vegan
25 Apr 2025

What an experience!

We had to wait quite a while, I think it was about 1,5 hours, but it was worth every minute! You can choose between two menues and à la carte. Especially the yakitori were amazing.

Seoulmate

Points +22

Vegan
24 Apr 2025

Lovely experience

We walked past by chance and didn’t want to miss out. The hot pot was so delicious and the owner so lovely. This was such a good experience. The alcohol-free drinks were really good as well. An absolute gem.

Tsukimi

Points +6614

Vegan
21 Apr 2025

Authentic Japanese experience!

Authentic Japanese food and atmosphere!
Places like this, in izakaya style, which serve vegan food, are still very rare in Japan. Vegan cafes/restaurants are often western style places, that’s why I love this concept!
The food and service are top-notch. You should go early, especially in tourist peak seasons like spring and autumn.
Recently, they started hot pot for lunch! 😋

Updated from previous review on 2023-07-18




This page has been viewed 54942 times.