Restaurant search site for food minorities

Supervisor / Recommender

Haruko Kawano

VegeProject Japan (NPO) Representative Director

Click here for introduction

Kyoto University Faculty/Graduate School of Agricultural, Master of Agriculture, Kyoto University.
Founded “VegeProject Japan(NPO)” when she was a student. From then, she introduced a veg-menu to the student cafeteria of Kyoto University.
She is currently working with universities, companies, restaurants and municipalities to expand vegan and vegetarian options.
Also active as teacher/advertiser of vegetarian vegans. Interviews with well-known vegetarians Paul McCartney and Colin Campbell.

Vegan restaurant that is good for humans and cares for animals

Loving hut is a vegan restaurant which has been operating for 13 years, a 5 min walk form Jinbocho station. Going upstairs, you will be welcomed by the warm and friendly staff.

Located on the 2nd floor of the building

Although they only offer takeout food currently due to Covid-19, there are a variety of items such as Chinese side dishes and frozen products available. The chef spent a whole month learning plant-based food with a Taiwanese chef when they first became vegan so that young children could enjoy delicious food. Now they prepare beautiful vegan food with passion to spread the message that plant-based food by itself can be delicious without sacrificing the lives of animals and still taste good. There is a variety of vegan food that look appealing, taste delicious, and reasonably priced to change the image of vegan food being boring, expensive, and not tasty.

Side dishes are reasonably priced from 500 yen

Choice of 10 different types of dishes

Lots of people are impressed with the delicious taste of vegan dishes. They also have some items that are oriental vegan friendly. This is a cozy restaurant with a welcoming atmosphere so everyone can enjoy their experience.

Simple interior

There are some plant-based items such as seasonings and soy meat available for sale at the restaurant. There is a mini library section with a variety of books including vegan books for you to enjoy.

Plant-based products such as seasnonings are available for sale

You can read the books at the restaurant

Some oriental vegan friendly items available among authentic Chinese dishes

I chose “special set of the day” which comes with a variety of side dishes and “Yakuzen fried dumplings (oriental vegan)” among lots of Chinese dishes. The set comes with several side dishes from “today’s special,” and the set of the day on the day of interview had items such as deep-fried chicken and radish rice cakes and that was very enjoyable. All the dumplings are filled with delicious plant-based ingredients, which are very satisfying without animal products being used. They taste quite authentic Taiwanese cuisine with herbs and spices. They also have desserts and the chef’s recommendation is “custard bun” which is a bun filled with creamy mashed pumpkin.

Only limited number of set meal available a day

Delicious filling

Yakuzen gyoza has no ‘gokun’ ingredients such as onions and chives so that it is oriental vegan friendly. Chewy pink dough with red koji is created in the kitchen and the filling with Chinese dates and toki (dong quai) which are often used for Chinese medicine Kampo, makes this gyoza very healthy.

Pink yakuzen gyoza

It can be quite challenging to create gyoza without ingredients such as onions and chives, but world wide Loving huts has great networks and exchange information for the cooperative development of quality products. They try to be creative by using herbs and spices, developing the unique items combining with cuisines from other cultures without using artificial seasonings and preservatives whenever possible. For instance, in Thailand, they put lemons in fried noodles.

“Grilled eel” that looks exactly like a real

Loving hut offers other dishes besides Chinese. I tried the very popular “vegan grilled eel” and “grilled chicken skewer Yakitori.” This vegan grilled eel looks exactly like a real eel. The chef was committed to create the vegan item with the same appearance and texture with a faith of “cooking is an art.” The beautiful smell of Sansho pepper spreads into your mouth, the texture of crispy skin and soft texture of the meat are almost the real. Sweet sauce makes great match with rice. This grilled eel is made from soy beans and lotus root, but you would not notice it if you were not told. This vegan eel has attracted lots of attention and brought lots of new customers to the restaurant.

Grilled eel that looks like a real

A charcoal-grilled chicken skewer smells great with a soft texture and you won’t want to stop eating them.

The smell is irresistable

And then, I tried “natural yeast organic brown sugar bun” from the bakery section. This steamed bun with natural yeast has a mild sweet flavor.

Taste of good old days

There are also cakes with fruits and nuts and bread are available for sale.

Cakes are breads are 100% plant-based

Chinese steamed bun

They offer some seasonal items and cuisine from overseas such as Christmas Stollen and Spanish omelet, which are all vegan. There are lots of regulars so they always try to offer something new by changing the menu slightly. They also offer the online shopping through Facebook chat. Stock up your fridge with their frozen products, so you can enjoy the vegan dumplings anytime you want!

文：小川夏実（おがわなつみ）

「 Loving Hut TOKYO,JAPAN」Basic information

Store name	Loving Hut TOKYO,JAPAN
Tel	03-5577-6880
Address	2F, Okada building, 1-54, Jimbo-cho, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Zip code:101-0051
Business hours	Friday & Saturday 11:00~18:00 ( may change once we have fisnished with the Covid -19 )
Holiday	Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday
Budget	Side dishes around 500-900 yen
Payment method	Cash, auPAY, PayPay, Merpay (Credit card not accepted）
Parking Lot	N/A (toll parking lot available nearby）
Language	Japanese, Chinese, English
Advance reservation	Please call 03-5577-6880 for reservation to have food put aside for you
Cooking description	All items are vegan. Oriental vegan items available.
Note	Currently only open for takeout
Store HP