A restaurant specializing in vegetable dishes made with carefully selected ingredients and seasonings
Our featured restaurant, “Plato,” is located in a quiet, residential neighborhood, just a seven-minute walk from the Tama Toshi Monorail. This renowned restaurant exudes a warmth with its small sign and handwritten chalkboard menu.
A charming, small sign
A handwritten chalkboard menu
The nostalgic atmosphere of the restaurant makes you want to say “I’m home”
We entered the shop through the garden, passing through a vibrantly planted path. After taking off our shoes, we were greeted by a nostalgic, relaxing space that made us feel like we were back at home. The owner’s husband is an architect, and the two of them completely renovated the shop 16 years ago.
When we sat in the tatami room, the windows were positioned at just the right height to look outside, designed to match the customers’ eye level. They also demolished an area that originally housed storage to create a larger space, highlighting the importance they placed on building the shop with their own hands.
I thought the lighting was lovely, and it turns out it’s made of baskets! ” “The owner, Mr. Kosuda, said. It’s so tasteful that I honestly didn’t even notice until he pointed it out… It’s so beautiful.
Stylish lighting. A closer look reveals it’s a basket!
Seating is available at the counter, with two two-seater seats, one three-seater seat, one four-seater seat, and one four-seater seat in the tatami room. The terrace seats look pleasant on a nice day.
Interior
Tatami seating
Terrace seating
There were also cute, retro toys next to the tatami seating. It’s safe for small children.
Nostalgic toys, including kaleidoscopes.
Open Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, for lunch only.
We use carefully selected additive-free, pesticide-free ingredients and seasonings, and are committed to not using any animal products.
The restaurant’s only meal menu is a “Plate of the Week,” which changes weekly. Despite their busy schedule, they’ve made every effort to keep you entertained, making it a fun place to come every week. In fact, some customers come every week, which is one of the reasons they’re loved by their regulars for so long.
The menu at the time of this interview is here.
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Food MenuIn addition to the plate, they also offer drinks and desserts. While you wait for your food, you can choose a cute chopstick rest. Apparently, they’re from the owner’s collection, and just looking at them is heartwarming.
Chopstick Rest Collection
This Week’s Plate (At the Time of Interview)
The plate was chock-full of vegetables, so exciting that I had trouble deciding where to start.
The sweet potato croquette had a crunchy coating, bringing out the natural sweetness of the ingredients. The walnuts inside added a nice accent, creating a varied texture. The batter is made without eggs or other animal products, using only flour and water for a rich texture. They also use first-press rapeseed oil for frying, resulting in a crispy, mild batter.
The “Cabbage Garlic Pickles” have a strong garlic flavor that goes perfectly with rice!
The burdock in the “Burdock and Konjac Miso Braised in Miso” is crisp yet not too hard, and is cooked to perfection, making it a dish that even children will enjoy.
The “Nagaimo and Nori Salt Fried” is a perfect combination of nagaimo and green nori, with a crisp texture and irresistible seaweed aroma.
The “Daikon Radish Potage” was a chilled potage. It had a smooth texture and was very easy to drink, without the distinctive flavor of daikon radish. It was packed with richness and umami, despite not using any animal products.
Even the dressing for the colorful “Green Salad” is homemade. This time, the dressing was made with grated carrot. Apparently, the core of a cabbage is sometimes grated and used as a dressing. What’s great about Plato is that they use every last bit of food, even the parts that would otherwise be thrown away. When there is actual waste, they put it in the compost and use it as fertilizer. They are also committed to being extremely eco-friendly and kind to the earth.
The brown rice used in their “Enzyme Brown Rice” is sourced from a specific farmer. These farmers use the Aigamo duck farming method, producing safe and secure rice without relying on pesticides.
The “miso soup” is packed with ingredients and contains several types of large cut vegetables. The miso used is barley koji made from 100% domestic naked barley. It is pure barley miso with a clean, light flavor and elegant aroma.
Everything on the plate was packed with care, and the food was delicious, with no impurities and was easy to digest.
I tried the recommended green yuzu flavor of the “Plato Organic Enzyme Juice.”
Green Yuzu Enzyme Juice
Unlike the yellow yuzu, this juice was characterized by a clean sweetness and a crisp bitterness, making it extremely refreshing.
They also had several other drinks made with seasonal fruits.
After the meal, we had marmalade cake.
Marmalade Cake
The generous amount of marmalade in the cake made me think, “Will it have a strong marmalade flavor?” However, the orange’s characteristic bitterness was barely noticeable, and the refreshing flavor and sweetness were just right, making it very easy to eat. It was moist, rich, and mellow, making it hard to believe it was made without animal products. Its texture is more substantial than fluffy, making it satisfying to savor slowly, sipping it little by little with tea.
If you enjoy herbal tea, this is also recommended.
Fatigue Recovery/Beautiful Skin Blend
Herbal Tea Menu
While many of the herbal teas advertised as being good for your health have a strong, lingering aroma, Plato’s herbal teas offer a truly enjoyable herbal aroma. They’re also mild and easy to drink, pairing well with any food.
I chose the Fatigue Recovery/Beautiful Skin Blend, which is apparently their most popular flavor. The benefits were appealing, so I couldn’t resist choosing it, but the deliciousness is also guaranteed.
The owner’s personality and approach make you want to talk to him again.
Owner Kosuda-san is 76 years old. Despite being incredibly busy, she’s incredibly energetic, driven, and inquisitive, her versatile yet charming personality is truly captivating. It really makes you realize how important regular meals are.
She runs Plato on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. She’s also a certified mental health and welfare worker, and volunteers at two hospitals twice a week, working in workshops and leather crafting. She apparently only has two days off a month! She’s incredibly tough…
Although Kosuda-san is a multitalented person, she told us that Plato wouldn’t exist without the cooperation of everyone involved. The interior is decorated with numerous paintings and photographs, highlighting the many people involved in making the shop possible.
Photographs and paintings from the shop’s renovation are on display.
The second floor features a free space that can be used for various purposes, such as a workshop or studio. Various events are held there on a regular basis, allowing you to discover new things and meet new people.
Workshop Announcement
Please come and visit us!
Supervisor / Recommender
- Nutritionist
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After graduating from junior college with a nutritionist degree, I joined a food manufacturer.
I was primarily responsible for developing prepared foods. My experience included developing prepared breads, proposing restaurant menus, and launching new production lines. I was responsible for commercializing a wide variety of menu items, including tomato sauce fillings, hamburger steaks, menchi-katsu (minced meat cutlets), and restaurant-grade soups.
I left my job when I got married and am now a mother of two.
I've always loved food, and while working for a company, I would visit various restaurants as part of my market research.
Even now, I always check out any restaurants that look delicious. I'm confident in the taste buds I developed through product development.
I'll be providing you with information on many restaurants, with the motto of "delicious and fun"!
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