Vegan-friendly
Japanese
Organic
Western
Take-out

Cafe and art gallery specializing in organic vegetarian lunches. Prices vary depending on contents of set. Menu changes daily, and a number of house-made cakes are available, as well as coffees and teas. Couple who runs the cafe speak French, English, Japanese, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese. Begins serving lunch at 11:30am until usually about 1:30pm. Located on the the left side of the main road as one walks from the center of town to Okunoin cemetery, 150m from the main traffic lights. Open Wed-Sun 6:30am-5:00pm. Closed Mon-Tue.


Venue map for Bon On Shya International Cafe
© OpenStreetMap contributors

41 Reviews

First Review by Shauna333

Lsimd

Points +244

Vegan
14 Sep 2024

Fresh and healthy vegan food

Small place with home-made food, the menu changes every few days. It's vegetarian, but easily made vegan.
The portions are not too large, but you don't leave hungry. They use local and seasonal products.
For 200yens you can get the lunch menu which also includes a warm black tea/green tea/ black coffee and a portion of the daily cake. We had the vegan cheese cake, which was great!
The owner is very friendly.
English speaking staff

EvaliseDexter

Points +394

Vegan
30 May 2024

Great little spot

Everything we tried was delicious we came here 3 times during our 2-day trip. My non vegan boyfriend was skeptical but loved the vegan lunch

khrisi12

Points +71

Vegan
09 Apr 2024

Great experience

Amazing when it comes to customer-service. I ate the vegan meal and it was super delicious. Especially the tofu cake. The cook even gave me the receipe.

Pros: Tasty, Friendly stuff

Cons: Meal size

litano

Points +248

Vegetarian
06 Mar 2024

Vegan cheese cake

Nice vibes, friendly, speaks English.

Pros: Just had dessert and soy Macha.

AriannaBorriello

Points +96

Vegan
01 Jan 2024

Un veloce pasto su Koya san

Abbiamo pranzato presso bon o shoya. Tutto buonissimo e il personale è super preparato e simpatico.
Il miglior caffè l'ho bevuto lì!

CA89SS

Points +2114

Vegan
26 Oct 2023

Awesome lunch set

We arrived here late (just before 3pm) and they were still very happy to accomodate us for a lunch set. Incredible plate of different items that complemented each other well and demonstrated the produce in the area. Everything is served on handmade crockery made from local earth elements. Soy latte is not as you would expect, it is Italian percolate style with very lightly frothed milk. Set menu is very good value at 1300 including a dessert and drink. We upgraded to a soy latte for 200 per person. Very cool little spot on the Main Street.

kylijshaw

Points +592

Vegan
06 Oct 2023

3.5 stars

I would give 3.5 stars if possible. I wasn’t overwhelmed but I also wasn’t disappointed - it felt pretty average. I was happy we were able to try their tofu cheesecake (she had leftovers from the day before as they hadn’t made any for the day yet?) and I really enjoyed the crust on it. The soy latte was quite nice as well.

mysticsonic

Points +776

Vegan
06 Oct 2023

An interesting little shop

Only 1 vegan dessert on offer, compared to 3 different options for vegetarians - we had the Tofu cheesecake, which was quite nice paired with soy latte.

Nice art on the walls, and great people watching opportunities as an endless stream of American and European spiritualists trickled in and out. The shop owner seemed a little overwhelmed and wasn't overly friendly.

darren2dream

Points +285

Vegetarian
17 Sep 2023

You're in Koyasan and, want to eat veggie food, look no further

We loved our set meal at this place. Wonderful staff, real nice atmosphere, very tasty dishes that were each unique and explained to us when they arrived. They had different options for vegetarian and vegan, we had one set of each and all items were very tasty.

Eat here, we almost went back the next day for lunch again but, I wanted to try something else (turned out it wasn't as good and we wished we went here again).

Pros: Delicious set lunch menu, friendly staff, cool atmosphere

Queensnbeans

Points +1538

Vegan
22 Apr 2023

Great option in the heart of Koyasan

Vegan lunch menu available - it’s an assortment plate. Everything was homemade and tasted lovely (especially the quiche). The cheesecake was the highlight of the meal! Super friendly staff and cute place.

MarianeC

Points +75

Vegetarian
17 Apr 2023

Restaurant convivial !

Le lieu est cozy, les propriétaires (qui parlent japonais, anglais et français) sont attentionnés, il y a un côté familial qui est très agréable.
Le repas est prévu en version végétarien ou végan et les gâteaux sont délicieux. C'est une cuisine très délicate et raffinée : tout est fait maison, et ça se ressent dans les saveurs : n'hésitez pas une seule seconde ! Ne serait-ce que pour prendre un café avec des gâteaux maison. Si vous avez l'occasion de tester le cheesecake vegan : foncez !

Pros: Plats délicats et raffinés , Fait maison , Propriétaire chaleureux et accueillants

emesefabian

Points +687

Vegan
01 Apr 2023

Tasty and healthy food, amazing athmosphere

We went here twice for lunch. The prices are very reasonable, you can get a vegan lunch set including drink and vegan cake for 1300 yen. The staff were very nice. They sell unique handmade pottery as well. Highly recommend

Updated from previous review on 2023-04-01

Pros: Super tasty, healthy food , Reasonably priced

Cons: None

andyjng

Points +5166

Vegan
11 Feb 2023

Great Cafe in Koyasan

We stopped by this cute cafe for lunch as we were exploring the Koyasan area. During the winter, lesser shops and restaurants ended up being opened, so it was nice to find a charming spot to sit down for a meal.

They offer a macrobiotic lunch plate which includes a drink and dessert. I was able to order the fully vegan plate which included rice, kidney beans, a ginger-squash soup, greens, and other small bites. Portion sizes felt small but it did allow me to take time to consume everything, so it was probably the perfect amount. Everything was homemade and delicious.

For dessert, they only offered one vegan option which was their cheesecake. I thought this was fine and a great way to end the meal, along with some green tea.

Pros: Vegan option available, Excellent cafe atmosphere

Cons: Cash only

neotropicality

Points +13

Vegetarian
25 Dec 2022

Christmas Day

Beautiful set lunch plate, options for both ovo-lacto and vegan, delicious tea and cake, friendly owners (:

SakuraJennifer

Points +2309

Vegan
21 Dec 2022

Delicious and affordable

Super cozy place with friendly people. The lunch includes a plate full of different things and optionally a cake. Definitely try the cakes because they are so nice. We had to wait for a bit during the weekend but most good restaurants in Koyasan are packed during the weekend we noticed.

MillieCrompton

Points +200

Vegan
11 Dec 2022

small plate wonder

it’s a small cafe with pieces of art and a very calm vibe. they offer a vegan set lunch menu with comes with a drink which is a little extra i believe if you don’t choose off the set menu & a vegan dessert which at the time is currently just a yuzu & tofu cheesecake. a large plate full of completely different small dishes but all go so well together, this has definitely been thought out and gorgeously crafted! who i believe to be the main guy spoke wonderful english and helped us out when we needed and it was just a lovely environment and atmosphere.

Nancy Cadet

Points +876

Vegan
28 Nov 2019

Charming cafe, good food & wonderful hosts

Location: on Koyasan's Main Street in a renovated wooden house with a sign and menu board outside.

Update: we returned to Koyasan in November 2019 and had a fine vegan lunch set. Note 1. Come early; the café is small, has limited seating and is quite popular. Note 2. We found that on a day the café was closed (Tuesday) a coffee stand was set up outside, and a friendly woman was selling coffee and vegan baked goods—good for a light lunch or afternoon snack: focaccia, pumpkin nut tart, cinnamon rolls, chocolate bread, etc. She said she’d close around 3PM. There are benches outside the café and the pastries can be wrapped for take away.

Food and ambiance: the cafe has a daily vegetarian lunch set (soup, main course, sides, drink) for about 1200 yen and a cake set (coffee or tea, cake) for about 1200 and various coffee or tea drinks. The staff-owners are friendly, and made us a vegan lunch when their daily special (quiche) was not. The cafe shows and sells the work of local ceramic artists also , and the cafe owner volunteered to direct us to the workshop,of one of the artists because we were so interested in his work. In fact, he took us there in his car!

Updated from previous review on 2013-10-11

Pros: Reasonable prices, Vegan-friendly, Helpful staff

Cons: Open for lunch only

JessGrinneiser

Points +20

Non Veg
01 Nov 2019

Warm place, good food

I came in for an early tea and was pleasantly surprised. The tofu cheesecake was awesome, the tea is organic, and the staff is charming. As the café is also an art gallery, you’re also likely to enjoy the place even more.

happii

Points +76

Vegan
24 Oct 2019

Tasty

A friend and I tried a muffin and roll. They were tasty enough we ordered an assortment of delicious sandwiches and rolls for the train. Everything in the display case was vegan.

The main restaurant was due to open a bit later the same day, so unfortunately I couldn't try anything else there.

LauraJapan

Points +261

Vegan
02 Sep 2019

Great, esp with kids

This place was yummy. The existing pictures do it justice. The berry cheesecake was great. We tried to go again the next day and it was closed- not sure of all the hours but it was open Sunday lunch and closed at Monday lunchtime.

It has a whole kids play area that kept my 2.5yo entertained the whole time we were there!

mirrormask

Points +97

Vegan
13 Jul 2019

Great place in the centre of Koyasan

I really enjoyed eating at Bon On Shya, the food was delicious, fresh and wholesome and the service was warm and welcoming! I really recommend trying their tofu cheescake. Great alternative to shojin ryori in temples.

KajalVora

Points +22

Vegan
09 Jul 2019

Amazing

So grateful to have found this place. The owner was simply awesome! Great food and great customer service!!

ThePorridge

Points +124

Vegan
29 Apr 2019

Delicious set menu

The set lunch is delicious, healthy, hearty and excellent value. The coffee and cake to finish is the finishing treat! You may need to share a table, and the atmosphere is relaxed. Worth waiting for a table if there’s a little queue!

BjornPirson

Points +131

Vegan
17 Apr 2019

Delicious

The lunch was very delicious and inexpensive. Tofu cheesecake was the best we had in Japan!

ach

Points +309

Vegan
11 Apr 2019

Yum!

Delicious lunch, don’t be fooled by the small-looking lunch photos. The food is wholesome and filling. They do great cakes too!

Sanchan

Points +31

Vegetarian
06 Apr 2019

Delicious and nice vibe !

I took the lunch menu, it was absolutely delicious !! I had a mixed plate with veggies, rice, quiche, quinoa salad and much more, then chocolate cake and coffee, all this for ¥1200. The place is cosy and staff spoke English and French. Totally recommend to go there !

trouvien

Points +289

Vegan
25 Nov 2018

Lovely place

Good restaurant with a nice relaxed atmosphere and friendly owners. It's a bit small, so you may have trouble getting a seat if you come at a busy time. I came too early for lunch that begins closer to noon, but I was still able to order the tofu cheesecake, which was tasty. When I came back in the afternoon, lunch had already sold out, so if you want to eat lunch here, you'll probably want to mind your timing. I hope I can come back and have a proper meal sometime.




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