French styled lacto-ovo vegetarian cafe restaurant with also options for vegans by advance request (including vegan sweets). Uses organic produce. Organic wine available. Applies a cover charge if you don't reserve ahead. Also, reservation is required for party of 5 or more (course meals offered in such case). Lunch price moderate, dinner more. Kitchen breaks from early afternoon til 6pm. NOTE: Smoking is reported to be permitted. Reservations must be made three days in advance. Open Tue-Sat 12:00pm-1:30pm, 6:00pm-8:00pm, Wed-Sun 12:00pm-1:00pm, Wed-Sat 6:00pm-8:30pm, Sun 5:00pm-7:00pm.
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Last update on 18 Oct 2023 by TabithaA
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7 Reviews
First Review by ashilt
EVManJapan
Points +519
Wonderful! - Edit
Delicious! Had the veggie pie, cream stew, and finished with meringue, all great! Understand the difference between Octo Lavo and Vegan and can cater for both!
Read moreThe owner is a super friendly accommodating guy, such a please to meet him!
cafebain-marie.
Dear EV Man, Thank you for your high rating review!
Read morePlease stop by if you are near Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
from cafe bain-marie.
Guest
famicomplicated
Points +17
Amazing! - Edit
Delicious! Had the veggie pie, cream stew, and finished with meringue, all great! Understand the difference between Octo Lavo and Vegan and can cater for both!
Read morePros: Pie, Stew , Merengue
cafebain-marie.
Thank you for making a reservation and for your highly rated comments! We had a great time. If you ever come to Izu again, please drop by.
Read moreGuest
PuddingHead
Points +47
Friendly owner and fancy dishes - Edit
I’ve been here twice, once for dinner and once for a reserved dinner course. The owner is very friendly and happy to talk about each of the dishes! A lot of the ingredients are local, and he is creative with the types of dishes he makes!
Read moreIt is a small restaurant, and I believe it’s by reservation only at the moment (at least for dinner).
It’s a bit expensive, so I would say it’s a special-occasion type of place.
Pros: Owner creates a nice atmosphere, Uses many local ingredients
Cons: Reservation required, Expensive
Guest
meetmeatme
Points +44
One of Best Vegitarian and Vegan Restaurants in Japan - Edit
Before reviewing this restaurant, I'd like to share some background knowledge about vegetarian restaurants in Japan.
Read moreVegetarianism has not yet well spread in Japan, especially in the country side, so running a vegetarian restaurant in Japan is much harder than other countries. The vegetarian restaurant owners had no choice but had to shift their shops to "Vege-friendly" restaurants that also serve meat and fish in order to survive as a vegetarian restaurant in Japan. Even if the restaurant used to serve only 100% vegetables, the longer the restaurant has been operating, the more likely it is to have become so.
Of course, there are some 100% vegetarian or vegan restaurants in Japan as well. However, most of them have just been open recently, or started a new business model project by major food corporations. But once the trend is over, they will most likely be gone sooner or later.
The owner of this restaurant told me that he has thought about closing the restaurant several times, but it has been 14 years this year (as of 2023) since it opened as it continues to improve while overcoming difficulties. Being able to do that in Japan is not half-hearted.
Therefore, if you want to visit, please check the prerequisites such as "not all dishes are vegetarian", "smoking", "no children allowed", "reservation required" and etc before coming.
I wanted to share my thoughts because when I was about to write a review, I found some poor reviews and felt so sad. Please support any Japanese vegetarian restaurants even if your wishes are not 100% fulfilled.
Finally the additional information about this resturant.
Parking: If you come by car, there is a parking lot behind the grocery store called "Maxvalu Express" next door. The entrance is on the right of Maxvalu. As of Feb 2023, I was charged 400 yen at the automatic ticket gate when I exited, so I paid in cash. It will be closer to use stairs to access to the resutrant instead of elevator exiting to the opposite side.
I recommend Facebook or Instagram to make a reservation.
I pre-booked a lunch course for my husband and me. Visiting for the first time, the lunch course was easy and affordable. The portion of single items can be small, so if you order several plates, it could be more expensive.
The opening hours for lunch are limited from 12:00 to 2:00PM (Last Order, 1:30PM), so it's best to come in plenty of time especially if you visit for the first time.
The taste is garanteed. It was such a great time.
Updated from previous review on 2023-03-22
Pros: Best vegitarian French dishes with local veges, Frendly owner, Cosy atmosphere
Guest
selena
Points +366
Lots of choice - Edit
This spot is no longer 100% vegetarian. The owner made a go of a 100% vegan spot for six years, but didn’t have enough clientele to support it in this small town. His menu is now about 1/3 non-veg, 1/3 lacto-ovo, and 1/3 vegan. The menu is fairly large and there are a lot of choices. We had vegetarian and vegan, and ordered spaghetti bolognese, green salad (vegan), garlic toast, cheese crisps, cream vegetable stew, and a puff pastry vegetable pie (vegetarian). The owner was super sweet, and nobody was smoking while we were there so the issue the other diners face was not a problem (there are only about 10 seats in the whole place so it just depends on who is there, it’s tiny). Cool izakaya/indie Italian or Spanish bar vibe, the kind of place I would never expect to find vegetarian food except accidentally. Great choice for this area.
Read moreGuest
erin_zita
Points +22
Friendly bar with veggie options - Edit
This is a cosy but smoky French bistro/Japanese izakaya that has plenty of vegetarian and vegan options marked on the menu. The menu is in Japanese but there are photos and the friendly owner spoke enough English to explain them to us.
Read morePortions are quite small so think of them more as tapas. We shared four things between two of us - a green salad, steamed vegetables in a casserole dish, a cheese pastry pie, and French onion soup.
We booked a table in advance by leaving a comment on their Facebook page, but I'm not sure if this was necessary (it wasn't very busy).
Pros: Clearly marked vegetarian & vegan options on menu, Lots of fresh vegetables, Friendly owner
Cons: Smoking allowed, Menu in Japanese
Guest
ashilt
Points +24
No kids allowed - Edit
When we opened the door to the restaurant we were instantly greeted with a billowing cloud of tobacco smoke. Soon after we were immediately turned away since we had our children with us. Just as well since we do not force our kids to sit in tobacco smoke. We didn't get any food so I can not speak for it
Read moreCons: no children allowed, heavy tobacco smoke with no filtration, no parking
Guest
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