Lacto
Ovo
Japanese
Non-veg
Serves meat, vegan options available. A traditional tofu restaurant where most dishes are made with tofu and yuba. Much of the menu is based on tofu. On request, vegan version are offered. Staff speaks English. Lunch course costs approx. 2000-2800 yen, dinner course 4600-5400 yen. Open Mon-Sun 11:30am-10:00pm. Last orders in the evening taken at 10pm.
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Chuo-ku, Nabeyamachi 210-4 (at Pontocho District, near Gion), Kyoto, Japan, 604-8015
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Last update on 11 Jul 2023 by Guest
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Added by pincopallino on 16 Aug 2015
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21 Reviews
First Review by pincopallino
KitStoner
Points +22
Great food and great service! - Edit
Very creative with tofu. Lots of small courses and very full at end! Also had some fish/meat options for omni husband. Very clear about what was vegan and what wasn’t.
Read moreGuest
cs0nro
Points +6
I'm not vegan......but - Edit
The food is great and the staff are awesome
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2024-10-20
Guest
rosa5151
Points +39
Lovely delicate food - Edit
We had the tofu five ways, five little delicate cubes of milky soft tofu, and the three seasonal obanzi, small dishes including potato salad and mushrooms. The appetiser was a delicate green bean mouthful and we shared the three desserts, including matcha mochi and my favourite the yuzu sherbert. Nothing too highly flavoured, or memorable, but still enjoyable.
Read morePros: Tofu Kyoto style , yuzu sherbert
Cons: A little underwhelming
Guest
asdfjkl
Points +15
Wonderful traditional tofu meals - Edit
My family including children loved every bit of the set meals and side dishes. Just be sure to make clear what you eat beforehand, including “vegetarian”, “no fish”, and “no dashi”. Use google translate if you don’t speak Japanese. Also don’t go if you don’t like traditional soft tofu dishes. We loved everything we had.
Read morePros: Food, Traditional seating , Dessert
Guest
AlanaBanana
Points +2339
Too expensive and bad experience - Edit
It's too expensive for the food they give you. If you don't take the complete menu meal, they add an appetizer, 400€ extra per person.
Read moreOne of the menu cards was in a bad position and fall on my drink. We had to clean the table and employees don't give me another drink and I had to pay for it anyway.
I only ordered an assortment of desserts and the food was good, but my full experience was bad.
Pros: Tasty dessert , Traditional space
Cons: Expensive , Employee behaviour
Guest
GScottsies
Points +58
Unpleasant - Edit
Maybe it’s just that soft tofu isn’t really my thing, but nothing here was enjoyable. I order the tempura tofu and onigiri with the help of a tour guide translating that I was vegan and it still arrived with fish on the side. My family who are not vegetarian hated their lunch meals, and honestly I had a hard time choking down the stuff I could eat on their plates. The lunch ended up being both expensive and unenjoyable.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2023-06-26
Guest
Hanna3933
Points +1072
Tasty, but be careful. - Edit
They're kind and tasty Kyoto foods! But a lot use fish Dashi. And seems like they don't understand Vegan. So, I couldn't know use Dashi or not use.💦
Read moreNamafu is a food made of wheat gluten. It's really good local cuisine of Kyoto. It was pretty good!✨ #Veganuary
Guest
Hellokelsey
Points +186
Upscale degustation specialising in tofu - Edit
Not sure why the last few reviews are negative sounding, We had a great time. The English menu has several vegetarian/vegan options. These options have a ‘v’ marked next to them and require you to confirm with the server that you need it made vegetarian or vegan. We ordered two vegetarian degustation menus with no problems and staff even confirmed with us whether we could have dairy. Don’t go here if you don’t like traditional Japanese foods or tofu, but if you do, you will enjoy the variety of plates on offer. Service was very friendly and the chef escorted us out when we left. We also enjoyed sitting at the bar watching the chef work. Our upscale experience was worth the price for us.
Read morePros: Good number of options that can be veg, Variety of tastes and flavours, Friendly service
Cons: Expensive
Guest
SallaNylund
Points +172
Excellent food with language barrier - Edit
Because of the language barrier we decided to share just one vegan dish for the three of us. The food was great but felt like the one waiter didn't really enjoy us beeing there? The service with the other staff was friendly.
Read morePros: Food
Cons: Service, language barrier
Guest
Fresus
Points +114
Unfriendly atmosphere - Edit
We were a party of two, and were sat at the bar by the entrance (there's a proper dining room in the back, which I guess is for larger parties).
Read moreThe waitresses were polite, but very cold. It really wasn't a warm atmosphere.
We ordered a variety of items from the menu, and I disliked a good portion of them. Some had very unpleasant textures, others an overwhelming seasoning.
I was expecting more from an expensive, upscale restaurant like this one.
Guest
Vintology
Points +17
Excellent taste of Kyoto - Edit
Amazing evening at this restaurant. Whilst the menu wasn’t all vegetarian, the staff knew exactly how to adapt things to be vegan and it wasn’t an issue at all. Pro tip - sit upstairs for a more authentic (sitting on the floor) experience
Read moreGuest
Nicola78
Points +45
Veg options but need double check on what you order. - Edit
Nice restaurant, cozy atmosphere and good quality of food.
Read moreHowever, we ordered obanzai assortment (5 selections of their choice) , vegetarian version and 1 was with chicken, the other was tofu with Bonito flakes (tuna skin) on top.
We noticed first the chicken, we asked the waitress and she confirmed it. She was sorry, we asked confirmation for the other and she said they were OK. We got suspicious and we checked the tofu. We called her again and she said she was sorry, again and we got changed also the second.
Again, food is good but we these are quite big mistakes, especially if you insist a lot on the vegan options you have.
Guest
GabrielleJaneLane
Points +130
great experience - Edit
Amazing tofu and super friendly service.
Read moreLoved to get a vegan dinner in Kyoto, as I had trouble finding food without fish. I highly recommend this restaurant!
Merci :)
Pros: tofu, service, sake
Guest
VegDre85
Points +138
fantastic! - Edit
A few doors further north than on map here (name clearly on entrance)! 8 course set dinner menu was veganized for us by request and turned out to be one of the best dinners we've enjoyed in a long time!
Read moreGuest
GuillaumeBeuzelinAven
Points +112
We enjoy the tofu selection - Edit
We went there with friends who are not vegans and everybody enjoy a lot the selections of tofus.
Read moreThe service was great and fast and the varieties of tofu was great. The restaurant is a bit price but definitely a stop to do of you are visiting Kyoto.
Pros: English version of the menu
Cons: Expensive
Guest
ikonova
Points +34
delicate but satisfying - Edit
The restaurant is on the main Ponto Cho alley just a bit further along from where it shows on the map. The staff were welcoming and the young waiter took the time to explain to us about the various dishes. The food was delicious, things I'd never eaten before, and although the portions were small, (we were sharing between 3 and ordered 6 dishes plus a little extra rice) I felt satisfied. I said we were vegetarian and they made sure to ask if fish was ok or not (sooo many people worldwide seem to think vegetarians eat fish?!). We felt really looked after.
Read morePros: they know what vegetarian means, attentive staff, delicious food
Cons: pricey, small portions
Guest
AureliaP
Points +10
Tofu like you've never experienced - Edit
The food at Mamehachi was incredible. We tried and loved the many tofu options and variations of it. However, we had a frosty welcome from the start - there seemed to be some uncertainty when we arrived even though it was only 8.30pm and many seats available. Luckily we were allowed but the chef was not as welcoming to our requests for vegetarian options as in some previous reviews. We noticed we were treated differently from other patrons, not the usual, kind, Japanese service. But we persisted and stayed on, choosing from various options (from the English menu) and ordering a number of times. It was an extravagant dinner for our usual Japanese dining standards, yet we enjoyed it. Unsure if we need to go back but definitely an experience for anyone interested in tofu and its many possibilities.
Read morePros: Tofu like you've never had it before - 5 rare
Cons: Catch the chef on a bad day and he may turn you aw
Guest
katiemcgrath
Points +86
A new found respect for tofu! - Edit
I've been a vegan for a long time now so I've had my fair share of tofu dishes. But Mamehachi really brought tofu to a new level.
Read moreWe told the chef that we wanted vegan options only and he pointed out lots of dishes to choose from, assuring us that there was no fish in the daichi and miso.
We had 'Tofu Four Ways' which was just like a cheeseboard, some eggplant, fried glutens, and some other dishes that I honestly can't remember but that's a reflection on my poor memory, not poor dishes!
The chef was super nice and it was great to watch him make all of the dishes right in front of us.
Pros: Lots of vegan choices, Delicious food, Friendly staff and great ambience
Guest
maryan76
Points +38
amazing! - Edit
This is a five star review, but Happycow won't allow 5 stars for places that also serve meat. We came in late May 2016, and the English menu offered a vegetarian set meal. This was probably the best meal we've had in Japan so far, and great value: 7 courses for 4300 yen! Warning: we took the "vegetarian" name at face value, and didn't enquire further. However, i don't think any dashi/fish sauce could have infiltrated the dishes we were served, all simple yet delicious arrangements, based around tofu.
Read moreGuest
Nancy Cadet
Points +985
Not serving vegetarian food--disappointed - Edit
We stopped by Mamehachi restaurant and asked if we could order vegetarian options from their menu. We speak basic Japanese , so the problem wasn't communication. The answer from the cook/counter person was "No, Sorry. Everything is made with fish or dashi . " I guess whether vegans can be accommodated there depends on who's doing the serving/cooking.
Read moreI recommend Tosuiro restaurant instead for a completely veg tofu meal. The Tosuiro website lists their veg option; we went to the Gion location the last time we
visited Kyoto; Tosuiro has two in downtown Kyoto. The meal was great, with all the varied courses and ceremonial service of a shojin ryori restaurant . Pricey, but special.
Cons: No veg options, Hard to find
Guest
pincopallino
Points +62
Veg-friendly tofu restaurant - Edit
Despite the richness of a vegetables and soy-based foods in the Japanese cuisine, eating out is very often a problem because of the overall present "dashi" (fish broth), which severely limits the choices available to a veg(etari)an. Indeed, quite often you are told at the entrance that everything is made with dashi and even the soy sauce contains it. Mamehachi is one exception: when I said I'm vegan they replied "no problem". In fact, I could choose a wide range of steamed vegetables and tofu and yuba based dishes. The waitress carefully checked what I could and could not eat and served a vegan version of everything I ordered. There are a few dishes which cannot be "veganized" because ingredients are mixed from the beginning (ex. some mayonnaise in a tomato-based salad) but most of the non-flesh dishes (which represent the bulk of the menu) can be easily made vegan. I had dinner there at the last day of the "bon" period (August 16, 2015), paid 7500 yens for three people, including drinks. A full course is more expensive but may be difficult to get a full veg(etari)an option: better to order from the menu.
Read moreGround-level is counter seats, upper floor is Japanese-style with low tables. Staff does speak English and credit-cards are accepted.
From the Hankyu railways station at Shijou / Gion take Ponto-cho direction North, the restaurant is a few minutes walk on your left.
Pros: Wide vegan and vegetarian choice, Friendly atmosphere
Cons: Smoking allowed
Guest
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