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Rainbow Rawfood, Tokyo

Rainbow Rawfood’s owner, Keiichi Kato had his healthy lightbulb moment when he dropped out of high school at 16 and left Japan for the US. There he began a new health regime of fruit for breakfast and fasting with enzyme juice. Next, he enrolled in cookery school to learn how to make raw vegan food. In 2010, he returned to Japan to open Rainbow Rawfood in Hamamatsucho. Now he’s relocated to Ebisu. I couldn’t wait to review this rare raw food gem.

The setting

Rainbow Rawfood is in Ebisu, a five minute walk from the metro station.  It’s on the eighth floor of the building and in the evening, after 5 pm, it becomes the Hemp Café and the menu changes. At this height, there’s a really  cool view of the area. Healthy hotspots KO-SO cafe and Marugo Deli Ebisu are nearby.

The space

Rainbow Rawfoods has menu boards outside, but you need to take the stairs or the elevator to its eighth floor location. The café has a Hawaiian theme and plays Hawaiian music. The chairs and tables are wooden with black padding and the wall is decorated with Hawaiian ornaments and a surfboard!  They also have a little balcony where you can sit.

The service is very quick and you could definitely get your laptop out to work, as I did. They have strong wifi.

The fresh juice test

The juice of the day was green and so thick- it was more like a smoothie. It changes daily depending on local market produce. Mine was made of pineapple, apple, spinach and fruit from Okinawa. I loved the taste, because I’d never tried the famous Okinawa fruit before.

What we ate

For lunch they offer set menus. The mains are raw sushi rolls or wraps with a juice of the day and a side dish.

Their whole menu is raw and vegan which is rare in Tokyo, especially with sushi  rolls.

I picked the raw sushi set, curry as a side dish and a raw pie as dessert. The raw sushi was mock monkfish liver, carrots, lettuce, avocado and cucumber. On the side was a raw pad thai salad of cabbage, a sour sauce and some toasted chopped walnuts. The curry was mini, but perfectly sized. It came with brown rice and was nice and warm.

I was full, but not bloated after my meal which I really liked, as I still had some room left for dessert. They have a selection of three raw pies, ice cream, pancakes and also a lava cake. I chose the hempseed cheese cake, with a strawberry and beets sauce. The flavour was very light and simple and the pastel pink sauce added a special vibe

The little things that make the difference

I loved the interior and the music, it gave all the Hawaiian vibes you need! It’s important to know they only accept cash.

The bill

Lunch menu 1350¥
Dessert 980¥

 

 

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Ain Soph, Tokyo

Owner Yuki Shirai’s message is to fill yourself with love by filling yourself with beautiful plant-based food. So all the plates they serve at Ain Soph are full of caring and loving thoughts. We couldn’t wait to visit.

The setting

Ain Soph has multiple locations in the city. They’re all different with their own menus. I decided to review their café in Ginza, an expensive shopping district in Tokyo. It’s a minute’s walk away from the Higashi-ginza metro stop and near  healthy hotspots  like Aloha Table and T’s Tan Tan.

The space

Ain Soph is modern, with traditional Japanese touches.

As you enter, you can buy home-made sweets and cold pressed juices. If you want to eat in, they lead you to the first floor to the small dining area. There’s polished concrete walls and varnished wooden furniture. There’s seven tables for two that can be joined together and a wooden bench with cushions.

Although it’s very busy and usually full, it’s very quiet inside. So much so that my friend and I felt uncomfortable talking. Ain Soph have wifi which works really well. However, I wouldn’t recommend working there for long, as it was packed around lunchtime.

The little things that make the difference

The room is quite cold (in the winter),  so they supply blankets for everyone.

What we ate

Ain Soph serves plant based food with a Japanese twist. For lunch they have a tiny set menu which is also very Japanese. You can pick curry, bento or pancakes.

We chose the curry and the pancakes. All the set menus come with a side salad and a cup of Japanese tea, black tea or coffee. The salad came first. It was a simple salad with a choice of raw vegetables and a delicious miso dressing.

This salad certainly proved that simple can be delicious.

The curry was a warming mix of several kinds of mushrooms and came with brown rice. Again simple, but really delicious. The mushrooms added a meaty texture to the curry.

Finally, the pancakes. Fluffy pancakes are very Japanese, you’ll see them everywhere on the streets, but Ain Soph’s are totally plant based which made us super curious.  At first sight, they looked a bit dry, but when we sliced into them they were deliciously soft and airy on the inside. The toppings were beautifully sliced fresh fruit and a home made blueberry jam. Plus, in three separate bowls we got extra toppings of agave syrup, soy whipped cream with chopped nuts and sesame and finally vanilla ice cream.

The bill

Pancake with side salad and Japanese green tea  2678¥
Curry with side salad and Japanese green tea  1814¥

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Elle cafe, Tokyo

ELLE magazine was first published in 1945 in France just after the second World War. The founder, Elaine Lazarev, wanted to inspire readers to open their appetites and “just live as happy as you want to be!”. Now ELLE have opened their first ever café, in Tokyo. And it’s a must visit!

The setting

ELLE Café is based in Aoyama in the University of the United Nations campus. At the weekend there’s a farmers’ market in front of the café and Brown Rice by Neal’s Yard is around the corner. You can take the subway to Ometosando station.

The space

ELLE Café’s outside has a minimal, sleek upmarket look. It has high windows with grey and white walls and shutters. Outside there’s a heated terrace with smart black metal tables and chairs. Dogs are welcome in this  section.

Inside is a grab and go café and a seating area with marble topped counters and tables. Lots of plants and flowers are scattered around and the waiters speak very good English.

The little things that make the difference

Around noon the sun shines right through the window which adds an amazing feeling of light to the restaurant.

What we ate

ELLE Café has a diverse menu – they serve meat, fish and dairy, but also plant-based options. The menu is very Western for Japan. We chose the vegan cleanse salad and two of their side dishes- the beetroot hummus and fried sweet potatoes with rosemary. Then we had the strawberry bon bon to finish off lunch. The portions are all a perfect size to share.

The vegan cleanse salad was a mix of avocado, grilled aubergine and zucchini, grapefruits, pomelo, pomegranate seeds, tomatoes, sprouts, pine nuts and romaine salad. We chose the white miso dressing, to give it a Japanese twist, which was a good choice. The salad was light, but had a very fresh taste, because of the citrus fruits.

Next we had the beetroot hummus. It was super creamy and topped off with some roasted chickpeas which added a touch of crunch.

When in Japan, you can’t miss out on their sweet potato skills. The flavour of their sweet potatoes are so different than the ones we have in Europe. These  were perfect golden brown and had a crispy skin. They were still so fresh and sweet.

Last, but not least, we had the strawberry bon bon, which was the only plant based dessert option, so we had to try it.

The first layer was a mix of fresh blended strawberries with coconut milk, followed up with a soy milk whipped cream, a lot of fresh strawberries and another dollop of soy whipped cream – a real guilt free plant based pleasure.

The bill

Vegan cleanse salad  1178¥
Beetroot hummus  864¥
Fried sweet potato with rosemary  648¥
Strawberry bonbon  1944¥

 

 

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The Bowl café, Tokyo

The Bowl’s focus is on food as medicine. They serve delicious, health fuelling bowls, packed with organic products.

The setting

The Bowl is based in Ometosando which is Tokyo’s famous shopping district. You take the subway to the Ometosando station and from there it’s a short five minute walk. The area is quite urban, but with a lot of expensive shops and some cool plant-based cafés.

The space

The Bowl has a modern exterior. The entrance is a mix of iron and cement which really suits their minimalistic logo. Plants hang from the ceiling and the windows are filled with cacti.

We visited on a Sunday around noon and it was surprisingly not too busy. There is an upstairs, but most of the seating is downstairs.

Plants are draped around the light bulbs which tone down the industrial feeling created by metal and wood used throughout..

There’s really good WiFi and you could easily take bring your laptop in to do some work.

What else?

You can bring your dogs. They even have a sticker on the door to welcome them.

What we ate

The Bowl serves healthy, nutritional, gluten free and organic bowls. Most of the food is plant-based, but they also serve bowls with chicken.  They have four kinds of bowls: quinoa veggie bowls, fermented brown rice bowls, detox quinoa soups and smoothie bowls.

We decided to review the ashitaba smoothie bowl, the protein coconut curry and the soy cheese vegan caesar.

All the portions were so much bigger than I’m used to in Japan, which was perfect after a big workout, otherwise we might have struggled to finish it.

The protein coconut curry was lovely and warm, but not too hot, so we could eat it immediately. It contained a huge amount of brown rice with red beans, fermented red cabbage, grated carrots, bean sprouts and a generous amount of avocado. The curry consisted of turmeric, onions, zucchini, bell peppers and soy protein.

The soy cheese vegan caesar salad was a winner. I’m always surprised at how they can make caesar salads vegan. The salad came on a large portion of quinoa with a generous amount of kale on top. Which was good as kale is really expensive in Tokyo. It was topped off with shaved soy cheese and toasted almonds. The “cheese” really tasted like real cheese. It was salty and had a cheesey structure, but the dressing really finished off the salad!

Last but not least, we had the ashitaba smoothie bowl.

The bowl was richly topped with coconut chips, frozen raspberries, granola, frozen mango, pine nuts, pumpkin and chia seeds.

The ashitaba had a really special flavour and the bowl was very nice to end with, it was almost like dessert!

The little things that make the difference

I loved the menu and the fact they had photos of all the dishes, so we knew what to order, since we couldn’t read the contents of the bowls.

The bill

Protein coconut curry 1598¥
Vegan caesar 1490¥
Ashitaba fruits bowl 1598¥

For more Tokyo inspiration click here. 

 

 

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Marugo Deli Ebisu, Tokyo

Marugo Deli Ebisu is passionate about treating the environment right -it’s mostly plant-based and serves delicious smoothies and smoothie bowls.

The setting

Marugo Deli Ebisu is based in the Ebisu area. It’s near the Ebisu metro station and other healthy hotspots including Rainbow Raw Foods, Hemp Café and Ko-so!

The space

It’s mostly a take-away so you order and pay for your food and drinks at the counter. You can also sit in. As I came during the week, it wasn’t crowded. There’s not a lot of space inside,  just four tables with two chairs at each table. Outside there are plants and  wooden benches as extra seating in front of the café. The service was very quick and mine came in five to ten minutes.

All the furniture is warm wood with a bar of blue mosaic stones.

Around the bar are jars of granola, dried fruits and nuts and fresh fruit in wooden crates.

There’s also a corner with shelves, where you can buy organic products and their homemade granolas and oils.

What we ate

Marugo Deli Ebisu offers plant based, gluten free food made from organic products. They cater for everyone including non-vegans and also sell sandwiches with tuna and muffins. The smoothies are seasonal and made fresh. Our tip – download Google translate with a Japanese dictionary, to help with the menu.

I love Japanese portion control, as everything is just perfectly balanced and filling enough. You don’t leave feeling stuffed, just satisfied. I decided to review the raw spirulina smoothie bowl, a matcha latte and a banana muffin (as it was Valentine’s!).

The smoothie bowl came in a glass bowl and was made of avocado, banana, dates, raw spirulina and soy milk.

It was topped with a delicious crunchy granola with pistachios, banana slices, dates, goji berries and chia seeds. The granola was quite sweet, but I didn’t mind, as the smoothie itself wasn’t.

 

The banana muffin was plant based, airy and gluten free and filled with banana pieces and walnuts. They asked if I wanted to have it warmed up, so I did. The crust was crisp and the inside goey, so it was the perfect muffin. Finally, I had a matcha latte with soy mylk.  In Japan, the soy mylk tastes very different to  Europe and America. The milk was so thick and creamy. Even after finishing the foam layer.

It was one of the best matchas I’ve ever had.

The little things that make the difference

Normally you have to pay extra for soy milk, or other plant based mylks, but at Marugo Deli Ebisu it’s twisted around. You pay extra for normal milk.  Go plant based food! Plus, they offer cooking classes upstairs .

What we’d go back for…

The corner where they sell good extra virgin olive oils, their own granola, and other organic products, which are hard to find in Tokyo.

The bill

Raw spirulina smoothie bowl  1500¥
Matcha latte  550¥
Banana muffin  500¥