Mumokuteki むもくてき

I'd seen a couple of outlets of Mumokuteki around Kyoto town but for some reason I'd avoided them. I could never put my finger on the reason why.

Then one day my good friend Liz suggested we try it, she eats a mainly vegetarian diet and had been there before... thought it was nice....  Turns out it is a vegan joint. 

The penny finally dropped. 

Only it looked more stylish than most Vegan places I'd ventured into. It was a lovely, airy, girly cafe with very decent food at very reasonable prices. A modern take on Shojin Ryori (Buddhist vegetarian cusine) and I LOVE Shojin Ryori. The lunch was fresh and tasty and there was plenty of it. I reckon that if you took a die hard meat eater here and ordered for them - they might not even notice there wasn't any flesh on their plate. Mmmm tastes like chicken...

My main course was deep fried fu (wheat gluten) with a slightly sweet/sour sauce.crisp salad, various pickles and sides including soup, rice, simmered daikon. A lovely wholesome lunch packed with flavour and at around $10AUD - I was pretty damn happy. 

Even if you don't stop for lunch it's a fab place for a coffee break.

The outlet most convenient for shopping in the downtown area is on Gokomachi dori near Takoyakushi dori (the street to the west of and running parallel to the Teramachi arcade)

There's even a handy little map at your table to show you were to shop next!

Checkout their website for a look around the venue and an idea of what's on the menu: Mumokuteki

Village andPadma vegetarian cafe

A meatlover like myself could turn... if I was guaranteed vegetarian cuisine as good as this every time I ate out!

"Padma" is located on Kita Shirakawa dori (on the eastern edge of Kyoto city) - tucked away at the back of a building on the 2nd floor up a flight of grotty stairs in the Maison Shirakawa building, on the west side of the street, not far north of the Kyoto design Univeristy.... you got that??  You will need to look well to find it - but it will be worth putting your glasses on for.  

Its a bit hippy trippy in a Japanese boho way... slightly confusing?.. yes.. but nevermind all that

The food is creative Japanese, light but full flavoured and inspirational  vegetarian, vegan and macrobiotic fare. Go there - veggo or not! And at around 1000 yen for lunch - there is nothing at all to complain about... even the grotty stairwell...

The soymilk chai rocks too!