SAIDO
SAIDO
～ The world’s best vegan restaurant
Saido is a vegan restaurant that opened in Jiyugaoka, Tokyo, in September 2018. Just a year after opening, it was awarded the first place on “Happy Cow,” a website introducing vegan and vegetarian restaurants worldwide. It is now the World’s best vegan restaurant. They also offer a Halal menu.
About 1 billion vegans/vegetarians and 2 billion Muslims are living in the world. With more vegan and Muslim people coming to Japan, there is an increasing demand for them because we have few vegan or Muslim eateries in Japan.
Mr. Kusumoto, Chief Chef at Saido, studied Muslim and Haral food to cater to Muslim people. First, he served Japanese cuisine without pork and alcohol, but it was not well accepted.
After many trials and errors, he developed a new interpretation of Japanese food that would be enjoyed by Muslims or vegans/vegetarians. For example, he used a spicy flavor that would never be used in Japanese cuisine.
He realized that everyone would love Japanese cuisine, which was designated an intangible cultural asset, but some tricks would be required for it to be eaten even by Muslims.
Since then, he has tried “Umami” without using meat or fish and realized that it is possible to make “umami” taste from dried mushrooms, tomatoes, vegetable seeds, vegetable skin, etc.
The three of us ordered different menus and were impressed with their presentation and taste of the food. When we opened the glass bowl, smoke or mist came out on the table—a pleasant surprise!
Yuki had “Unaju (grilled eel on rice).” A grilled eel looks like an eel. Atsuko had a ramen noodle, and I had a “Tricolor rice bowl with minced chicken meat and egg.” Chicken and scrambled eggs on rice are made from beans or something else. The lady in the restaurant said that it is a secret menu.
They offer a combo platter featuring a main of your choice of noodle dish, rice bowl, or curry soup. Desserts and liqueur can be added for a full-on experience.
Saido does not use animal products such as meat or seafood, chemical additives, refined sugar, or the five pungent roots in its recipes.
We all agreed that the food was beautifully served and they were healthy and tasty.
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Lunch: JPY2,000
SAIDO
Address: Meguro-ku, Jiyugaoka, 2-chome. 15–10
Tokyo, Japan
Telephone: +81-357269500
