Vegan Japanese restaurant : Itadaki Zen

Hi there,

Yesterday evening, my boyfriend took me to a vegan Japanese restaurant called Itadaki Zen. It’s situated near King Cross St Pancras in London.

I used to love sushis and makis and now that I’m vegan, I just replace fish by more avocado or cucumber or any other vegetables. I was expecting a little more than that by going to this restaurant obviously.

In their menu, they explain quickly that they try to waste as little as possible when cooking and ask you to do the same by finishing your plates or taking leftovers at home. Of course we agree to that!

We took the same menu which was Itadaki Dinner course Noodles set with Harumaki spring rolls. And a half bottle of Italian wine (Montepulciano d’Abruzzo for wine lovers out there).

Starters: marinated mushrooms & tofu, soya beans, beans and spring rolls with peanut sauce

Sushis: no idea of the first one, carrots, seaweed, red peppers, asparagus & tofu

Kakiage tempura and seasonal vegetables with marinated peanut dressing and noodles with soup

Our desserts : mine was Itadaki-zen small cake (made with japanese pumpkin and sugar-free) with a tofu & vanilla cream and boyfriend was a sesame pudding.

What I loved was the diversity with the food you are served. You only have a few bites of everything, enough to taste and enjoy but also just enough to have place to taste the rest of your plates.

I loved everything: service was friendly, ambiance was very calm, furniture was made of wood and room was not too much decorated. Of course I mainly loved the food there! What I liked the least was my own dessert which was not my cup of tea but I taste the sesame pudding which was good.

It’s very good to not have to think about what you can or cannot take as all is vegan of course! They also have gluten free and nut free options. You may want to practice your skills with chopsticks before going as I didn’t see any forks.

If you are in London or planning a visit, I highly recommend this restaurant! Not so expensive also, our menu was £21 without wine but Lunch is cheaper.

Let me know in comments below if you’ve been to Itadaki-Zen or any other restaurants in London. I’m now going shopping for nori sheets to improve my vegan sushis style! ;)