月: 2018年2月

Which is the best sushi-go-round chain for vegans?

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Which sushi-go-round chain can vegans enjoy the most?

 

In this article I compare popular sushi-go-round chains from a vegan point of view.

You may have heard about a unique type of sushi restaurants in Japan: sushi-go-round or conveyor belt sushi. Ordinary sushi restaurants are often very expensive but I would say sushi-go-round restaurants are almost fast food and reasonable. The quality of dishes are not the best obviously but they are of good value for money.

Sushi is typically made with fish as you know, but actually there are lots of dishes made with vegan/vegetarian friendly items. I myself often eat in sushi-go-round because it’s easy.

There are 4 big sushi-go-round chains: Sushiro, Kura Zushi, Hama Zushi and Kappa Zushi. The number of their outlets is more than 1,700 in total and you can easily find at least one of them in most cities. They certainly offer some vegan dishes and I believe it is much safer to eat in them than in other Japanese restaurants.

Each chain offer different items but, when it comes to vegetable sushi, there are not much differences. However, some offers more vegan options than the others. Let’s see which is the best for us vegans.

The sources of information are their websites (SushiroKura Zushi, Hama ZushiKappa Zushi). Hama Zushi doesn’t release information about ingredients but I checked the list at a nearby outlet.

(Note: these sushi-go-round restaurants offers dishes which you don’t find ordinary sushi restaurants like chips or salad, but I don’t take them into account as my aim is to compare them as sushi restaurants.)

 

What vegan sushi items you can find in each sushi-go-round chain?

 

Item Sushiro Kura Zushi Hama Zushi Kappa Zushi
Natto (fermented soybeans, 納豆) Vegan Vegan Vegan Vegan
Cucumber (かっぱ or きゅうり) Vegan Vegan Vegan Vegan
Dried gourd (かんぴょう) Vegan Not vegan (contains squid) Vegan Vegan
Inari (fried bean curd, いなり) Vegan Not vegan (contains mackerel) Vegan Vegan
Eggplant with wasabi (わさびなす) Vegan Not offered Vegan Vegan
Nozawana (green vegetable, 野沢菜) Vegan Not offered Not offered Not offered
Inari of the season (季節のいなり) Depends Not offered Not offered Not offered

 

As you see above, Sushiro offers more options than others. Depending on seasons, “inari of the season” can also be vegan; please ask the waiter. Even though the inari of the season is not vegan, you still have more options than in other chains as it is only Sushiro that offers nozawana.

The only weak point of Sushiro is that they offer natto only as gunkan (battle-ship roll, whose sides are surrounded by nori seaweed) and not as maki (roll). This is important for those who love natto like because some want to try both forms to enjoy it most (though many foreign people, and also some Japanese people, dislike natto…). If you are a natto lover, Hama Zushi or Kappa Zushi would be better options. Have you not had natto? Please try and see if you will like this very Japanese food.

Kura Zushi, on the other hand, cannot be recommended to vegans. Their dried gourd and inari contain animal products and they have only two vegan sushi items (natto and cucumber).

What vegetarians and vegans can eat at Coco’s

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Coco’s is the 4th biggest “family restaurant” chain in Japan and they have about 600 outlets all over Japan. It is not as common as the biggest ones like Gusto (about 1,350 outlets) or Saizeriya (about 1,050 outlets) but we often find it in many cities.

 

Options for vegans

 

Following are meals that vegans can have.

 

  • Green salad (グリーンサラダ) * the dressing may contain some animal product
  • Potato chips (やみつきカリカリポテト) * but served with mayonnaise
  • Potato chips with avocado and salsa (大人のやみつきカリカリポテト)
  • Rice (ライス)
  • Baguette (バゲット) * served with butter
  • Rye bread (石窯パン) * but served with butter

 

Unfortunately there are few options and no main meals.

 

The following seems to be the only option for main which could be vegan with some changes.

 

  • Japanese style spaghetti with oyster (広島産牡蠣の和風スパゲッティ)

 

If you don’t eat seashells you have to ask to remove oyster of course and it also contains chicken.

 

Options for vegetarians

 

Following are meals that vegetarians can have (except for the dishes that I already mentioned above as vegan options).

 

  • Pizza margarita (マルゲリータピザ)
  • Avocado cobb salad (アボカドCOBBサラダ)
  • Vanilla icecream (バニラアイスクリーム)
  • Chocolate icecream (チョコレートアイスクリーム)
  • Maccha icecream (宇治抹茶アイスクリーム)
  • Baked cheese cake (北海道産クリームチーズのベイクドチーズケーキ)
  • Danish (ココッシュ)
  • Banana crepe (バナナクレープ)
  • Zenzai (sweet bean soup) with rice-flour dumplings and vanilla icecream (白玉ぜんざいバニラアイス添え)
  • Bracken-starch cake with maccha icecream (わらび餅宇治抹茶アイス添え)
  • Japanese style parfait with maccha and soy bean pudding (宇治抹茶と豆乳プリンの和風ミニパルフェ)
  • Greek yoghurt with four kinds of berry (4種ベリーのギリシャヨーグルト)
  • Low carb Greek yoghurt with yuzu (柚子のギリシャヨーグルト)
  • Low carb maccha dessert with yuzu (柚子香る宇治抹茶のグラスデザート)
  • Low carb gateau chocolat (ガトーショコラ)

 

My understanding is that ordinary cobb salads contain bacon or chicken but the one at Coco’s doesn’t contain any of them.

 

Following is my conclusion.

 

I don’t recommend Coco’s to vegans and vegetarians

 

As you read above there is no main options for vegans. The options for vegetarians are also not as wide as that at Saizeriya. My recommendation is to eat at another restaurant if you have other options.