This vegan ramen restaurant is a hidden gem in Kyoto for vegan foodies. Walk through a garden path before entering this homey restaurant with tatami floor and traditional floor seatings. Remember to take off your shoes before entering.

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Towzen offers a concise menu of classic Japanese dishes made vegan, including ramen, sushi and soy meat rice bowl. For ramen, they provide quite a few customisation options, including the flavour, spice level, size, etc.

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I opted for their Towzen set which comes with ramen, one piece of eggplant ‘eel’ sushi, salad and soy pudding. The tantan ramen has a thick and creamy broth with soy mince topping, the sushi uses eggplant to recreate the appearance and texture of eel, and the soy milk pudding is an unexpected surprise with spot-on flavour and texture.

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One thing to keep in mind is that this restaurant has a strict ‘no photos’ policy for the interior. So make sure you take photos only of the food.

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This restaurant is also located about 15-minute walk from the famous Shimogamo Shrine, which makes it a great option to visit after your meal here.