Back in March when our family came to visit us, we had planned to come to Hiroshima as part of our 3-week itinerary around Japan. Being a small island very close to Hiroshima, we couldn’t miss our chance to visit Miyajima as well, famous for its large floating torii gate, temples and forest.
This traditional Japanese restaurant known as Tachibana “たち花” (also “Flowers” on HappyCow), has vegan options on their menu and is conveniently located on Omotesando shopping street, the island’s busy shopping district. With options such as vegan udon and soba noodles, It’s a great spot to have a bite to eat.
Miyajima isn’t the biggest of places, so I was a little unsure we’d find anything vegan-friendly and was fully prepared to pack some onigiris and snacks in my bag. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find some options and stumbled upon this unassuming restaurant with vegan options. Let me tell you more!
At a glance:
V/VO: Vegan Options
Cuisine: Japanese
How to order: A server will come and take your order at the table
Payment: Card and cash accepted- payment at the end
The space
Tachibana had a quintessentially Japanese mom-and-pop restaurant feel to it. Much like a lot of traditional Japanese restaurants, the interior is full of wood and natural materials as well as Japanese artwork. It reminded me a little of Genji-Soba where we ate vegan soba noodles in Osaka.
It also has a casual feel to it, almost as if you’ve gone to your aunties for lunch. There’s an old-school tv playing on one side of the room adding to the whole laid-back feel and the people working here are friendly and polite.
You can choose to sit on the traditional raised tatami floors or at the table and chairs – we sat at the latter as there were no tatami floor-level tables available. Luckily, as went for early lunch we didn’t have to wait to be seated however, by the time we had finished, there was a queue formed outside of the restaurant.
This is worth remembering with Miyajima’s limited vegan options you may want to get here a little earlier if you decide you want to come for lunch.
The vegetarian menu at Tachibana
We were handed an English menu and at the back of it, they have a whole section with a decent selection of vegetarian dishes. However, before ordering I wanted to double-check if Tachibana actually had vegan options.
Japanese restaurants may say something is vegetarian and still use fish dashi in their flavouring. Especially as dashi is such an integral part of their everyday culinary culture, and they may not automatically think of it as it being fish.
So, I asked one of the servers working in the restaurant who checked with the kitchen and told us no fish stock is used in the soups. Looking back at the menu, I now realise they have written 昆布だし, which is kelp dashi, next to noodle dishes in soup. But it’s no use if you can’t read the language, so I’m glad I double-checked to be sure.
Everything on Tachibana vegetarian menu should be vegan-friendly, apart from the dishes with tempura which you can see says eggs are used.
Vegan food at Tachibana, Miyajima
Udon with curry flavoured soup | カレーうどん
This curry udon was more than sufficient but I’ve had much better. Usually, with curry udon, Japanese curry is used which is darker in colour and has a sweeter taste than the curry you may be used to.
Although there’s nothing wrong with using a different curry, it just wasn’t what I was expecting. It had a slightly higher and sour taste than the normal curry udon I’ve had in the past.
Nonetheless, two out of four of us ordered this and the bowls were empty by the time we left, so I can’t complain.
Price: ¥900 (£4.91/ $6.23)
Soba in hot kelp soup | 素そば
All noodle dishes came with the choice of fatter and chewy udon noodles or thinner soba noodles made from buckwheat.
This simple dish is buckwheat noodles in a broth and topped with spring onions. It’s very light and refreshing, not to mention delicious too! The perfect option for those of you who want something that won’t leave you feeling heavy.
Price: ¥500 (£2.73/ $3.46)
Udon in hot kelp soup with seaweed | わかめうどん
As far as I could tell this dish was exactly the same as the above but just with the added seaweed and shisho leaf (beefsteak plant). This was my order and luckily my favourite out of the three.
I enjoyed the added seaweed which added another texture and depth to the dish. You may find it slightly odd if you haven’t tried this texture before but as I have grown up eating it, I think it’s delicious and love the chew. It’s also very healthy for you too!
But the shisho leaf or beefsteak plant I’ve never been a fan of so that came out of my bowl immediately before it contaminated the flavour of the dish. The taste is peculiar, it’s too strong and perfumy for me.
You’ll often see the leaf around traditional Japanese foods – if you’ve never tried it before, give it a go, let me know what you think of it!
Price: ¥800 (£4.36/ $5.54)
Things that are close by:
- Itsukushima Jinja | 6 min walk
- Have a look at the world’s largest rice scoop | 5 min walk
- Explore Miyajima Omotesando (shopping street) | 1 min walk
- Daishoin Temple | 14 min walk
- Momijidan Park | 11 min walk
Have a look here for more information on Miyajima!
How to get to Tachibana / Flowers
You must search for “Tachibana” on Google Maps for the address to appear unless you use HappyCow’s map.
Address:
566-1 Kitanochohama, Miyajimacho, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima
Nearest station:
Ferry Terminal: Miyajima Port | 8 min walk
Open:
10:30 -16:30
Closed Fridays
We had a whistlestop tour around Miyajima so didn’t get to explore half as much as we would have liked. However, I’m so glad we were able to find a vegan-friendly restaurant on this island famous for its seafood.
This restaurant is very authentically Japanese and a great spot to get some lunch if you come and visit the island! Not only will you leave with happy tummies, but happy wallets too – did you see the prices of these dishes? You can’t go wrong when they’re this affordable!
If you’re coming for a day trip to Miyajima from Hiroshima like I did, you might like to check out this great restaurant in Hiroshima. Or, alternatively, get yourself familiar with vegan-friendly items from convenience stores!
If you like traditional Japanese food like this, you might also like this restaurant in Osaka!