Before the summer finished, Jonny and I wanted to experience a beach day in Japan. We had two criteria our day out had to meet: easily accessible and have a vegan option! So after a little research, we decided on Kamakura, an ancient city close to Tokyo.
Here we discovered Luna Burger, an incredible tasting, fully vegan speciality burger store with the business philosophy “Kind to people, kind to the future”.
They first opened their food truck in 2019 and now have a store close to the beach where you can enjoy its handmade delights. Whether you’d like to try the limited seasonal flavour, a sweet teriyaki burger or maybe a soup curry, you won’t be disappointed. They also happen to be one of the top-rated places on HappyCow!
Want to have a beach day in Japan but not sure where to go? Well, this could be the place for you to visit!
At a glance:
V/VO: 100% Vegan
How to order: order at your table
Payment: Card and cash accepted- payment at the end
Reservation required?: No
The space
Making our way to the restaurant, I was happily shocked by the exterior of Luna Burger. From the use of wood to sliding doors and Noren, (the fabric that hangs by the entryway) it has that traditional Japanese storefront look.
Inside is a juxtaposition with the modern seating and their use of the interior. A mix of seating is available from bar seating with views into the kitchen (6 seats) to your usual tables and chairs (approx 6 seats) and even two comfy sofas and chairs facing each other with a coffee table in the middle which seats 5.
As you can see, it’s not the biggest restaurant, so although we were able to be seated without any issues, I’d imagine it gets rather busy during the weekends.
Luna Burger menu
Who doesn’t enjoy a vegan burger? At Luna Burger, there’s a nice selection of different flavours to choose from which will keep a range of people happy, no matter their flavour preference.
In total, there are 7 main meals to choose from. A soup curry and 6 different burgers including a limited burger which changes depending on the season. Keep an eye out on their Instagram to keep up-to-date with the seasonal flavour. This summer, the special was a Vegan salsa burger for ¥1380.
All burgers come with a side of homemade crispy chips (crisps to us Brits) with options to have extra toppings in your burger (lettuce, coriander, jalapeño pepper, guacamole, onion ring) which starts at ¥50.
Luna Burger drinks menu
For drinks, they have organic coffee, iced tea, soft drinks and beer as well as other alcoholic beverages, very good and varied options in my opinion.
Teriyaki Luna Burger
All six options were very tempting but as we had previously tried a vegan burger at this American vegan burger store in Tokyo, we wanted to try a Japanese version of the well-loved American favourite.
The burger came with warm toasted buns, shredded cabbage, a slice of tomato, a spread of mayonnaise, the teriyaki patty and two onion rings (an added extra for ¥200) which I paired with a fresh glass of orange juice.
For those who are familiar with the teriyaki flavour, you’ll know the sweet, sticky and slightly salty taste which is mouthwateringly good, and this teriyaki burger was no different!
Unlike many burgers I’ve eaten previously, it wasn’t oily (minus the onion rings) which I really appreciated as normally I regret having those last couple of mouthfuls of the burger. It was honestly so tasty, Jonny engulfed his down in a few mouthfuls as it was so good. I would even go as far as to say it’s my favourite vegan burger I’ve eaten in Japan (so far)!
Price: Burger ¥1280 (£7.02/ $8.54), Orange juice ¥580 (£3.18/ $3.87)
Kamakura Beach
Kamakura is a small city and a popular tourist destination for its many temples, shrines and historical monuments. Although we didn’t explore any of that this trip, we did get to enjoy the other very popular thing. The beach!
The long and sandy beaches are very popular during the summer and are often crowded with locals and day trippers from Tokyo and Yokohama. When we visited there were plenty of people, but as the beach is so long we were able to find a quiet spot where we could listen to the peaceful waves crashing in.
On the beach, there are rows of bars and restaurants with many offering locker rentals, showers, sun loungers, parasols and rubber rings. We ended up renting out a parasol for the day which was around the ¥1500 mark, and so worth it to keep our heads out of the blaring Japanese sun.
As a person who’s used to pebble beaches, the novelty of sand beaches wore off very quickly. It literally got everywhere and I just had to accept the fact that I would be covered for the whole day. But seriously, how do you cope with all the sand (haha)?!
All jokes aside, we had such a gorgeous and relaxed day out at Kamakura Beach, it was the perfect day off for us.
Things that are close by
- Hasedera Temple | 8 min walk
- Kamakura Hasedera | 8 min walk
- Yuigahama Beach | 10 min walk
- Kotokuin Great Buddha | 12 min walk
- Hokokuji Temple | 57 min walk
Vegan options close to Luna Burger
While doing research on Kamakura, I was happily surprised by the number of vegan options in this beach city. Here are some of the other options I came across.
V= Vegan, VO = Vegan Options
- Cafe Stand Blossom | V | 4 min walk
- Cotonoha | V | 5 min walk
- 24sekki | V | 25 min walk
- Shokudo Pace | V | 30 min walk
- Chirashiya (vegan sushi) | V | 56 min walk
- Ice Biyori | V | 59 min walk
How to get to Luna Burger
Address:
2-17-23 Hase, Kamakura, Japan, 248-0016
Nearest station:
26 min walk from Kamakura Station
Open:
Wednesday to Sunday 11:00 – 21:00
Closed Monday & Tuesday
Want to explore a less touristy neighbourhood of Tokyo? Why not take a day trip to Sugamo, otherwise known as Granny’s Harajuku and pop into this cute vegetarian cafe for some tea and cake?
