Healthy and environmentally friendly, Vegan Burger Nourish is a small vegan restaurant with a great concept, vibrant dishes and intriguing textures at reasonable prices.
Concept & Values
Opened in 2018, Vegan Burger Nourish is based around the concept "The place where I return to myself." Although it targets Japanese women in their 30s busy with work, everybody is welcome.
While waiting for around for 20 minutes on a weekend, I saw many Japanese customers, mostly mothers with daughters and pairs of girl friends with quite a few purchasing take-outs.
Residents may particularly enjoy the time-limited offerings. At the time of writing, I saw a kaki-furai burger (fried oysters burger!) on the restaurant's blog (Japanese only).
Food-related highlights:
- 100 percent vegan, naturally cultivated vegetables, additive-free organic ingredients. Rainforest Alliance certified bananas.
- Sugar-free bread made using natural yeast and domestic wheat (whole grain) or rice.
- Traditional fermented seasonings.
- Gluten-free options (easy to identify thanks to English labels on the photo menu).
- Diverse tastes of Japan/Asia: miso, teriyaki, bamboo charcoal bread (black), mugwort-tasting moringa bread (yellow-green).
Finally, Vegan Burger Nourish is recognized as a domestic organic supporter by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries beside a federation of Japanese cooperatives including Ito-Yokado and Bio C'Bon Japan (international group specializing in organic agriculture founded in France).
Diverse Vegan Burgers
Add ¥400 for a drink and salad (or French fries) set:
- Nourish burg burger: The restaurant's signature burger. Home made with soy meat, mushrooms, onions. ¥980.
- Hot chilli beans burger: ¥1,080.
- Kurumafu miso katsu burger: ¥780.
- Teriyaki burger with tempeh (fermented soybeans very different from tofu and miso): ¥880.
- Veggie chicken nanban burger. Like the "real" thing (fried chicken seasoned with vinegar and tartare sauce) according to the Miyazaki-born owner. Overflowing home-made tartare sauce made from soy mayonnaise. ¥880.
- Veggie tatsuta-age burger with Genovese sauce. ¥880. Tatsuta-age is karaage (fried chicken) coated with starch.
Exciting Desserts
The selection seems perfect for travellers, with both "safe" and "adventurous" desserts:
- Carrot pound cake: Nice mix of tastes and a safe bet with kids. Home made from naturally-grown organic carrots, with cinnamon, nuts and raisins. ¥480.
- Matcha tart: What you'd expect in Japan. Home made with pesticide-free green tea, gluten-free. ¥580.
- Miso chocolate pound cake. Good for cooks and gourmets looking for Japanese "adventure tourism." Organic cocoa, miso made from natural bacteria and naturally cultivated ingredients by Marukawa Miso (company founded in 1772 in Fukui Prefecture). ¥480.
- Sake lees cheesecake. A must for alcohol lovers, whether they know about kasu lees or not. Made from pesticide-free sake lees, by products of the creation of natural sake by Terada Honke (company founded around 1673-1681 in Chiba Prefecture). Organic sugar and gluten free. ¥780.
- Soy milk ice cream. Chocolate, matcha, strawberry or vanilla. No worries about dairy/egg allergies. ¥480.
Beyond Standard Drinks
You can drink fruit water, naturally-grown carrot juice, smoothies, organic wine, beer and cocktails.
Set drinks include grapefruit juice, orange juice, Perrier, ginger ale, Earl Grey, organic herb tea, home-made oolong and naturally grown coffee. For a fee, you can instead get home-made ginger ale, home-made salty lemon soda, home-made organic cola, organic soy milk hojicha roasted tea, organic soy milk matcha green tea or organic soy milk coffee.
Shop & Staff
This cosy non-smoking shop is easy to spot, with a big name in English visible above eye level. A big menu with photos is typically placed by the door. Cyclists will find a (non-dedicated) space for their bicycles.
Around 10 travellers can sit at the counter and table in a luminous, clean, quiet room with plants, possibly branches with plum/cherry blossoms if your timing is right. Free Wi-Fi available, with electric plugs to recharge your phone/camera. The restroom is clean and comfortable. There are no steps but difficult access for wheelchair users.
The hospitable Japanese staff cook in front of guests at the counter.
Covid Countermeasures
Staff wear masks and disinfect surfaces between visits. Expect a bottle of hand sanitizer at the entrance, by the open door. Clients purchasing takeaways are asked to stay outside. No real social distancing possible inside but you may eat on a chair outside on a sunny day. Contactless payments are favoured, and the restaurant accepts a range of credit cards and electronic payment methods such as PayPay, Apple Pay, Pasmo/Suica.
Travel Tips
- Children are welcome. The ¥780 kids' set includes a burger (upgrade to fun bamboo charcoal bread for ¥50), French fries, seasonal fruit, orange or carrot juice. Also quite popular are soy milk ice cream and carrot pound cake. With a stroller, you can eat outside (avoid on cold/rainy days).
- Charcoal burger recommended.
- Vegan bars are also on sale.
- Hotel deliveries are possible (Uber Eats).
- Buy a takeaway and eat along Tama River with pleasant views.
- Before/after eating, visit nearby Saimyoji Temple and Keihin Fushimi Inari-jinja Shrine.
