Saido, Jiyugaoka: Dinner at a World-Ranked Vegan Restaurant

Salut! It's Yoko, living a relaxed vegan life these days.

Saido is said to have once been ranked No. 1 in the "Best Vegan Restaurants" ranking on HappyCow, the restaurant information site for vegans and vegetarians.
A friend who lives in Jiyugaoka recommended it, so here I am!

Saido: A Vegan Restaurant

Saido is a four-minute walk from Jiyugaoka Station!

It's hard to tell at night, but it's in a spot with several shops clustered together. There are lots of planters out front, so I wonder if the shop in front is a florist?

A smiling woman on the staff welcomed us.

Inside, there seem to be about 20 seats.

Vegan Beer

"What would you like for your first drink?" I went with a yuzu honey soda.

My friend couldn't decide, and the recommendation was vegan beer.

Wait, isn't beer made from things like barley?

I wondered what vegan beer even is, but
it turns out that to filter beer, a protein called "isinglass," made from the swim bladders of several kinds of fish, is sometimes used.

Isinglass attracts yeast and tannins (astringency), and as the solids settle, the beer becomes clear.

If you're curious, there's even a site where you can check whether a beer is vegan.

Of the three vegan beers, the one on the far right, HINANO TAHITI, is a rare one they stock at customers' request.

"Then I'll have that," said my friend, choosing the HINANO TAHITI.

Next came the starter: wheatgrass.
It tastes just like aojiru (green juice), as it looks, but with a faint sweetness too.

Aojiru usually uses kale, young barley leaves or ashitaba, but this one is made from young wheat leaves. Wheatgrass apparently has a detox effect.

The Vegan Cutlet and Fried Vegan Cheese in Yuba Are Amazing!

The menu has vegan cheese, vegan cutlets, vegan yakitori and more, so it was hard to choose...

There are six noodle dishes, from hot noodles to cold noodles to yakisoba. You can even pick the type of noodle, and of course everything is vegan!

There were also things like a vegan unaju (eel rice box) and a katsudon-style bowl, but I decided to make noodles my main.

First, the vegan cutlet. It's decorated with vegetables, so cute.

It looks as real as a regular pork loin cutlet!

I'm writing this the next day, and I already want to eat it again, lol.

Next, the seasonal steamed vegetables with tomato miso.
A staff member brings it to the table, opens the lid, and pours water into the container, and steam rises!

Close the lid, and in three minutes it's done!
It had tomato, eggplant, bok choy, bell pepper, fig, okra, kabocha squash and daikon radish.

The tomato miso was meant for the warm vegetables, but it was full of umami. I think it would go well with the vegan cutlet too!

Next, the fried yuba rolls with taro and vegan cheese.
You eat them with basil sauce and a green spice (maybe sansho pepper?).

There was some kind of leaf inside, too. I don't think it was shiso, so what could it be?

Sticky taro, crispy yuba and basil sauce: a perfect combination! After the vegan cutlet, this became a favorite too. I want to eat it again!

To finish, On-sai noodles.

Loaded with vegetables like okra, bitter melon, roasted cherry tomatoes, vegan egg and daikon!

My friend had the Miso-sai noodles.

The On-sai noodles are topped with a fried yuba roll filled with glass noodles.
The Miso-sai noodles have differences like corn in the bowl.

I chose broccoli noodles for mine, so they're green! They don't taste very broccoli-ish, and they're slightly thick and curly. They go well with the thick, rich soup!

I thought I tasted mushrooms in the soup. The Miso-sai noodles seemed to have the same base soup, but with a bit more oil, so they were even richer.

The white of the vegan egg is wobbly, like kuzumochi (a jelly-like sweet). The yolk might be kabocha? It was fun to eat while imagining what it was made of!

After the vegan noodles I was full. I announced that next time I'd order the course, and left very satisfied.
(Note that the course has to be reserved in advance and can't be ordered on the day.)

The best part about vegan food is that you don't feel heavy afterward at all.

If you come to Jiyugaoka for lunch, please try it at least once.

That's how strongly I'd recommend the vegan restaurant Saido!

Saido: Vegan Restaurant

Saido
2-15-10 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-0035
12:00-15:00, 18:00-22:00
Closed Wednesdays
03-5726-9500