Vegan Tantanmen at T's Restaurant, Jiyugaoka

Salut! It's Yoko, food blogger.

I went to T's Restaurant in Luz Jiyugaoka, a shopping complex near Jiyugaoka Station.

T's Restaurant Jiyugaoka

T's Restaurant is on the B1 floor of Luz.

T's Restaurant is a place serving dishes based on plant foods like soy meat, soy milk and vegetables.

I was surprised when I read on the official site how the restaurant came to open.

The owner, once the children were grown and life had settled down, wanted to open the vegetarian restaurant she'd always dreamed of as her next goal in life,
and by a strange coincidence, supporters gathered within a few days and the restaurant opened in no time. That's the story posted there.
It's a wonderful story, so if you're interested, please read the official site (in Japanese).

It really is important to picture your goals concretely.

Vegan Food Shop Corner

At the entrance there was a retail corner with vegan white sauce, curry and more.

I should have bought a vegan curry on the way out! I forgot. I'll buy one next time...

Inside T's Restaurant

As a COVID precaution, you sanitize your hands at the entrance.
The seating is spaced out, with one seat left empty even at the same table. It feels so spacious.

T's Restaurant Menu

Here's the menu. It's quite wide-ranging, with popular tantanmen (sesame noodles), gyoza, doria, curry, pudding and more, so choosing is fun.
When eating out as a vegan it's often hard to find something to order, but at T's Restaurant there are so many items that it's a bit hard to decide.

You can tell the owner wanted to create a place where vegetarians can think, "I can eat anything here!"
I'm so grateful. There were also customers dining alone, so I think it's very easy to use.

Vegan Tantanmen and Gyoza

After some hesitation, I ordered the classic, popular tantanmen and gyoza. I also added yurinchi (Chinese-style fried chicken) as a topping!

This is the vegan gyoza.
It looks completely like regular gyoza. lol

The wrapper is smooth and it tastes meaty!
I could make out shiitake, green onion, glass noodles and even soy meat in the filling. It's a very faithful re-creation.

The tantanmen and the yurinchi topping arrived next.

The tantanmen has bok choy, baby corn, cherry tomatoes, soy meat, cashew nuts and more in it.

The soup is light but with a solid sesame richness, and it's delicious! Adding chili and sesame brings extra heat and tightens up the flavor, making it even better.

The noodles were thin and straight.
You can also switch to gluten-free noodles.

The yurinchi is soy meat with a thick, sturdy texture like chicken thigh. Perhaps because it's fried, it has a crisp bite and a fragrant flavor, and it's fluffy inside. The center had a bit of a soy taste, I think, but dab it with the sweet and salty sauce and it hardly matters!

I only ate three items, but they were so hearty that I felt really satisfied. With junk-food-style, strongly seasoned dishes, you don't notice the soy flavor much, and you get that "I really ate!" feeling.

It's a lovely place even if you're not vegan, and you can enjoy it even with a single dish.
I'd like to go back and try other menu items!

Access to Taiyo to Daichi no Shokutaku T's Restaurant

Taiyo to Daichi no Shokutaku T's Restaurant ("Table of Sun and Earth")
Luz Jiyugaoka B1, 2-9-6 Jiyugaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
03-3717-0831 (it spells "minna ii na, oyasai" in Japanese number wordplay, how cute lol)
11:30-20:00 (last order 19:00)