Japanese
Non-veg

Serves meat, vegan options available. Japanese restaurant specializing in tofu and yamaimo dishes. The one vegan set is okabe-zen. The staff speak Japanese only. Open Mon-Tue 11:00am-3:00pm, 4:30pm-7:30pm, Fri-Sun 11:00am-3:00pm, 4:30pm-7:30pm. Closed Thu.


Venue map for Shika-Jaya
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17 Reviews

First Review by VickyMan

champoun

Points +1567

Vegan
28 Sep 2024

Fantastic tofu place

This place is located less than 10 min away from the Hakone Yumoto station.

They specialise in tofu dishes and the okabe zen set menu is also vegan.

Delicious real food without anything fried in the typical Japanese way. I wish they had more vegan options.

Staff is friendly and speaks a little English.

Definitely recommend trying this place out.

Updated from previous review on 2024-09-28

Pros: Good delicious food, Friendly and fast service, Location

Cons: A bit pricey maybe but worth it, More vegan options needed

LewisEatsPlants

Points +1430

Vegan
15 Sep 2024

Traditional and beautiful

I had an absolutely wonderful time at Shika-Jaya. The staff were wonderful, and did a good job with their English. They have recently made English menus that make it a lot easier for tourists.

The Okabe Zen meal was very delicious (and the staff will remind you it’s vegan/vegetarian when you order it)

The decor is exactly the kind of traditional house that you’d want for a restaurant in Hakkone.

Ani_vegetarian

Points +69

Vegetarian
19 May 2024

Menü

Ich habe ein Menüerhalten mit unterschiedlich zubereiteten Tofugerichten.

Pros: Es gab mehrere Gänge., Der Preis war sehr günstig

Cons: Es hätte etwas Abwechslungsreicher sein können., Gemüse als Beilage, Dessert

Tsukimi

Points +5333

Vegan
07 Apr 2024

Awsome traditional japanese food

If you like light and healthy meals you will like it here. The food is served by friendly elder ladies in kimono. The old building is very charming.
The okabe zen vegan menu includes 3 little dishes. Cold tofu, yamaimo, and yubatofu. The set comes with rice and tsukemono (pickles)

Updated from previous review on 2024-04-07

vrechson

Points +65

Vegetarian
10 Nov 2023

Had a great experience

I had a great vegetarian experience, many tasty dishes in a very traditional restaurant. There is many plates saying the staff don’t speak English but when I went I could communicate very well

Pros: The dishes are tasty, They might speak english

Cons: I am still a bit hungry but I usually eat a lot

X0X83X

Points +80

Vegan
06 Nov 2023

That’s how tofu should taste

Great vegan tofu dishes (okabe-zen) in a traditional place.
What a nice experience in the middle of the moutains.

Pros: Tofu, Place, Staff

azuki_monster

Points +906

Vegan
03 Oct 2023

Very good tofu and yams restaurant

I really like this place. I don't really get the bad reviews. They have a clearly marked vegetarian option. And the tofu is really good. Everyone was very friendly. Of course, if you don't like tofu and yams, you shouldn't come here.
The vegetarian (vegan) set menu costs a little under 2000¥.

jb055

Points +139

Vegan
09 Jul 2023

Excellent traditional Japanese

This is an excellent little shop serving really delicious tofu/mountain yam dishes. The okabe-zen set is the only vegan dish (although on the menu it says “vegetarian”). I confirmed wth the owner that there is no fish-based dashi or any other animal products in it.

As others have said if you don’t like slimy foods (think okra or natto) you may not like grated mountain yam. As a note: the business description on here currently says the so-un tofu has egg in it but that’s incorrect. Rest assured the okabe-zen set is fully vegan.

Also worth noting that the older woman who served us speaks some English.

Pros: Traditional, Delicious , Very friendly staff

MarianeC

Points +75

Vegetarian
22 Apr 2023

Pour goûter à une autre cuisine du Japon

Petit restaurant typique, très peu de touristes (alors que la ville elle, est tout de même très touristique !). Nous y avons dégusté le menu Okabe Zen (précisé végétarien). Très intéressant comme cuisine, on y a découvert plein de nouvelles saveurs.
Notre hôte était adorable. Ils parlent essentiellement japonais mais connaissent quelques mots d'anglais, et ont un menu en anglais.

CarlaMaria

Points +38

Vegan
05 Dec 2021

Não pude avaliar

Um dia antes fui para reservar e a atendente disse que para opção vegan não era necessário. No dia seguinte, não haviam mais vagas e não pude entrar.

Pros: Não teve

Cons: Comunicação falha

CordThomas

Points +41

Vegan
06 Jan 2020

Great tofu restaurant in the beautiful town of Hakone

5 minutes walking from the Hakone Yumoto station, this restaurant was fantastic. Traditional Japanese, but with normal chairs and tables (no need to sit on tatami mats). Unfortunately most of their menus include meat / fish, but they do have a vegan menu. The yams for some are offputting, but I quite enjoyed them as a sauce with the tofu, and the older waitresses were very cute with our tofu cooked in soy milk giving us a timer. Overall a wonderful experience. If you're there in the morning a few steps away is a little tofu factory and store as well.

Pros: Tofu restaurant, Authentic, Great Service

Cons: Not fully vegan

rh92williams

Points +13

Vegetarian
27 Sep 2019

Very slimey

They have one vegan 'set' with a few dishes. If you're looking for a vegan restaurant in the centre of Hakone it's either this place or pizza, so we went here. Super traditional Japanese. I normally prefer my tofu hard and this was very silken. They use a lot of yam which has a very slimey consistency which I just couldn't handle.

Pros: Staff members are lovely.

Cons: Food consistency not ideal.

Rombout67

Points +121

Vegan
13 Jul 2019

Nice authentic restaurant, too much tasteless soya

Very Japanese styled restaurant. It didn’t really live up to the expectations, it was a bit tasteless on the whole

Pros: Lot of soya and vegan options, Nice atmosphere

Cons: A bit tasteless, Quite expensive if you consider what you get

hokusai77

Points +13607

Vegan
28 Jun 2019

Beautiful, traditional Japanese restaurant

In the middle of Hakone, in a cosy little house, we were welcomed by kind women in their kimono.
They offer a vegan/vegetarian menu, "Okabezen", with some great traditional Japanese tofu dishes:
1) wasabi miso yakko: cold tofu with sesame paste, daikon, and miso
2) so-un dōfu: tofu served in seaweed broth with Japanese yam and miso
3) yuba dōfu: tofu in hot soy milk with spring onion and ginger
4) rice and pickles
Definitely recommended.

Pros: beautiful place and atmosphere, kind staff , traditional tofu dishes

mrmoo2002

Points +102

Mostly Veg
17 Apr 2019

A nice, light, authentic Japanese meal

First off, this restaurant is absolutely beautiful!! It really should be a museum in it's own right, with all the history (it used to be a summer home before becoming a hotel and now a restaurant). With ordering, be careful as the big menu is NOT entirely veg/an as they use dashi in some of the dishes. Instead, I recommend you ask for the vegan options directly (thankfully we had a friend with us who could speak Japanese fluently). When we did, the server pointed is to them. We ordered the vegan "Okabe Zen," a 4 course meal.

The food is about as authentically Japanese as you can get. The Shinto influence in the food is very prominent and rewards anyone who eats mindfully as the portions in each course are not large, but very deliberate in how they focus on a certain flavour. If you're coming to fill up on food or hate tofu, this is not the place for you. Eat slowly and deliberately with a friend and you'll really start to get a feel for the subtle flavours of each way they have prepared the tofu. Also with he last portion, the rice is bottomless so don't hesitate to ask for more.

So while it's not for those looking for value (lots of food good food for a low price), this is completely worth the price of admission if only to experience something very much it's own type of cuisine.

Pros: Very zen prepartions of tofu , Absolutely beautiful atmosphere!, Very authentic Japanese food

Cons: Portions may not feel large enough for some, The vegan menu options need better labelling, If you prefer something familiar, go elsewhere

George85

Points +400

Vegan
12 Mar 2017

Great traditional Japanese food!

This restaurant has great traditional Japanese food. Many tofu dishes and the grated yam is great. The menu says vegetarian but it's vegan! Go here!!

Pros: traditional, vegan, tasty

Cons: not for those that don't like Japanese food

VickyMan

Points +176

Vegan
14 Oct 2014

Hate this place

Whilst I'm trying to be as objective as possible, I really cant find anything good to say about this restaurant. I went there due to lack of veg options (in Hakone) and they were the only Vegan/Veg friendly restaurant in Hakone (that i could find from the net).

You will like this place ONLY if you like the following two things:
1) Yam (cooked into a gooey/sticky texture)
2) raw (uncooked) and cold tofu

The flavours were NOT strong enough for me, found it too bland, asked for more wasabi paste but didn't get it. the manager or owner- speaks good English but she was too busy. rest of staff couldn't understand any English. All staff were very polite and courteous though. (nothing new in Japan though)

Pros: Nothing

Cons: Bland food, Not cheap




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