• 2
• Strangely Disappointing, Very Touristy

Let me explain the 2 stars I gave this place. Sure, it's a nice view outside the screen doors, but you can enjoy the walk and the view without paying $70 for an overpriced mediocre meal in plastic plates made in China, in a room full of tourists with all sorts of accents, from German to Indian to Chinese. This won't feel authentic AT ALL as it is too touristy. The real reason this experienced sucked was the lack of love in food... Almost every vegan restaurant I've been to (like 50 of them) had more love put in food than Yudofu. What was REALLY AWKWARD is that the lady who brings you food asks for money right then and there - at your table. And then when you add something to your order, you have to pay her each time... So you end up handling money while you are trying to enjoy your meal - very, very strange and a huge turn off. The whole experience seems like a way to make extra money off tourists for providing a seemingly traditional experience because of the setting.... They also charge $200 yen for 'seating' even though the bland meal is already overpriced... Because the food lacked love and good intentions, it didn't sit well with either me or my party. The tea in a teapot was lukewarm, almost cold... The nabe (casserole) was supposed to be on a stove, with FIRE underneath it, but, again, it was all a show: the stove was there, but the fire was never lit for any of us in the room.... Portions were tiny and just dead... That food had no blessings, no love, no good energy you would especially expect from this place... And it's not authentic experience at all, due to how touristy it is... We were both like, what the heck did just happen? We paid less for MUCH better experiences in pretty much every vegan place in Japan... We ended up going to Choice Vegan Café later on the same day, paid less, and had a 10000 times better experience, so....... Think about it. I will never go back... The good thing is that I can still enjoy walking on the grounds in Ryoanji anytime I want, and I am never setting foot in that restaurant even if it's free.. Even if they pay me... The food just didn't have any good energy in it.... The white (non-organic) rice sucked, and the miso soup sucked... It all seemed like a way to rip off tourists by seating them in a Japanese-style room with some koi pond view... Well, once was enough... Updated from previous review on Thursday September 03, 2015