• 2
• Pros and cons...

Chijuya's vast menu is a mix of good, great, and not-so-great, so we can understand the mixed reviews here. It's a pity: Japan has such a rich tradition of creative vegan Zen cuisine (Shojin Ryori), but none of that attention to detail was on display here. It's mostly high-fat, meatless renditions of standard Japanese fare Our biggest complaint, though, is that Chijuya really isn't vegan-friendly - at least it wasn't on our two visits. First, the menu doesn't always make it clear which items contain dairy or egg, and there are some items that (in our experience) don't normally contain dairy or egg but do here, so that increases the challenge. Further compounding the difficulty is the fact that (at least on our visits) none of the staff spoke English, and even the fact that we said 'phom kin jae' didn't spare us a few surprise animal ingredients. So, we would rate Chijuya 3.5 cows for lacto-ovo vegetarians who don't mind eating rather fatty meal, but only 2 cautious cows for vegans and health nuts.