• 4
• Friendliest restaurant I've ever been to

We arrived at Artcafe ELK very hungry after a long day with little food, to find them closed. However the owner/chef was still inside and opened up just for us. There were no vegan items on the menu, but after saying I was vegan, the owner/chef understood and modified the meal for me. I had vegan panini with a salad, lotus root chips, and mashed potato. It was delicious, and I was overjoyed. The next day was our last day in Hiroshima, so we decided to go back. This time we sat at the bar and spent the evening talking to the two people working. They both had excellent conversational-level English, and were all round incredibly friendly and helpful people, advising us on various vegan ingredients that can be sourced in Japan. That night I had vegetable stir-fry (not on the menu, but it was delicious), the "vegetarian plate" which was just miscellaneous vegan food items (very nice), and a dessert of green tea flavoured shaved ice with red bean (don't judge it, it was much better than it sounds). Overall it was a fantastic experience. If I ever go back to Hiroshima I'll be sure to visit again.