• REMOVED: HARU Cooking Class - Kyoto

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HARU offers vegetarian and vegan cooking lessons, and you eat what you've prepared. Prepare your own lunch or dinner in a tatami room, on a chabudai-table. Learn to make 100% vegetarian gyoza (Japanese style dumplings) and more. Not all veg. Removed Jul 2018 - no longer has a vegan option; vegetarian option reported to contain fish broth.


Venue map for HARU Cooking Class - Kyoto
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5 Reviews

First Review by FeeStar

Greyskies

Points +243

Vegan
03 Oct 2016

No longer does vegan classes?

I contacted Haru to try to organize vegan cooking classes but was advised that he doesn't offer vegan ones anymore.

Cons: Apparently no vegan option anymore

Jessqi

Points +224

Vegan
03 Jul 2012

Perhaps not suitable for Everyone

I recently did this cooking class. I have spent over two years living in Japan, cooked Japanese food from recipes and had visited Japanese homes before. So I was really hoping to get a real cooking experience. In fact the host and his wife did a lot of the prep and cooking and we watched and took turns helping. I guess I was hoping it would be more hands on. I.e. We would cook everything from scratch ourselves. The host and his wife were very friendly and nice and I did learn a few dishes and get useful tips. I notice many reviewers here stress the family aspect and I think if you haven't spent much time in Japan this is a nice way to meet a family and see how they live. But I wouldn't recommend it for more hardcore cooks who already have experience with Japanese food. Also the host kept saying that adding fish flakes to the broth deepened the flavour (i.e. made it better) which I didn't find very vegetarian friendly. But the food was delicious.

Pros: Friendly Hosts, Delicious Food, Useful Tips

Cons: Not so Hands on, Not so vege-friendly

Shauna333

Points +637

Vegan
01 Jun 2012

Wonderful Experience!

This was one of the highlights to my last trip to Japan in November 2011. Taro was very friendly, helpful and his lesson was one of the most useful things I did in Japan. As a strict vegetarian that doesn't eat egg, I chose the vegan class and shared the class with a vegetarian couple. When abroad, I always eat in vegan restaurants, knowing that everything is 'safe' to eat, so I order lunch and dinner setsand sometimes have no idea what I'm eating! In this class we made things that I had eaten in Japan and not recognised. I came away confident and a lot more curious about the things I was eating.

Being in a Japanese home was also a joy, and to meet Taro's family and share time with them. It was very easy to find and I now have a cooking teacher for life in Taro!

One recommendation - eat before you go, as everything is so yummy whilst preparing and you'll be starving by the time you eat!

Next time I want to do the tour of Nishiki Market and learn how to shop vegan in Japanese markets.

Pros: Once in a lifetime opportunity to learn , Perfect english spoken, Amazing food!

tarogm

Points +10

Non Veg
Owner
22 May 2011

Hello, I am Taro, the owner of Haru Cooking Class

If you are interested in learning to cook Japanese food, please come join!

If you you are not an everyday cook, please do not hesitate to come join! The lessons are not difficult.

At Haru Cooking Class Kyoto, you will see everything that you will eat. You will cook your own food and taste them, so you can repeatedly cook your favorite dish.

Updated from previous review on Sunday February 06, 2011

FeeStar

Points +20

Vegan
22 Apr 2011

Vegan cooking class in Kyoto household

My husband and I went to Haru Cooking Class on 21 April 11, during a short holiday to Kyoto (from Australia). It was one of the most fun and worthwhile activities we did in Kyoto.

We are vegan, and Taro (who runs the classes with assistance from his wife Yoshiko) was very accommodating, creating a suitable menu (miso soup, agedashi tofu, various types of sushi, sake and rice dumplings with red bean and kinako for dessert).

The classes are run from Taro and Yoshiko's home. As foreign tourists, it was really nice to be invited into a Japanese household and get a glimpse of regular family life.

The class was fun and informal, and Taro (who, incidentally, is widely travelled and speaks perfect English) was very friendly and put us at ease.

Among the highlights for us were tasting a Japanese herb called shiso for the first time, learning the secret to the crispy, stretchy exterior of agedashi tofu, and discovering kinako, a golden powder of roasted soybeans used in desserts.

We would highly recommend this class for other foreign visitors, to learn some easy Kyoto-style dishes and to get to spend some time with a Japanese family. (vegetarian and meat-based classes are also offered).

Pros: In Japanese household, Great value, Vegan-friendly




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