Vegan
Japanese
Organic
Beer/Wine
Vegan Japanese restaurant with branches in Japan and UK - this one is in King's Cross. Serves tapas style Japanese classics like grilled onigiri, vegan sushi, noodles, and tofu-steaks. Rice, root vegetables, seaweeds, soya beans, and soy by-products are recurrent ingredients in the cuisine. Also art gallery and weekend live music. Lunch is cash only. Open Tue-Sat 12:00-14:00, 17:30-22:00.
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- Reservations required
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Last update on 09 Aug 2023 by geometric-noise
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228 Reviews
First Review by feorag
Veganessent
Points +109
Eat-adaki Zen Bliss! - Edit
ABSOLUTE BEST TEMPURA I'VE HAD ***ANYWHERE*** The vegetable assortment was superb -included seaweeds and mushrooms that were made to be battered in gold! What a find. It's just so refreshing to know that this Vegan sushi has been no where near fish : D Very thoughtful and nutritious tasty dishes. Excellent service and ambiance - better than authentic. ORIGINAL!
Read morePros: Delicious, Nutritious, Balanced
Cons: None
Guest
mik
Points +3778
Vegan, organic Japanese - interesting combination - Edit
I ordered a set menu for 21 pounds. It consisted of a variety of small dishes, ranging from sushi to noodle soup. I liked them all even if I felt that the soup wasn't all that exciting. The dessert was nice as well. All in all, it was a good experience even though I was hungry again after a couple of hours, haha.
Read moreOn a differet note, the atmosphere was very pleasant and, strangely enough, they claim not to use Japanese ingredients after the Fukushima disaster.
Guest
raphalla
Points +619
Excellent real Japanese Food - Edit
Evening opened at 6pm, we arrived at 5.30pm (Monday) and waited for an hour. The restaurant is kind of in front the Travelodge King's Cross. The restaurant is rather small though. Food was really good, the best Japanese food i ever eaten. I like the kimchi (korean, spicy) very much. The food portion was slightly small though. Unfortunately, they do not have high chair for small children. Will go there again if i come to London next time!
Read morePros: Food, Location
Cons: No high chair for children, Price, Portion
Guest
estefinparis
Points +858
Delicious Japanese food - Edit
I usually steer clear of Japanese food for lack of vegan options in Paris. I was therefore really looking forward to trying out Itadaki-Zen, and it was a treat. First of all the staff were really helpful and accommodating - I rang up to enquire about opening hours and once I realized we would not be able to make it before the closing time, they were happy to have dinner ready for us to pick up at 22.30. When we got there everything was ready for us. We ordered the two set dinner menus: the Tanno set consisted of brown rice with adzuki beans, two harumaki and a large selection of side dishes, including a delicious miso soup and one of the best tofu I've ever had. The gokoku-han & chapche set included a mixed grain dish, sweet potato fried noodles (SO good!) and homemade kimchi, which was perfect. We ate the whole thing in the little park in front of the restaurant, although I would have loved to stay in the restaurant. Within walking distance of King's Cross, Itadaki-Zen is a great spot for a healthy and comforting meal.
Read moreGuest
captain_sensible
Points +50
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami - Edit
You probably wouldn't frequent an Indian restaurant run by an Irishman so why would you bother with a Japanese one owned by a Korean, Chinese (fairly common) or, as in this case an Italian?
Read moreSure, the kitchen did have some Japanese staff in there.... but after eating here you have to ask yourself - are they trained chefs, because if you are knowledgeable about this exquisitely prepared and uniquely tasting food you'd have to say possibly not.
Cutting back on the salt levels and omitting the fish stock doesn't necessarily mean the food has to be tasteless as there are other sources of umami to be had to prevent the culinary disasters that was our misfortune to have encountered at Itadake Zen on the night we ate there.
The Miso Nikomi Udon I ended up with bore no relation to the example on the menu - it was almost devoid of any shitake mushroom, Chinese cabbage OR miso flavour. I hate to say this as it sounds over the top but the udon was pretty much swimming in a bowl of hot water as far as flavour goes and that's plain sad. Note to kitchen staff - why not try seaweed stock where the recipe would usually require the fish variety? This would help add some much needed oomph to your dishes.
The owners may indeed be bringing art and music into their restaurant environment but the world is full of well intentioned cafe owners who are doing it for some cause or other (and don't we know about it being vegetarians!) but forgetting to get the most important bit right - getting some tasty food on the plate.
As I was working in Kings Cross and fancied Japanese it was a choice between one of my favourites - Aki (only 'veggie friendly', but magnificent - AND run by a Japanese chap incredibly) or the new 100% veggie place that we are talking about here. What a mistake I made.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami
Pros: it's vegetarian
Cons: no taste
Guest
blackxcloud
Points +125
where's the soap? - Edit
I've eaten here a few times and have always enjoyed the food. I'm no expert on Japanese cuisine but I've had tempura each time and it's never been soggy! The sasou tea is the best, I wish I could make it at home. The service is sometimes questionable but never that terrible. The thing that troubles me is the lack of soap in the toilets. One hopes that the kitchen hygiene facilities are better.
Read moreGuest
Edz
Points +68
Ok - Edit
Very slow service. It took about 40 minutes to clear the plates from the table.
Read moreThe set main for £13 was nice but a little plain.
Guest
Jayjazz
Points +143
Authentic - Edit
Having travelled Japan for a month a few years ago I met a friend who is not vegan but did live in Japan for 4 years here. It is very authentic I had the tofu set which was delicious and kimchi was awsome. If you like Japaneese food this is the place for you. It was quite expensive at £20 for lunch for 2 but it is London so probably not that bad really. Wouldn't say the staff were friendly or unfriendly. Anyway I loved it
Read morePros: authentic, delicious, generous portions
Cons: not cheap
Guest
Akane
Points +30
Excellent vegan/macrobiotic Japanese/Korean food! - Edit
This restaurant is now fully vegan (they changed their kimchi that used to have fish/shrimp paste in it). Went there for lunch and everything was delicious. I had the sushi lunch, which had unique nigiri sushi (okra, fried nori, etc.) instead of the usual boring veggie rolls. My friend ordered the kimbap (Korean sushi) roll lunch, which was good as well. The decor was also really nice - crisp and clean. They have sushi and other food available for takeaway. Portions are on the small side by US (or probably UK) standards. They advertise a 10% student discount, which we forgot to take advantage of. (BTW, I would give five cows, but I can't since it's still listed as non-vegan.)
Read morePros: delicious, unique veg sushi, nice decor
Cons: smallish portions
Guest
Jan Hicks
Points +112
A lovely place - Edit
My husband and I honeymooned in Japan last year and, while visiting London, wanted to try out this vegan Japanese cafe/restaurant near St Pancras Station. We went for lunch, and arrived just as a large-ish family group were sitting down. This meant that we had to wait a bit for our food, as there only seemed to be a couple of members of staff running the place. The wait was worth it, though. We both had the Kempan set, which came with a nice salad of tofu and kelp and a serving of miso soup. We also had the Sasou tea, a bamboo tea of amazing clarity and a mildly nutty flavour. We had a generous side portion of kimchi to share, too, which was perfectly spicy. My husband had a latte made with soy milk, which he reported was the nicest coffee he had ever had. All of this came to just under £17.00 in total, which is great value for money. The food was perfectly prepared to order, made with fresh ingredients, and was more than enough to satisfy our lunch-time appetites. We will definitely visit again next time we are in London.
Read morePros: healthy food, good value, delicious
Cons: slight wait for food
Guest
Sammy
Points +56
Nice - Edit
I enjoyed my lunch here, it was a little quiet, but the food was good. The noodles tasted fresh and home made. I didn't feel it was overpriced. The waiter seemed shy and we didn't get exactly the right tea ordered, but this wasn't a problem for us. The Sushi was lovely.
Read morePros: Nice food, Well decorated, varied menu
Cons: Quiet, no green tea on drinks menu
Guest
feorag
Points +534
A little expensive, but worth it - Edit
I am a massive fan of Japanese cuisine, so news that a vegan japanese restaurant had opened in London almost had me looking forward to visiting the city. My excuse came in early January, during the best snow in my lifetime. A short walk from King's Cross Thameslink, the space was light and serene. The menus were printed on handmade Japanese paper, and the napkin folded in a different way on each table. Ours were in the form of a lotus flower around a small bowl, and it seemed a shame to undo them.
Read moreTo drink, we both went for one of their specialised "teas" - Itadaki Tea - a creamy, somewhat nutty soya milk concoction served in miso bowls. Just right for the cold, snowy weather.
I ordered the lunchtime sushi set, and my partner had Misinikomi Udon. My set arrived in a bento and included two spring rolls and a mashed potato salad, as well as two types of gunken (carrot and okra), two nigiri (nori tempura and inari) and a pair of matching rolls. The shouyu came in a small clear plastic dalek with instructions clearly printed on top: ここをプッシュシてくださ, it said. Fortunately, that's simple enough for me to read - "please push this", where "this" is the nipple the text surrounds.
The Udon were served in a miso broth with julienne strips of aburaage fried tofu), carrot and cabbage - another dish which really hit the spot.
We were impressed with the food and decided to have dessert - this is supposed to be an indulgent break, after all. The desserts were mostly kanten - agar-based jelly - and my partner opted for a sesame one. Feeling adventurous (I can make kanten at home!), I tried warabimochi - small mochi made from potato starch instead of rice and dusted with toasted soya flour. The latter proved very difficult to eat with the implement provided, but was considerably better than it looked. It wasn't too sweet, which suits my tastes.
At nearly £30 for lunch for two, it's not a particularly cheap place, but also not expensive by London standards. I'd like to go back in the evening to try one of their set meals, but have no time on this trip. It looks like I'm going to have to find an excuse to come back to London - at least Itadaki Zen will make it bearable.
Pros: sublime food, Japanese, lovely space
Cons: a tad expensive, not rib-sticking
Guest
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