Kinatei

My partner and I came here in February on a day trip to Nara. She is allergic to shellfish so we chose to eat vegan while in Japan. We both had the udon noodles with ginger which was made with organic vegetables, non-gmo soy meat and purified water. Tasted great! The highlight though was the owner's hospitality. She was well versed with the allergy card and spoke good English. After we'd finished eating, she proceeded to take us on a mini tour through town and dropped us at Nara Park. Worth a visit!

Hands down the best set menu meal I have had in Japan, flavoursome and decent quantity for the price. The owner enthusiastically discussed how she made the meal and engaged in polite conversation. However, she also drove us to the deer park (it was pouring rain), gave us food to feed the deer and gave an informative tour of the local tourist attractions as well as dropping myself and my partner off at the todaiji temple. If you are going to Nara to stay for a few days or even just for a day trip, this is a MUST and I highly recommend it. I will be returning on my next trip to Japan (I hear she runs an all vegan Airbnb as well for anyone planning a trip)

Checked out restaurant on a whim with my vegetarian girlfriend and found a hidden gem. Delicious food, and the owner provided fantastic service!!! She even offered to give us a ride to a local temple

10/10 would go again!

If you are in Nara, you should DEFINITELY eat at Kinatei. The owner is extremely nice, and her food is incredible. This was the best meal I had in Japan, and I will 100% return on my next trip to Japan.

It was a fantastic experience at Kinatei. Yoshiko is very friendly and spoke to us in English, describing all of the delicious food. The food is very good value, 1200 yen for a tasty lunch set that was all vegetarian. She even took us to Nara park after the meal. If you are a vegetarian or Vegan who is visiting Nara, I would highly recommend that you take the time to enjoy a meal here!

very good and plenty to choose from, vegeterian set menu or vegeterian curry or vegeterian ramen. food made with true love and concern for healthy nutrition. the owner and her daughter were so kind and caring! just a couple of minutes walk from nara station so easy to get here!

I've been here once for dinner and once for lunch, and both times enjoyed it a lot.
You'll have the best experience if the woman owner is there, as she is genuinely so friendly, enthusiastic and careful about the food. She likes to explain what each dish contains and where the ingredients are from.
They describe the cuisine as a Japanese-Chinese fusion, which mainly consists of rice, miso soup, and an assortment of accompaniments like veggie patties, and veggies done a variety of ways. Although not everything is fully vegan, they've always been very careful to make sure my food is vegan.
The second time I went with a friend, it was raining, and she lady insisted on giving us a ride to the station in her car on her own way home.
If you're in Nara, it's definitely worth a visit!
Remember you need a reservation for dinner.



Updated from previous review on 2016-08-23

We were so happy to come across Kinatei on our trip to Nara! Eating vegan in Japan can be difficult without proper planning and finding this place was refreshing. The food was great and the friendly owner shared helpful tips on how to avoid animal products used in common Japanese dishes. The set lunch menu was both filling and delicious!

We came here in April this year after finding it on the happycow app; the tourist centre at the park also knew about it. It would probably be a bit tricky to find without GPS.

When we arrived we discovered that we'd just missed the lunchtime opening hours, but as it happened the owner saw us outside and opened up again just for us! (We were so happy; it seemed like Nara has very few restaurants!)

The owner was very friendly and we loved the map on the wall on which she had us put a sticker on our hometown.

The food was also delicious. I can't remember what we paid since were just happy to have been fed after a busy day in Nara!

When we had finished eating the owner looked up train times for us, and seeing that we were going to miss one, even drove us to the station after locking up. Thank you so much!

What a great experience and fantastic meal. We visited for lunch in early July and had the set meal. The owner, Yoshiko, is a delight. She speaks multiple languages and runs the restaurant with her daughter. The food was absolutely delicious and plentiful. And, on a super hot day, she offered to give us a ride to the temple area, which was incredibly kind of her! Highly recommended all around!

I don't know where to begin. The food was absolutely delicious, portions were perfect and the owner not only speaks English but is very nice and actually drove me to see a temple because she didn't want me to have to walk to far inn the heat!

Really great restaurant with the Best manager. He talk in english and a very Good spanish! I'm spanish and i was really surprised. Really Good food with a soy "fish" amazing!

also felt a bit ripped off. We expected much more from this place after reading all these 5 stars reviews. We booked the cheapest dinner menu for 3.000 ¥ which was quite dissapointing. The food was ok, but not excellent. At every other vegan/veggie place in Japan I had at least the option to get brown rice - at this place you get white rice without getting asked.
For me Nara is not a place for vegans/vegetarians compared to Kyoto

Everything started off very well. We booked for dinner, the owner was very welcoming and brought out many small dishes from what I presumed was a set menu. It was not until I overheard her speaking to another couple that I realised we were paying per item. The bill was double what I have paid anywhere else over the past week in Japan, and I am disappointed that there was no indication of price or billing structure prior to commencing the meal.

The owner is the chef, she is a beautiful person. She speaks English and Chinese very well. She cooks with organic vegetables. Offers a lunch set which includes a few different dishes, served with brown rice and a soup. And my favorite vegan fish.
She makes the best miso soup I have ever tested.

Loved this place!!!

I live in Nara, so it's nice to have a vegan restaurant close by.
The set menus that are offered are usually filling and always quite tasty. The curries are also great.
My one issues is that the owner can be a tad too talkative sometimes. This is fine in certain situations, but there have been times when my friends and I would have preferred to have been left alone.
In any case, if you're in Nara, check it out.

This place belonging to the charismatic Yoshihana is great. There is a lunch set either vegan or veggie and a few other choices. It's tricky to find (follow happy cows pin on the map rather than the address!) and you will be rewarded.

We had a wonderful vegan feast here. Everything was presented with such love and care. The owner narrated our meal telling us where everything was sourced - she was very proud of her food - rightly so. It was great not to have to think and have everything bought to us - and have everything vegan ! Very enjoyable !

We were very happy to find this vegan restaurant in Nara. We were only visiting Nara for one day to see the temples and palace and Kinatei is the only vegan restaurant in town.

We walked from the temples downtown to Kinatei and it took us about 20 minutes. The food tasted great, warm and comforting. Perfect on a chilly and rainy day. It was the best Japanese style meal I had in Japan. I particularly liked that the meal came with a variety of dishes (bento style). My favorite was the mushroom soup.

The owner was working and her mother was there as well. Both were very sweet and pleasant people. They were so friendly, that the owner offered to drive us to the palace so we would have enough time to see the grounds before closing.

The food here is very special, the woman who runs it plans each dish and sources all organic ingredients! We came here for both lunch and dinner. The lunch was very yummy with delicious miso soup, pickles, a tasty potato cake and a salad. Dinner was elaborate fare including ten or so dishes including vegan sashimi, vegan "chick'n" nuggets, seared soy meat which looked like almost exactly like a fish steak (complete with nori "skin") and other amazing things. The lunch was around 1600 yen and dinner 3000 (worth it as its basically a private banquet). The lady even drove us back to our hostel as it was snowing! Would definitely go back.

Pros:
* everything's vegan
* mostly organic
* serves traditionally Japanese food

Cons:
* the lady talks the entire time, and sometimes you just want to talk to the friends you're with or just have a nice and quiet meal
* the lady has a very short memory and we have the same conversation several times and I have to keep repeating things (eg. you're from Germany right? I'm from from Belgium -- ten minutes later -- you're from Germany right? no from Belgium -- ten minutes later -- you're from Germany right?)
* dinner is expensive

Thus was a really special meal - very delicious at each of the many steps along the way. It's the kind of place where you want to sign the guest book at the end of the meal.

This is the only vegetarian restaurant in Nara and you really shouldn't miss it because the food is really great.

What is special is that it serves traditional Japanese dishes, which is not easy to find as many vegetarian restaurants in Japan serves either Indian or Western style dishes.

The owner speaks English and explains all the dishes. She also speaks Mandarin pretty well.

I stayed in Nara 2 nights and had 3 meals there.

The lunch sets were 1500Y plus tax, which comes with 4 dishes, a drink, organic brown rice and fruits.

I found the organic brown rice very fragrant and tasty -- so good you can it on its own.

Dinner is by reservation only. I didn't reserve, but I was told during lunch that the restaurant would be opening in the evening because she had two reservations. I decided to drop in when I came back from my temple tour in evening.

I was glad I tried the dinner. It was a multiple course dinner, including rice, miso soup, udon, salad, tofu, nuggets, "fish", burdock root etc, all served on beautiful little plates -- more than 10 dishes in all.

The dinner was expensive -- 5000Y inclusive of tax. But it was really satisfying and well worth it.

It's just a short walk from the JR station/central bus station, so it's quite conveniently located.

The food was delicious, organic and local ! The lady was very nice, she was very friendly and told us how the dishes were made. We could get extra rice, soup and tea for free.

The restaurant isn't far from the station, and it's lovely, we'll definitely come back !!

Location: At JR Nara station main exit, turn right. Walk past Comfort Hotel to Toyota rentals & car dealership , a few blocks down the wide street in front of the station . At the corner where Toyota is located, turn left . The cafe is one and a half blocks up the side street you have turned on, on the left. There's a sign "Vegetarian " outside.

Menu and ambiance : We had the lunch special with tea/coffee (1500 yen) with rice, miso soup with mushrooms, tofu stuffed pepper, green salad, pickled veggies , Mixed veg sauté , veg tempura. Everything was fresh and delicious . The multilingual owner is friendly and welcoming , explaining the sourcing of her all-organic produce. She insisted on driving us to Nara Koen even though there were still several customers having lunch ! A great, heart warming experience .

My family and I visited Kintaei during our visit to Nara. Nara itself is incredible and the owner provided us with a simply fantastic meal.

Hard to say much else, you simply must eat here while visiting Nara.

Had a nice talk with the owner. They have different food every day. Mostly japanese/chinese. Very nice place.

I think this is the only vegan/vegetarian place in Nara, so it's a no-brainer really. The food was lovely and the owner is very friendly and energetic, and very conscious about food and its origins. She drove us to Nara park afterwards and later even helped us retrieve the mobile phone we had lost.

We were warmly welcomed by the host, who was a very friendly and nice lady who spoke good English. The food was really good, and she explained what everything was. The venue was also cozy. We had a good time there, and were treated really good. Thank you for the warm welcome and an amazing meal! Go here if you're in Nara, I can really reccommend it!

Kinatei is a great place to have vegan food. Everything was delicious and Yoshiko is amazing. She explained everything to us in English.
Her husband is great too! He spoke Spanish with us. They are both so kind..
After we had lunch she even drove us to the deer park.
If you visit Nara, don't miss Kinatei!!

We found this place on happy cow and were extremely happy that we got the chance to visit it while passing through Nara! The food was delicious and it was wonderful how we were able to talk a lot with the owner. I'm vegetarian and my partner is vegan and what restrictions we might have was the first thing that was asked. We were able to have a great time talking with the owner in Japanese and English, in which we learned a lot about how the food was made and their family's vegetarian lifestyle. After she drove us to Nara park and we fed the dear some vegetable left overs, and then she drove us to large temple. Thanks to her hospitality we were able to explore Nara, get to make new friends, and have amazing Japanese vegan food.

We visited Kinatei today and were blown away with the delicious food. The owner is very knowledgeable about what is in the food as well as where it comes from. It was fantastic to eat real Japanese cuisine as a vegan.
After an amazing lunch she drove is to Naramichi so we could see the old town Nara sights.
Today was one of our best days in Japan thanks to her. She also made us a bento each for dinner as well. Best vegan restaurant in Japan!

Went to Kinatei for dinner, the food was amazing and the owner was very nice. She spoke English very well and explained all of the dishes and what was in them. The service was great also. After dinner she offered to give us a ride back to our hotel and even made some rice balls for us to take for breakfast the next morning since it was hard to find vegetarian/vegan food in the area. It is centrally locate about 5 minute walk from the JR Nara station near the Toyota dealership. If you are in the area I would absolutely recommend you make a trip to this restaurant, it had some of the best vegan food i have ever had.

I can't recommend Yoshiko's restaraunt enough.
My boyfriend is vegan and we were thrilled to find her restaurant.
Definitely a must for any vegetarian/vegans seeking the friendliest place in Japan.
She speaks incredible English and is excited to see you.

Every dish is hand crafted by her. I'm not even vegan and I was very impressed.
She doesn't just want to feed you her food but genuinely wants to be your friend and goes out of her way to get to know you.

1500円 for the lunch set, I was stuffed after. She gives you as much rice as you need and the miso was great.
Dinner is by reservation, she says it's even better.

Where to find it: When you see the Toyota building, it is on that side street, turn left before passing the Toyota car dealership from the Nara station.
Updated from previous review on Saturday March 28, 2015

It was such a pleasant surprise to have found this restaurant on a quick day trip to Nara. The owner of the restaurant is such a sweet lady who was immediately warm and welcoming as soon as my friends and I entered the door. I loved how you just choose a set menu with lots of amazing vegan food~ it made the ordering process quite easy and the owner is also very quick to answer questions and offer help (I'm quite adamant about making sure what I eat at restaurants is vegan and not vegetarian -- we vegans have trust issues!! Lol). In any case, the food was delectable. Definitely worth a visit if you're in Nara for sure!

I was thrilled we found this place for lunch. It was quiet when we arrived, and the woman behind the counter spoke to us in excellent English. She made sure that we liked all of the dishes, offering to swap out anything we didn't like. She continued to chat to us about all sorts of things over the course of the lunch.

The food was great: a fairly traditional Japanese meal of several small dishes with miso soup and rice (with free refills). She knew exactly what was in her food, and made sure that we did also.

After we told here that we were staying, she offered to make us a bento, which she delivered for free to our hotel.

It's pretty hard to find vegan food in Japan, so I feel very lucky to have found this amazing restaurant! Tell the owner you're vegan and she will modify the dishes for you.

The owner, Yoshiko, is super lovely. She explains what each dish is, and the ingredients are organic and mostly locally sourced. You get a drink, rice, miso soup, and the other dishes change every day. We had an amazing vege 'fish' steak, a dish of tofu and veg wrapped in cabbage, inari stuffed with tofu, a kind of Japanese potato, and dessert was fruit and mochi. Sooo yummy, healthy and filling! The set menu is about 1500 yen I think, very good value for all the food you get.

The cafe is very cosy and homey. Afterwards, the owner gave us kitchen scraps to feed the deer and took us in her car to show us the best spots of Nara park and Toda-ji temple. Thank you Yoshiko!! If you're in Japan, you have to come to magical Nara and eat at Kinatei!! It's about 10 minutes walk from JR Nara station.

We thought we went to Nara for the Todai-ji temple and for the deers of the Nara koen, instead we were there to discover the best vegetarian/vegan restaurant of the Osaka prefecture.
Yoshiko, this is the name of the owner, is a very kind woman who received us even if it was almost the closure hour.
We ate a fantastic lunch menu with 4 different receipts, and we had them in 100% vegan version, everything organic and very good! Try to believe! But it's not all, after lunch she took us to the Nara koen with the car and showed some beautiful corners of the park.
She is friendly and her cook is amazing, if we will come back to Japan, we surely will go to Nara just for her!

We were so happy to find this restaurant when planning our day trip to Nara. It may be the only vegetarian restaurant in Nara. We used the map provided by happy cow and it was relatively easy to get to from the JR Nara station. The food was very good, we had the lunch set and the children had the children's meal. Both meals were similar, though the children's meal had a substitution (nuggets for mock fish, I believe) and did not have soup/tea or dessert (but the owner kindly gave them a fruit plate at the end of the meal). All three children (ages 2, 4 and 5) happily finished their meals, with the 5 yr old declaring it was the "bestest lunch ever". Meeting the owner, Yoshiko, was also a highlight. As others have mentioned, she is a very kind woman who goes above and beyond. She inquired where we were headed next and offered us a ride. She said it would not be easy with 3 children and we appreciated her kindness so much! She took us to feed the deer and then dropped us off at Nara park. All and all it was such a wonderful experience, and if we return to Nara again, we will definitely return to Kinatei! We highly recommend it!

Wow, the lady that owns this place gives the best service I have ever received. Me and my partner ate here and were welcomed so heavily and fed the most tasty vegan Japanese style food you can imagine. A 4 dish lunch sample platter, coffee and desert for 1,500 yen. Just so much wow. After a good chat and a great meal, she drove us to Nara park to feed the deer. Definitely do not miss this place. Easy to find too. Just 5 mins walk from the station.

This has been one of the best experiences in Japan. The food is excellent! You can also take some with you which we did. The owner is a lovely lady which can speak English. We spent quite some time talking to her and her husband that joined as well later. She even drove us to the temple afterwoods!
Definitely a big recommendation.

This was the by far the best veg place I have eaten in all of japan! All aspects of the food and dishes is carefully prepared and created. If you visit or stay in Nara, it's not too far from the station. The very lovely chef and owner even took myself and a friend for a drive around after the meal to some 'secret spots' to feed some deer and then dropped us off at a temple.

We were welcomed warmly by the English-speaking owner. Lunch were sets were delicious chemical-free japanese food. I loved the potato croquettes, though it was all delicious. When I asked about a bus to Nara Park, the owner gave us a ride herself in her car! She has a guestbook and map of where guests are from, clearly takes pride in being a destination for vegans and vegetarians. It's totally worth the trek!

I had lunch here in April 2014. (sorry for the late review!)

The place is a little hard to find, but if you call the owner she will be helpful with directions or even come and pick you up personally!
The food was really good. It looked as beautiful as it tasted!

With the help of Googlemaps, my girlfriend and I made it to Kinatei from Nara Park - a good half hour walk under a hot sun, with lots of twists and turns. Our effort was rewarded with a delectable lunch set cooked up by Yoshiko, the resident chef. The multi-course meal included miso soup and rice, a spread of 4 small dishes, tea and fruit for dessert, for 1500 Yen each. The meal was artfully prepared, the ingredients organic and carefully selected.
Yoshiko speaks excellent English, and as were had the place to ourselves, she provided great conversation as well. The icing on the proverbial red bean cake was her offer to drop us back at Nara Park to visit the big attraction, Todai-ji, which we were saving until after lunch. What would have been a very long trek back instead became a pleasant stroll in her car, stopping en route to feed some deer the compost scraps from our meal. A truly top-notch experience all around. While it might be the only veggie spot in town, I'd highly recommend it on it's own merits for being one of the best meals we've had in Japan!

We made a new visit to Nara and were looking for a vegan restaurant . Kinatei is excellent the lady speaks english and is very friendly. We were a bit lost in the old part of Nara we gave her call and she came to pick us up with her car . After an an excellent lunch she took us to an entrance for the temple park where the tourists don't go that much . We are not used to such much kindness in Europe. So go there and you will met a lovely lady and will have an excellent Vegan lunch for a very reasonable price

Yesterday we arrived in Nara and I looked for a veggie place to eat. Just 200 meters from our hostel was Kinatei. I called to reserve for dinner. Later it turned out that the owner was planning not to open the restaurant that night, but she did anyway, specially for the three of us. We had a very special and wonderful meal. I was with one of my non-vegetarian friends and he could not believe how tasty the food was.
I recommend this restaurant to anyone, also when you are not a vegetarian. Besides the food, the hospitality is in a class of its own.

We had the a regular set lunch, and a children's version. I enjoyed the food so much that we asked to make a reservation for dinner right away. My son is more of a picky eater, so looking back, maybe the spaghetti or udon would have been better for him. The service by the multilingual, multi-talented owner was excellent - she is very attentive , introduces dishes with much passion and offers personal touches. For dinner, we got to try a traditional, multi-course dinner, an experience we very much appreciated.

I visited Kinatei with my grandmother in May, 2014. I rang ahead on the day and was offered a lift from Nara Park by Yoshiko (the owner/chef). We had a slight miscommunication which ended with us delaying Yoshiko for about 20 mins in the middle of the day/lunch service. She waited very patiently for us and then drove us to her restaurant.

We were greeted by Yoshiko's mother and daughter, both of whom help out. The lunch was a lovely fresh 'teishoku' (set) style. Hot tea, Minestrone soup, a selection of 4 mains, brown rice with shiso, and then dessert and a choice of a specialty tea or coffee. Everything was very tasty but the vegetables (shitake and green capsicum) stuffed with seasoned tofu were exceptionally good.

The set was 1500JPY each for lunch - I thought it was very good value. The restaurant was relaxing, and Yoshiko was a fine ambassador for Japanese hospitality, and she demonstrated just how wonderful Japanese vegetarian cuisine can be.

I was very hungry after a light breakfast and travel from Kyoto, yet I was too full at the end of the meal to finish the lovely apple cake for dessert.

Do give them a call if you are looking to find the restaurant - Yoshiko speaks very good English.

10 stars!

After a long time working in China, Japan and the US this is beyond doubt the most special experience I have had in a long while. Great food, all vegan, and a lovely host who went out of her way to help me and even dropped me off in her car to the Park. Highly recommended.

I've used happycow.net for a couple years and have eaten at amazing veg restaurants because of it, but this is the first time I have taken the time to write a review! It was THAT amazing.

When I met someone at my hostel that was vegetarian I suggested we all go here for lunch. It was delicious (enough to make one of the non veg with us consider going vegetarian/vegan!). It was such a friendly atmosphere, we ended up having an impromptu matcha demonstration with the restaurant owner's kind friends! She offered to hold a dinner reservation for me but it was a solo trip and by the time dinner rolled around I got a concerned call from the restaurant owner (who I had just met at lunch! a stranger!) asking if I was ok for dinner and that she could make me a bento box for dinner or talk me through convenience store options if the restaurant was too far away. As a vegetarian of 9 years (well 9 yrs on May 7th!), I still get anxious finding veg options when traveling and away from my kitchen and I never said that during lunch, so the fact that she was such a compassionate person that she called to check touched my heart.

When I showed up to the restaurant she told me to put my bag down, and what I expected to be a quick grab & go was actually her driving back from Osaka to open the restaurant just for me, 1 person, and serve a huuugggeeee vegan meal! Plate after plate of deliciousness! They kept coming! I got to try so many dishes that I wish I could try at restaurants but that are never veg. I talked with her, and her nice husband. It was so nice to talk to a woman who had been veg for so long and that had had such a major impact on the lives of her friends and family! I was so inspired! Afterwards she even drove me back to my hotel.

When I went back for lunch the next day (of course!) it was another delicious combo of vegan dishes. She also made me a bento for my bus home since I was leaving. I ate a total of 4 times at that restaurant counting the bento and never once was bored with the food! Never once had a meal anything less than amazing and extremely delicious.

Every time I went to Kinatei I never once saw a person leave sad. Everyone left smiling complimenting her food. Every single person! You come in a customer, and leave feeling like someone who was at their friend's house for lunch/dinner.

Thank you for everything! I will definitely be back.

You are missing out if you don't come here!

很好吃！老闆娘人很好，老闆娘是日本人，但中文、英文能力都很好 建議去奈良時，如果需要全素餐食，可以去吃看看。非常推薦！

主要營業時間為中午時段，要去用餐最好電話確認，避免沒有營業。

Possibly the best service we have ever experienced in our lives!!

We walked in to be greeted by the beautiful owner and cook - Yoshiko. She could speak very good English and we chatted throughout our lunch. She gave us tips on Nara and what to see and got us to stick a little sticker on her map of the world where we were from. She was excited when we told her we were from Australia as her son is studying in Lismore and she has been to visit Australia before too.

She was just so beautiful and she even dropped us off in her car at the deer park - and then kept apologizing because she didn't have any deer snacks for us! This lady is simply amazing! Truly beautiful soul - definite STOP if you are in Nara!! She even offered to open for dinner for us even though it was her night closed.

The food was amazing and we went back the next day for lunch too!

Just a truly beautiful heart warming experience :)

Probably the greatest hospitality and service I have ever witnessed throughout my entire life of eating at different restaurants. Myself and three friends enjoyed our first experience at Kinatei so much we booked for dinner that night and came back the next morning for lunch... and took away a bento box too! The food is superb but what sets Kinatei apart is the service--as soon as I arrived I was greeted not only by the staff but by customers as well! Yoshi continually offered to take us around sight seeing and actually drove us out to the public baths. Never before have I eaten anywhere like this! You must go if you are in Nara.

Kinatei is truly a wonderful place. Not only is the food delicious and healthy, the atmosphere is peaceful, and you are really made to feel you are at home. There is clearly a tremendous amount of love that goes into the food. Yoshiko is very sweet and when I came back for lunch a second time, we went to the park to feed the deers together and go to see some beautiful gardens. I really felt taken care of. You will not only recieve amazing food and hospitality when you come to Kinatei, but you will have new friends and family. Clearly I highly reccomend it!

One of the best dining experiences I've had. Where to begin?

We had a tasty, balanced meal. You get a little bit of everything -- rice, salad, mushrooms, miso soup, some kind of porridge with cheese, tea and fruit for dessert. It all tasted exceptional.

But the food doesn't make this place what it is. The hospitality is off the charts. As fellow vegans and vegetarians know too well, it's mostly we who do the talking -- Does or food contain this or that, is it suitable, etc. Yoshiko, the owner, answered all of our questions before we had a chance to ask them. The cheese contains no animal rennet, the soup doesn't have any kind of fish powder, the tofu doesn't have any additive that's animal-derived, you get the idea. I was astounded by her nutritional acumen.

But it doesn't end there. Yoshiko saw I finished my food fairly quickly (I'll admit I was hungry) and gave me another portion of rice and curry -- free of charge. She also heard that we were going to the deer park and temples, and not only offered us a free ride (we were in a rush), but gave us food to feed the deer gratis. She stayed with us for a while and gave us great advice about how to manage our time. It was clear she really cared about us and what we were doing, and she was with us every step of the way.

Great food, even better people. A must-go if you're visiting Nara.

So glad we decided to start our day in Nara with an early lunch at Kinatei! Only a short walk from the station, we enjoyed a vegan meal specially prepared for us by the owner, Yoshiko. Not only were we provided with the most delicious lunch, Yoshiko also gave us plenty of helpful advice and was even so kind as to offer us a ride up to Nara park, saving us the walk on a what was a very hot summer's day. Such gracious hospitality (and amazing food) really helped make our trip to Nara a very memorable experience.

This restaurant has great food and a very friendly and hospitable owner. Being vegan was no problem at all, and the owner takes great care with the origins of all her foods and ingredients, for example she explained how some tofu in Japan is made with glycerine (which can be animal derived) so she makes sure she buys only tofu set with nigari (vegan). She clearly makes an effort for vegans (instead of just leaving out dishes with animal products) for example she used tofu mayonnaise in her potato salad. The lunch set included a variety of delicious dishes, and was excellent value at 1500 Yen. There are a few tables and also seating at the bar, and the owner enjoyed chatting with us and other customers as she prepared the meals. As well as Japanese, she also speaks English and Chinese, and her husband (who was there at the time, I guess for lunch) speaks Spanish, so many people will be able to communicate in their native language. This place is a must-visit while in Nara. The Happycow location is correct.