Cafe located in the Teramachi-dori pedestrian arcade, between Rokkaku-dori and Takoyakusshi-dori, est. since the 2000s. Stopped using fish stock in 2019, and honey in 2020. Wide selection of food and dessert. Last order 8pm. It's on the 2nd floor above a vintage lifestyle store of the same name. Has special seating area for families with small children. Relocated from 2F, Teramachi-dori. Open Mon-Tue 11:30am-5:30pm, Thu-Fri 11:30am-5:30pm, Sat-Sun 11:30am-6:30pm. Closed Wed. Last order is 4:30pm on Mon.
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Last update on 10 Jul 2023 by eric
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254 Reviews
First Review by wanderingvegans
Cam
Points +2074
Very good option - Edit
Even though I tend to favorise vegetarian and vegan restaurants when I travel, I liked Mumokuteki and when back for a second time.
Read moreI had the noodle set dîner and a curry, both were delicious, filling and under 1200 yens. They use fish stock for some dishes but it is clearly labelled.
They have a few traditional japanese dishes and hamburgers, spaghettis and cakes.
It suite popular so you might be asked to wait a little.
Pros: Tasty, Nice staff, Bright, well decorated
Guest
HeatherL
Points +28
Wonderful find! - Edit
We ate at Mumokuteki three times during our stay in Kyoto. We are always delighted to find vegan food, especially when it is so tasty. They have a "pork" ramen that was simply amazing, great flavors and large in portion. Highly recommend this restaurant. We attempted to eat there on a Wednesday night but they were closed as is their norm, apparently. Also, this is a busy place and you may have to wait for your number to be called so make sure you pick one up.
Read moreGuest
Kerouac32
Points +230
Great Restaurant - Edit
I had the Tofu Burger Set and it was very good. It came with a nice salad and excellent fried potatoes. The Burger had an interesting texture, crispy on the outside and soft inside. The cafe was very busy when we got there around 20:00 and we waited about 40 minutes for a table but the store was very nice to walk around in.
Read morePros: English menu, Good amount of vegan options
Guest
AndreaJohnson
Points +30
Amazing meal - Edit
One of the nicest meals out I've had anywhere. Found this by accident when the local vegan eatery was closed. I had a dish with all kinds of food; rice, some tasty potato salad, leafy salad, tofu burgers, little crisps and some mayo type sauce. It was very tasty and the different flavours and textures really complimented one another. An enormous portion by Japanese standards. No room for any of the vast array of delicious looking desserts on the menu :/
Read morePros: Reasonably priced, Lots of vegan sweets, Delicious food
Cons: Some menu items contain fish stock (marked)
Guest
RowanJohnson
Points +31
Deserves a 5-star - Edit
Really enjoyed the food here and the non-veg (Dashi) food is labelled clearly. The food was really nice and was very generous proportions in my opinion, especially for Japan. We ordered a side of chips and we could hardly touch them alongside our meals. YMMV. Nice atmosphere, nice food, and seemed like a fair price
Read moreGuest
Bfreee
Points +36
Get the ramen not the burger - Edit
Great atmosphere!
Read moreCool shops near there.
Tons of good options. I just picked the wrong one. I didn't like the vegi burger. My travel companions picked well.
Lots of other options.
Perhaps the problem was also that we eat an epic vegi burger the night before.
Still glad we went:)
Guest
acmeproductionco
Points +60
Reasonable prices & good food - Edit
The first time we tried this place they had closed early which didn't fill us with confidence. We returned for a mid afternoon drink the following day and proceeded to head back for dinner that night and the following night. After an inauspicious start they certainly won us back!
Read moreThere are two entrances, one up the stairs at the front of the ground floor shop, the other at the back where there's a small waiting area (at busy times you'll be given a number - this happened both evenings we went) which leads directly up to the cafe itself. It seems popular with locals which was nice to see, as some vegan-oriented places we visited were wall-to-wall tourists.
The atmosphere is very relaxing and the staff friendly and English-speaking. They have clear English menus which they brought over as a matter of course. Food is clearly labelled if it contains fish - everything else is vegan apart from a couple of things involving honey.
Despite some of the menu being off-limits there were plenty of options to choose from, including some indulgent shakes which were the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. On our visits we tried a tofu-skin omelette draped over fried rice with an onion sauce, 'pork-bone' ramen (made with soya milk) and a couple of different burger options. We also forced ourselves to try some of the desserts and hot chocolate.
Everything was tasty, though some individual elements of dishes were a little bland - that tofu-skin omelette definitely needed the sauce it was swimming in. The burgers were excellent, not huge but not tiny. And the prices were some of the more reasonable we experienced in Japan: 2 mains and 2 desserts came in under 3000 yen, which was a bargain for the quality on offer.
Pros: Options clearly marked, great atmosphere, good pri
Cons: Seating times unpredictable
Guest
Isi
Points +137
Great place! - Edit
I would give this place 5 stars if it was possible. The atmosphere is really great and the place beautiful.
Read moreWe had the vegan rice filled omelet (the one with ketchup and fried soy on top), the spicy fries and the cheesecake. Everthing we had was really really good! Totally a place to visit while in Kyoto!
Pros: - traditional dishes made vegan - really delicious
Guest
ibuljat
Points +62
Delicious and innovative vegan food - Edit
Had a beautiful experience at Mumokuteki cafe! The general vibe of the cafe was so cozy and relaxed, especially as we were having lunch there on a cold and rainy day! Several staff members knew English and the entire menu had english translations for all meals! Will definitely be returning to this lovely cafe on my next trip to Kyoto!
Read morePros: Nice vibe, Friendly staff, Amazing food
Cons: Slightly confusing to find as bottom level is shop
Guest
EmmaCebuliak
Points +1830
Nice Atmosphere and Cakes - Edit
I've been here several times now, and although I would recommend it, I have a bunch of mixed feelings as well. The antique aesthetic of the shop and cafe is really nice, making it a really pleasant place to hang out and socialize. They also have a huge menu, but unfortunately a large portion of it is non-vegan simply because of the fish stock (and honey? I need to check that again). As others have noted this really feels like a shame for such an otherwise incredible menu. The other thing I'm less keen on this place is that, because of it's size, it lacks the friendly and personal feel that many other cafes have. The staff are nice, but always extremely busy. It's also mandatory that you order at least one item / person (my friend and I tried to share a plate once and felt they were rather rude about it). There is often a cue at busy times, and they will not seat anyone extra in the large portion of the space designated for families with small children (which is great except there usually aren't many families using it). I really want to love Mumokuteki, and I would go again, but it's definitely a shame that they're missing the opportunity to be such a great vegan restaurant.
Read moreUpdated from previous review on 2016-06-28
Pros: Beautiful interior design, Decent food
Cons: Not fully vegan, Really busy, Inflexible service
Guest
lunapavo
Points +162
great - Edit
A bit of a wait (30 mins or so) but worth it. Pretty much everything is vegan. We had spaghetti, one of the fried cutlet sets, matcha milkshake and tiramisu cake. It's a lovely cafe that sits on top of a clothing store. Good atmosphere, vibe, pleasant staff and good food. The matcha milkshake was so good!
Read moreGuest
TaraMurray
Points +271
Cute & Quaint with delicious food - Edit
Kyoto is such a cool place but has very limited vegan options so when we were told we would have to wait 40 minutes to be seated, we decided to wait it out.
Read moreAfter only 20 minutes we took a seat and ordered. There is only one set menu that the waiter said could be made fish free (miso has fish) so we ordered that as well as the Avocado Burger. We also added the salad bar to both meals (¥200 each) and ate our way through a few plates before our meals arrived.
Both meals were excellent in size and taste, the burger was the best we've had in Japan!
Overall a great cafe, we loved it! Such a shame they still use fish and honey but all the same, a solid 4 stars :)
Guest
Greyskies
Points +243
Good vegan choices - Edit
Mumokuteki cafe is tucked away upstairs above a shop, but once you get up there it is a nice, trendy cafe. It is very popular and our food took a long time to arrive - so much so that there is no photo of my tofu burger with avocado and fires because I ate it as soon as it arrived.
Read moreMy husband and I found the portion sizes fine, in fact his noodle dish was huge. But that didn't stop me having an enormous fruit parfait for dessert.
There was an amazing dessert choice - muffins, parfaits, tiramisu, nocheese cake.
The fish stock and honey used in some of their dishes isn't ideal, but at least it makes me feel confident that they understand what vegan food is enough to tell us that it's there.
The food was delicious, good portion sizes and the service very friendly - just what I needed for our last night in Kyoto before setting off for the vegan desert of rural Japan.
Pros: Lots of delicious vegan choices, sweet and savoury, Very Friendly staff
Cons: Popular, so service was slow
Guest
Megatron86
Points +36
Great! - Edit
Super yummy food! Well priced, menu is easy to understand and items with fish broth clearly marked. Staff speak good English, friendly and great atmosphere. We had a great night here!
Read moreGuest
freezer966
Points +176
high priced and fish stock - Edit
We had to wait 30min downstairs to get a seat for 2. Ordered 2 Burgers since the rest didn't seem affordable for us. As others have said, they mark the dishes with fishstock but it just makes you wonder why they don't just replace it. The restaurant would be vegan if they left out the fishstock and the honey. Don't know what their motivations are though. Burger was nice.
Read moreCons: expensive
Guest
Stevie
Points +11765
Mumokuteki Cafe, Kyoto - Edit
2 of us tried Matsuontoko this evening. Matsuontoko wouldn't turned us and other people away saying they had sold out of food. We thus tried Mumokuteki since it was past 8 30 on a Monday evening and we were a little concerned we may not find somewhere reasonably easily that is still open and serving.
Read moreWe found Mumokuteki to be a positive experience on many levels. My spouse ordered a noodle set deal that was good value at around a 1000 yen. I've found Japanese portion sizes to be a bit on the small side so far so decided to take no prisoners this evening. I ordered 2 burgers with salad and chips. This was a pretty smart decision. The burgers tasted great but were a little on the small side as were the chips.
I must confess I am struggling to understand why fish stock is used in so many dishes. I appreciate that they at least label the dishes with the fish stock. I find it a little surprising that in the 21ct century they aren't able to use a non-animal derived alternative.
If they ditched the fish stock I'd defo rate this place higher. If they ditched the fish stock and ditched the honey I'd likely rate it 5.
Pros: Vegan friendly, Tasty food
Cons: Fish stock used
Guest
rhiannonmadison
Points +69
yummy soy parfait - Edit
I didn't get a full meal here but I just stopped by to try their soy parfait and it didn't disappoint! I would've liked to have a proper meal here as the menu looked like it had a lot of good options. It's in a really convenient location too and it was pretty busy when I went there so be sure to get there a little early.
Read moreGuest
freeveggie73
Points +34
Nothing special - Edit
The restaurant was packed, fast service, decent food
Read moreGuest
rkfong
Points +113
Good! - Edit
The food was pretty darn good. I got the set protein dinner thing with the creamy dressing/sauce and it was yummy but not super filling. So I got a burger and fries after, which was a 6/10 in my opinion. Prices were high per usual in Japan. The weirdest thing to me is 80% of the menu contains fish stock, which to me is sort of strange as its such a small ingredient to replace yet the rest of everything is vegan. Regardless, they will replace whatever has fish in it with a veg one if you ask
Read moreGuest
Kangarupe
Points +174
Visited 1x, 2x, and probably 3x - Edit
Cafe mumokuteki was an awesome find, especially for a vegan who was trying to get his "Japan legs" and finding it difficult. Some of the best vegan food I've had in Japan. I am going back to Kyoto today and I'm pretty sure I'll be eating there a 3rd time despite the other options in the city. I won't bore you, just go. Its close to Nishiki market and chances are that you're going to visit there if you go to Kyoto.
Read moreIts above the their clothes store
Would give 5 stars but absolutely respect the happy cow rating system.
Pros: Environment, English menu, Items containing fish clearly marked
Cons: Maybe pricey for some? , A little tricky to find
Guest
Komiyan
Points +39
Favourite restaurant in Kyoto so far - Edit
I've lived in Kyoto for almost five months, and Mumokuteki is the restaurant I always find myself going back to. It's a nice restaurant with a cozy atmosphere, conveniently close to teramachi-dori shopping arcade.
Read moreThe staff are generally friendly and there is an English menu available, though at the time of writing this menu is slightly confusing. It lists both a Lunch and Brunch menu, but the Brunch menu is actually the dinner menu (as I found out when I tried to order on my first visit). The staff understands just a little English, but generally I think one can get by without Japanese. If you don't speak Japanese, pointing at the menu while smiling seems to work, according to someone I met there today.
Note that there are some items on the menu which contain fish, but these are clearly marked and thus easy to avoid.
The food itself is divine. I've been here at least ten times (possibly more often) and only once when it was very busy did I get something that was cold and too greasy (my two friends at the same table ordered the exact same food and theirs was warm and not greasy, so I think I just had some bad luck).
The vegetarian tonkotsu ramen/soy milk ramen is the best I've had so far - I would absolutely recommend this to everyone. The avocado burger is also worth checking out if you'd prefer something more Western-style, and the soy milk chai is also very agreeable.
A note: I visited this restaurant with my Buddhist vegetarian friend, who can't eat leek, garlic, onion and certain other herbs in addition to meat and fish, and she could choose several items from the menu as well. In case any strict Buddhist vegetarians are reading this, I thought it was worth mentioning as I know it can be hard. It would still be best to ask the waiter or waitress for advice, but as I write this review they have options open for you.
The only potential negative is the waiting time - on busy days it can take up to thirty minutes to be seated. This restaurant is well worth the wait, though, so if you have time, please give them a chance.
Pros: Good food, Vegetarian and vegan options available
Cons: Sometimes you have to wait to be seated, The English menu is slightly confusing
Guest
MarinaS
Points +72
My favorite restaurant in Kyoto - Edit
This restaurant has a good location, big menu choice and they serve food all day long. We went there 5 times, tried different meals and almost everything was delicious (I didn't like some vegetables included in the Japanese set). Avocado hamburger with spicy potato was great. Also for lunch they have a salad bar (tomatoes, greens, beans, algues, onion), so you can serve as much as you want - closed after 3pm.
Read moreFor dinner there is a big queue usually, so be prepare to wait 20-30 minutes.
Pros: Central location, good value, great food
Cons: long waiting time to be seated
Guest
LikeAVegan
Points +117
Awesome Dinner in Kyoto! - Edit
After discovering Cafe Matsuontoko was booked out for the evening (disappointing for us, AWESOME for them), we made our way around the corner to Mumokuteki.
Read moreWe were seated promptly in the couch area and given English menus, clearly denoting which items contained fish stock. I had the tofu burger set which was tasty and satisfying for under 1000 yen!
Hoping to head back to this little gem before leaving Kyoto, for the atmosphere, staff and food.
Pros: Many vegan options, Great atmosphere, Friendly staff
Guest
JamesW76
Points +1306
A quiet spot in Kyoto downtown - Edit
A great place if further up the mall than suggested by the map. I had the avocado tofu burger which was a treat and appropriately messy to eat! Lots of locals enjoying the food here too.
Read moreGuest
HelleK
Points +26
Great place and very popular - Edit
So we had to wait for maybe 20 minutes or so. Had time to stroll around in their shops downstairs before getting our table. The english menu might been the best I've seen in Japan for a more relaxed place like this.
Read moreWe had the Nanban Plate and a noodle set with fish stock. It didn't taste a lot of fish which is always good. And it was really good. We had their new wine Beaujolais nouveau, it was nice and the place was relaxed and cosy.
Guest
Cally5765
Points +76
Burgers - Edit
Most of the veg meals contained fish stock (indicated on the menu) - though this could have just been in the miso. Had a burger, it was good but nothing to write home about.
Read moreGuest
happycyclist
Points +443
nice environment - Edit
We found the food portions very good, tasty, heathy and whole grains. Smoothy was chewy with chunks, not sure if that was intentional, but some might mind. Great vegan chicken cutlets and tartar sauce. English menu available. Nice garden view and cozy chairs. Ramen was spaghetti noodles, again not sure if that was intentional, but still yummy. Vegan soy ice cream parfe was the best part. I've had trouble getting a seat 3 separate times during dinner time, and found it odd that they kept an additional space closed off at that time, meanwhile turning customers away. Overall, I'll keep going back cuz it's so healthy and good portions.
Read morePros: price, quantity, location
Cons: often waiting time, some items have fish broth, be sure to ask
Guest
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