Serves meat, vegan options available. Has a separate vegetarian (saishoku) menu, with dishes such as sweet and sour vege chicken, vege spring rolls, gyoza, and other soy meat substitutes. Make sure you choose the correct menu. Japanese language only. Directions: from Ikebukuro west exit go left until you past Hotel Metropolitan, cross the big road, and the restaurant will be on the left. Reported closed September 2020.
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Toshima-Ku, Nishi Ikebukuro 2-39-8, Rose bay (at Ikebukuro building 1st floor), Tokyo, Japan
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Last update on 13 Sep 2020 by craigmc
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14 Reviews
First Review by Baza
Vurz
Points +367
Underrated!! - Edit
When eating vegan in Japan, sometimes I miss the seasoned, fried mock meat dishes. This restaurant was a pleasant change. They offer lots of taiwanese vegan dishes with a free salad bar (nothing fancy). The food is crispy, seasoned, saucy, ... I am so glad I found this place. Highly recommended. 5 Stars.
Read moreGuest
sarita.p
Points +435
5 Stars! Extremely Delicious! - Edit
Delicious soy-meat dishes like vegan cashew chicken or beef. Big portions, delicious, saucy, crunchy, savory flavors! Lunch set comes with rice, soup, salad and tofu for 880円. Owner and staff are friendly and have good understanding for what is vegan. I would definitely recommend!
Read morePros: good savory meat alternatives, lots of options , big portions
Guest
seijirasta
Points +137
nice!! - Edit
エビチリのエビがまるで本物みたい。
Read more唐揚げも、まるで本物！
Pros: 素食唐揚げ半身最高, 素食エビチリもおススメ！
Guest
ChanceArnold
Points +301
Smoke Filled with Few Options at Lunch - Edit
Walked in and could barely breathe because everyone was smoking, then found out there were only 4 "vegetarian" options for lunch, none of which being the things we were hoping to get. Ended up just leaving, might come back for dinner service but the smoke is a real put off.
Read morePros: Reasonable prices
Cons: cigarette smoke, few options at lunch, no appetize
Guest
DaphnaKedem
Points +24
Excellent vegan option,especially the faux meat - Edit
Have your Japanese vegan card ready ok service
Read morePros: Must try the ‘spare ribs’ best ever!
Guest
Idiosyncratinom
Points +580
Service with a frown - Edit
The waiter was very curt, e.g. we asked in Chinese if there's a veggie menu - then she said yes and walked off. She did reappear a minute later with a veggie menu, but after weeks of Japanese hospitality we were a bit surprised and amused!
Read moreHowever, the food was quite good. Spent about 2.2k for 2 big faux-meat dishes, rice, and spring rolls (not bad).
Guest
KazushigeTani
Points +156
good portion with reasonable price - Edit
This is one of my place to eat when I hang around in Ikebukuro.
Read moreYou better try once. Food is good. Not so far from ikebukuro station.
But the staff is not friendly.
I prefer to choose other restaurant if there is a similar Chinese restaurant like Roran but no other choice.
I would like this place more if they are nicer.
Pros: good portion of Chinese and taiwanese food, English menu
Cons: unfriendly but not rude , no English spoken
Guest
benmutagen
Points +44
ok, not great. - Edit
Not bad but not great, my fried rice with mock pork was pretty good but the soup and spring rolls were terrible.
Read moreNot many other places in Ikebukero so maybe worth a visit while your there. But I wouldn't travel to the area just to go there.
Open for lunch aswell.
Pros: not bad food, quiet when we were there, not too pricey
Cons: unfriendly staff, serves meat, no English spoken
Guest
amgod
Points +80
Very extensive menu - Edit
The portions in this place are definitely bigger than the ones you normally get in Tokyo! It's the first time I couldn't finish my food. The waitress didn't speak a lot of English but you could tell she was really trying to make sure that I was happy with the food and the service - which I was! I am always a little scared that something will be lost in translation and I will be given non vegan food but all went well. I had spring rolls and mapo tofu which was nice but if I come here again (which I might!) I would probably try something else. I would have liked to see more vegetable based dishes!
Read moreI thought it was fairly easy to find as there are not a lot of other shops or restaurants on this street. As long as you have a look at the picture of the sign here and compare it you should be able to find it easily!
Pros: A lot of choices, big portions, tasty food
Guest
umebossy
Points +283
Cheap and (not so?) cheerful - Edit
We were going to Ikebukuro today so I looked on Happy Cow to see if there was anywhere veggie for lunch in the area. Veg-suitable Chinese food is hard to come by in Japan so we decided to try Roran.
Read moreAt lunch time the a la carte menu is not available so you have to choose between around 6 set meals which come with help-yourself salad and dessert (although I was told the dessert, annin doufu, wasn't suitable for vegetarians). Like other Taiwanese vegetarian places the menu relies heavily on mock-meats. We ordered the "chicken" with cashew nuts and "pork chop" (tonkatsu), the latter of which I was almost scared was actually meat when I tried it! Both came with rice (up to one free refill), soup and a small dish of pickles for a very reasonable 800-900 yen each. The food was tasty and filling, and for the price definitely good value for money.
I was sad to find that on the weekend they don't offer the a la carte menu at lunchtime as I really wanted spring rolls! So if you are looking for more choice perhaps visit in the evening. Service was a bit brusque compared to Japanese restaurants but was speedy despite a lunchtime rush happening just as we got there. Smoking is allowed throughout the whole restaurant so I wouldn't visit again with my daughter, but would stop in again if I were in the area without her.
Pros: Lunch menu very good value, Vegetarian chinese food!, Dried soy meat on sale
Cons: Service a bit lacking, Restaurant all smoking
Guest
iokan
Points +2104
Service with a frown - Edit
Based on the previous reviews on Happy Cow I decided to eat at Roran restaurant. When I asked the help in my hotel for directions they were somewhat surprised: go outside, cross the road and you're there. Why bother us with such a trivial question? It turns out Roran restaurant is right across the taxi/bus entrance of the Ikebukuro Metropolitan hotel. Isn't that convenient?
Read moreA word of warning: the name "Roran" is only written in Chinese characters on the building itself. So study the picture on this website well before you search for this restaurant.
On the day of my visit the clientele consisted of two kinds of guests. The big round tables were filled with cheerful, elderly Japanese people. It looked like they couldn't care less about animal welfare. The smaller tables were occupied by tourists seeking vegetarian food and locals knowing this is the best place in this neighbourhood for vegetarian food.
The waitress was short and snappy. She didn't speak a word of English and simply slammed the menu in front of me, flipped it to the green pages and indicated I should choose from those. The menu is in both English and Japanese and clearly explained that whenever "shrimp", "chicken" or "pork" was mentioned it was actually tofu. I opted for the mapo tofu with a side dish of spring rolls. Both were pretty good, although I could tell the ingredients used were not of top quality. Don't expect macrobiotics or super fresh vegetables. While not the healthiest choice in town, the spices were spot on making it a delicious meal indeed.
And... since this isn't exactly a classy place prices are rather modest. Despite the snappy service I'd certainly eat here again.
Pros: cheap, easy to find, tasteful
Cons: no top quality ingredients, snappish service, not a classy place
Guest
cookiemonster
Points +1316
Delicious, nice atmosphere. - Edit
Like the above review, I was really happy to find the atmosphere much like vegetarian chinese places in Canada: ie. it is just a restaurant that serves vegetarian food, not some sort of "vegetarian experience" which I found at other places in Tokyo.
Read moreThey do have a meat menu but the vegetarian menu is very extensive and has english listings. The prices are reasonable (around 700-900 yen a dish) and the food quite good. The soups are big although the portions of the other dishes are tokyo-sized (on the smaller side). The hot and sour soup was great!
The staff was very friendly. I highly recommend this place.
Corrected Directions: At Ikebukuro station go out the west exit. Immediately to your left will be a smaller street, take this street (you can also go 1 block up and turn left on the larger street if you would rather). After about 3 or 4 blocks you will run into a trendy shopping centre called Metropolitan Plaza. You want to continue in the same direction you have been walking so you will have to jog up to the larger street (so: turn right when you hit the plaza and then turn left again immediately on the big road). Continue along this road for a 2 or 3 more blocks until you see the Hotel Metropolitan on your right. Keep going a couple more blocks until you hit a larger road. Cross the street and turn right. The restaurant is a few stores up on the the left. There is no english on the restaurant sign but I think it is the only restaurant near there, the next door past the restaurant has the correct address, 23-9-8, I believe. If you are unsure go in to the restaurant and say "Roran dess-ka?" and they will say "Hai!"
Pros: delicious, good prices, great soup
Cons: meat menu
Guest
selena
Points +402
super happy - Edit
great food! we had ramen, s&s chicken (ok), shredded pork (yum!), gyoza, spring rolls, radish cakes... fantastic. the staff was good and asked us if eggs were ok. also, the whole place was filled with chinese folks, which seems like a good sign.
Read morePros: excellent food, inexpensive
Cons: closed on saturday!
Guest
Baza
Points +91
Great - Edit
Lots of delicious vegan dishes with unfortunate names like `sweet and sour pork`.
Read moreNot `trendy try-hard` like many vegan places in Tokyo.
Pros: good portions, reasonable prices, delicious
Cons: In Ikebukuro
Guest
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