Vegetarian
Vegetarian at a Japanese restaurant: what to ask about
Most of what determines whether a Japanese dish works for vegetarians is not printed on the menu. Here is what is usually in there, and how to ask about it without an interrogation.
What catches people out
- Dashi
- The single most common problem. Miso soup, simmered vegetables and most broths are built on bonito stock.
- Bonito flakes as a garnish
- Added at the end, so they rarely appear in a description.
- Fish in 'vegetable' tempura sauce
- Tentsuyu dipping sauce is dashi-based.
Usually a good starting point
Fried tofu — though the sauce is usually dashi, so this is one to ask about rather than assume.
Cold buckwheat noodles served plain, with the dipping sauce separate so you can ask before using it.
The batter itself is usually just flour, egg and water.
What to actually say
One specific question is easier for everyone than three vague ones — for you and for the person answering.
- “Is there dashi in this?”
- “Is the broth made with bonito?”
- “Can this be made without bonito flakes?”
What Japanese menus don’t print
Nobody is hiding anything. These are foundational ingredients that a Japanese kitchen treats the way you treat salt — not an ingredient, a medium. That is exactly why they never appear in a description.
Most simmered dishes, miso soup, and many dipping sauces. It is usually made with katsuobushi (dried bonito), so 'vegetable' dishes are frequently not vegetarian.
A great many glazes and sauces, including teriyaki.
Nearly everything, and most varieties contain wheat.
Sprinkled on okonomiyaki and takoyaki, sometimes invisibly folded into fillings.
Recipes vary between restaurants and change without notice, so treat all of this as what to raise with the kitchen rather than a guarantee about any particular dish. The staff always have the final word.
TableSage reads menus using an AI language model, which gets things wrong sometimes.
Know which dishes to ask about.
Photograph the menu and it flags what is worth raising — including the ingredients that are never printed.