Itadaki Zen
Europe's first organic vegan Japanese restaurant, near London's King's Cross: authentic flavours, hearty portions and surprisingly convincing fish-free sushi.
Mention Japanese food and most minds go straight to sushi and seafood, which is exactly the assumption Itadaki Zen sets out to unpick. Near London’s King’s Cross, this is Europe’s first organic and vegan Japanese restaurant, and it is authentic from start to finish, with the single, deliberate exception of its plant-based focus.
The promise is simple: all the flavours of classic Japanese cooking, none of the animal products. Fresh ingredients lead the kitchen, arriving in ever-changing colours and forms, and a special “veg of the day” keeps the menu in steady motion. Portions are hearty enough that finishing a dish is a genuine challenge.
What lingers is the sense of surprise. Alongside firm favourites, there is real pleasure in discovering new things done with mushrooms, garlic, miso and a wide range of sauces: cooking that rewards curiosity rather than coasting on familiarity.
Bring the committed sushi lover in your life, too. Itadaki Zen has a habit of sending them out transformed, having quietly proved that some of the best sushi they have eaten is, in fact, entirely fish-free.
For plant-forward travellers in London who want Japanese cooking with conviction rather than compromise, Itadaki Zen is a considered, characterful choice: a pioneering little restaurant that has been making the case for vegan Japanese food longer than most.
