Welcome to the ultimate guide bread lovers and health-conscious foodies exploring the vibrant city of Tokyo! Whether you're a dedicated vegan or simply looking for delicious plant-based treats, this guide will navigate you through the city's best fully vegan bakeries and those that offer a plethora of vegan options. From fluffy pastries to salty treats, Tokyo's bakery scene is bursting with creativity and flavor, ensuring that everyone can indulge in sweet delights without compromising on their dietary choices. Get ready to satisfy your sweet tooth while embracing a compassionate lifestyle!
By the way, the next post is going to focus more on the vegan cake, cookies and doughnuts-scene in Tokyo, so stay tuned for that!
Fully Vegan Bakeries in Tokyo
Universal Bakes & Cafe
Universal Bakes and Cafe opened in May 2020 near Setagaya-Deita Station in Shimo-Kitazawa.
The cozy bakery offers a variety of freshly baked breads, from simple baguette to filled and topped sweet and savory delights. The kinds of baked goods they offer vary from day to day. They also have French toast and seasonal specials.
Universal bakes combines local and seasonal foods, creating unique Japanese flavours and contributing to a more sustainable world.
You can eat in inside or outside the cafe, or do take-out.
Hours
8:30-18:00 Close : Monday- Tuesday
Address
Daita 5-9-15, Ssetagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan 155-0033
Website
Online store
Universal Bakes Nicome
As the name indicates, Universal Bakes Nicome is another branch of Universal Bakes, located near Shimo-Kitazawa Station on the second floor of reload.
This bakery is smaller than the cafe and has no indoor seating, however you can enjoy your baked goods and coffee on a bench outside if the weather is nice.
The breads offered also differ. They mainly sell doughnuts, bread sticks and muffins. I highly recommend trying the fried curry bread! It’s rare to find a vegan version and absolutely delicious!
Hours
8:30-16:00 Close : Monday- Tuesday
Address
〒155-0031 東京都世田谷区北沢３丁目１９−２０ reload内 2階 10区画
Website
Te Cor Gentil
One vegan bakeries in Tokyo you have to check out is Te cor gentil in Azabu-juban as they have the most amazing selection both sweet and savory croissants, melon pan, sandwiches and more!
Te cor gentil was open in October 2022 and is a 100% vegan bakery. Through that, Te cor gentil strives to contribute to a ethical world with less suffering animals and more environmentally friendly food choices.
According to their Instagram, the name „Tecorgentil“ is a coined word that contains the French words terre (earth), corps (body) and gentil (gentle), meaning „kind to the earth and animals, kind to our bodies“.
Make sure to regularly check their Instagram account, as they often do one or two day specials you don’t want to miss!
As the bakery is quite small, there is no eat-in space. However, there is a small bench in front of the store where you can eat or you enjoy the pastries in a park near-by.
Hours
10:00-18:00
Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays
Address
東京都港区麻布十番2-18-8 グランルーブル麻布十番 1F
La farine Okuda
What makes this bakery special is that it does not have a set store. Instead, the staff ventures out to different locations by bicycle, selling the products at different locations all around the city - on the street or at events. The main area is Setagaya if I remember correctly. You can find out about their location via their instagram account.
All ingredients are home-made as far as possible! They sell a variety of baked goods, for example melon pan, filled croissants, sandwiches, egg tarts & more! Of course, everything is vegan and the products come without plastic wrap.
Check their instagram for place and hours!
Alaska zwei
The stylish retro design of the interior creates a cozy and nostalgic atmosphere, perfect for some Instagram shots! Large windows invite natural sunlight.
This shop is mainly a cafe, but they offer bagels, foccaccia, and other kinds of bread as well as a muffins for eat-in or take-out.
For eating in, you can also choose between several plates (brown rice plate, soup plate, curry plate, and salad plate). Furthermore, they have some sandwiches, bagels with various toppings as well as some sweets to indulge in, including soft-serve and muffins. Their breads stem from the popular vegan bakery Universal Bakes in Shimo-Kitazawa.
Additionally, they offer a monthly changing seasonal menu. Of course, everything is 100% vegan!
Hours
09:00 – 18:00
Adress
2 Chome-5-7 Higashiyama, Meguro City, Tokyo 153-0043, Japan
Vegan-friendly bakeries
MORETHAN Bakery
If you live in or near Shinjuku and find it bothersome to go all the way to Universal Bakes or other vegan bakeries that are a bit far away, go check out MORETHAN BAKERY’s „Sunday Vegan“, a collaboration with Universal Bakes where every single item they offer on that day is completely vegan.
Located less than a 20 min walk away from Shinjuku station, MORETHAN BAKERY is the perfect place for every vegan to get bread for their Sunday breakfast or to stock up on bread for the week ahead.
When I went there, they offered everything from plain breads to sandwiches to pastries and everything in-between! They even had pastries I used to love before I turned vegan about eight years ago and never saw in a vegan version which was so awesome!
According to Happy Cow, it is vegan-friendly at weekdays as well with at least 50% vegan options including for example vegan bagels, donuts, cookies, and breads.
Hours
08:00 - 18:00
Address
〒160-0023 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Nishishinjuku, 4 Chome−31−1, The Knot Tokyo Shinjuku, 1F
Website
La Vigne Akiko
A while ago I entered LA VIGNE AKIKO in Nishi-Waseda by chance and discovered that they have lots of vegan options marked with a green sticker saying „vegan“.
They are famous for their matcha bread and the apple crumble, but they also have things like bagels, melonpan, garlic focaccia, baguette, anpan and much more!
They opened a shop in Sunshine City in Ikebukuro as well, but I’m not sure about how many vegan options they sell there as it seems to be an even smaller shop.
They have an online shop, where you can also check out what vegan goods they offer:
Hours
08:30-19:00
Address
2 Chome-20-3 Nishiwaseda, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 169-0051
Website
The Little Bakery Tokyo
Little Bakery Tokyo is a small and super cute looking bakery in Harajuku.
They offer vegan doughnuts from Good Town Doughnuts and sometimes a few other vegan breads.
You can eat in or do take-out. The bakery is quite popular, so be prepared for long lines, especially on the weekends.
Hours
10:00-19:00
Address
Website
Maison Landemaine
This bakery chain offers two vegan melon-pan options: strawberry and vanilla. I personally went to their bakery in Azabudai, but they also sell it for example inside ISETAN in Shinjuku.
I liked that these are quite unique flavours I hadn’t seen before and how cute the color of the strawberry one looked. They might have some other vegan breads, but I didn’t check.
Azabudai
Hours
08-16:00
Adress
3 Chome-1-5 Azabudai, Minato City, Tokyo 106-0041
Shinjuku Isetan
Hours
10:00-20:00
Adress
3 Chome-14-1 Shinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0022
atré Ebisu
Hours
10:00-21:00
Adress
〒150-0022 Tokyo, Shibuya, Ebisuminami, 1 Chome−5−5 アトレ恵比寿本館 ３階
Website
What is Veganism?
"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.“
- The Vegan Society
Reasons to choose vegan alternatives:
Protect animals from suffering horrendously and getting killed
A whole-food plant-based vegan diet has the least environmental impact
A whole-food plant-based vegan diet is extremely healthy and can help reversing various diseases like type 2 diabetes or heart diseases.
For people, as a vegan diet requires only one third of the land needed to support a meat and dairy diet.
PLANT-BASED: A Guide to a more Sustainable Lifestyle
Check out my Kyoto Sightseeing x Vegan Food Guides
