Cafe Bain-marie - Mishima

Before reviewing this restaurant, I 'd like to share some background knowledge about vegetarian restaurants in Japan. Vegetarianism has not yet well spread in Japan, especially in the country side, so running a vegetarian restaurant in Japan is much harder than other countries. The vegetarian restaurant owners had no choice but had to shift their shops to Vege-friendly restaurants that also serve meat and fish in order to survive as a vegetarian restaurant in Japan. Even if the restaurant used to serve only 100% vegetables, the longer the restaurant has been operating, the more likely it is to have become so. Of course, there are some 100% vegetarian or vegan restaurants in Japan as well. However, most of them have just been open recently, or started a new business model project by major food corporations. But once the trend is over, they will most likely be gone sooner or later. The owner of this restaurant told me that he has thought about closing the restaurant several times, but it has been 14 years this year (as of 2023) since it opened as it continues to improve while overcoming difficulties. Being able to do that in Japan is not half-hearted. Therefore, if you want to visit, please check the prerequisites such as not all dishes are vegetarian , smoking , no children allowed , reservation required and etc before coming. I wanted to share my thoughts because when I was about to write a review, I found some poor reviews and felt so sad. Please support any Japanese vegetarian restaurants even if your wishes are not 100% fulfilled. Finally the additional information about this resturant. Parking: If you come by car, there is a parking lot behind the grocery store called Maxvalu Express next door. The entrance is on the right of Maxvalu. As of Feb 2023, I was charged 400 yen at the automatic ticket gate when I exited, so I paid in cash. It will be closer to use stairs to access to the resutrant instead of elevator exiting to the opposite side. I recommend Facebook or Instagram to make a reservation. I pre-booked a lunch course for my husband and me. Visiting for the first time, the lunch course was easy and affordable. The portion of single items can be small, so if you order several plates, it could be more expensive. The opening hours for lunch are limited from 12:00 to 2:00PM (Last Order, 1:30PM), so it 's best to come in plenty of time especially if you visit for the first time. The taste is garanteed. It was such a great time. Updated from previous review on 2023-03-22

This spot is no longer 100% vegetarian. The owner made a go of a 100% vegan spot for six years, but didn’t have enough clientele to support it in this small town. His menu is now about 1/3 non-veg, 1/3 lacto-ovo, and 1/3 vegan. The menu is fairly large and there are a lot of choices. We had vegetarian and vegan, and ordered spaghetti bolognese, green salad (vegan), garlic toast, cheese crisps, cream vegetable stew, and a puff pastry vegetable pie (vegetarian). The owner was super sweet, and nobody was smoking while we were there so the issue the other diners face was not a problem (there are only about 10 seats in the whole place so it just depends on who is there, it’s tiny). Cool izakaya/indie Italian or Spanish bar vibe, the kind of place I would never expect to find vegetarian food except accidentally. Great choice for this area.

This is a cosy but smoky French bistro/Japanese izakaya that has plenty of vegetarian and vegan options marked on the menu. The menu is in Japanese but there are photos and the friendly owner spoke enough English to explain them to us. Portions are quite small so think of them more as tapas. We shared four things between two of us a green salad, steamed vegetables in a casserole dish, a cheese pastry pie, and French onion soup. We booked a table in advance by leaving a comment on their Facebook page, but I'm not sure if this was necessary (it wasn't very busy).

When we opened the door to the restaurant we were instantly greeted with a billowing cloud of tobacco smoke. Soon after we were immediately turned away since we had our children with us. Just as well since we do not force our kids to sit in tobacco smoke. We didn't get any food so I can not speak for it

Delicious! Had the veggie pie, cream stew, and finished with meringue, all great! Understand the difference between Octo Lavo and Vegan and can cater for both! The owner is a super friendly accommodating guy, such a please to meet him!