Compared to the western world, Japan is still very much a land of meat and fish eaters. It is a huge part of their culture and it’s hard to see it changing anytime soon, if ever! However, with the vast increase in foreign tourism to Japan in the last year a few vegetarian restaurants have begun popping up to cater for such tastes which are far more common among westerners.

In need of some exercise I decided to cycle over to the eastern part of Tokyo to tick off a few little places I’d long had earmarked on Google Maps as wanting to visit. One of them included this vegetarian gyoza restaurant in Taito ward just a short distance north of JR Uguisudani station on the Yamanote Line.

It is located on a quiet backstreet with no other shops around so I imagine most customers know about the place in advance. No doubt it has featured in some YouTube videos or on social media but I actually came across it by complete accident whilst scouring maps on my phone when my eldest sister (a vegetarian herself!) and I were looking for places to eat in the Taito area back on Christmas Eve.

The right side of the menu is certainly what brought this place to my attention with the gyoza sets including details of the ingredients for each of the 11 coloured pieces. The flavours are celery, green pepper, Chinese chives, coriander, kimchi, eggplant miso, pickled cabbage, green onion miso, ginger miso, garlic miso and two types of shiitake. There is no need to memorise it as a piece of paper is also given with the dish when it’s served.

Now I’m no vegetarian but I am always keen to have a more balanced and heart-healthy diet so have no problem with experimenting from time to time with such food. When I paid for my meal the staff member was a little surprised to hear that I was a meat eater but was just interested to try these delicacies. Surely I can’t be the only one!!

It has to be said that they were all absolutely delicious and incredibly filling. It was no surprise to see that they didn’t contain animal products, preservatives or additives but I thought they must be artificially coloured or flavoured in some way but it appears not. Good.

The price of 1700 yen (£9/$11.50) is more than I ever usually pay for a meal when eating alone in Japan but I do make exceptions on occasion. Now I look at the equivalent prices in pounds and dollars it really does seem quite reasonable given their uniqueness. Furthermore, the staff were really friendly, attentive and able to speak English. The place was nice and cosy, and the food was not just interesting to look at but also incredibly tasty. It really was a great culinary experience.

I was so impressed, and couldn’t get those delightful-looking, and wonderfully crafted food items out of my head so I returned one week later to try the pan-fried version.

All 11 pieces were flavourful and satisfying one-biters for myself but I did remember to actually take a look inside one of the dumplings this time to see a generous helping of soy meat. Unlike the more conventional meat-filled gyoza, sauce is not added to these veggie ones as they are already rich in flavour.

On the second visit I splashed out even more and also bought a drink! A hot caramel matcha latte for 680 yen tasted as good as it looked, and had it been a little cheaper I would easily have bought one more.

It’s great that a glass of water is usually given out in all restaurants in Japan but it is often just a tiny glass that I polish off in a few seconds before asking for a refill a few times which is no doubt annoying for the waiters who have other things to be doing. It was therefore a welcome bonus to see that this restaurant, frequented by mainly foreign customers, provided me with a large glass of water as well as a jug too.

In the last year I have enjoyed trying a few vegetarian places with the result always being very postitive. Maybe that’s just because I’m not a vegetarian and so my preconceptions are fairly negative beforehand. My two trips to this place have certainly changed my views on such dishes and I just hope that I remember the taste of these delectable gyoza dumlings the next time I have vegetarian food.

• Vegan Gyoza Yu is located at 3-11-17 Negishi, Taito-ku. It is open from noon till 9:00pm from Wednesday to Sunday. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays in January.

Bonus: Late last Summer I took my wife to get a vegetarian burger at Great Lakes in Takadanobaba as I needed to do something for the letter V in alphabet dating. Had I not known in advance that it was a veggie burger then I wouldn’t have guessed there was no meat in it. I don’t eat too many burgers but this was fantastic and my wife raved about the fries which accompanied our choices.

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