Aisunao — Restaurant in Naoshima

I was looking for a vegetarian-friendly spot on TripAdvisor as I was spending the night on beautiful Naoshima and stumbled across Aisunao. Located in an old house, this charming vegan restaurant offers a filling set lunch made with germinated brown rice, a hearty miso soup, and various preparations of vegetables including tomatoes, eggplant, burdock root, sweet potato, radish, and various kinds of pickles.

As this is an 80-year-old house, it features tatami seating in several rooms, each with a unique character.

They also offer vegan cakes and a variety of beverages, I tried the Yuzu sake on the rocks, and it was amazing!

I have had Japanese temple food around Japan, and this is easily some of the most delicious I have had! Please note if you are looking for true vegan temple cuisine, this uses onions, which are not traditional in 精進料理. Many of the guests the day I visited were Taiwanese, many of whom are also Buddhist...

This cafe is easy to find and for vegan and vegetarian customers it’s worth the visit. At the time of our visit, there was only the lunch set available.

There are four 4-person tables on the tatami mat, a large center table with benches, and a smaller bar seating area as well.

There is a small area with local crafts that you can peruse while you wait for your food.

The atmosphere is rustic and feels like a traditional rural home in Japan.

As others have mentioned, the rice is chewy and filling. The balance of the food is really well done. The M size amount of rice is just enough but it’s nice to be asked how much rice a customer wants.

I think the staff was stressed as he was the only one cooking, taking orders, and attending to customers. So, the wait may be a bit long but the delicious food was...

Hip place with locally grown foods that complimented the artsy-ness of the island.

The brown rice is grown locally and fermented for a few days to become macrobiotic. It was very tasty and I wouldn’t have known it was fermented if not for the sign. Our miso soup was a unique regional brew. Regional sides also included sweet beans and candied seaweed. Lastly, we ordered the olive soda made from olives grown at a nearby island.

We were both very full by the end of our meal with the medium-sized rice, despite skipping breakfast before lunch.

Local artists sold their crafts at this store, which could make for good unique souvenirs. The owners were committed to sustainability and encouraged customers to leave their naoshima maps in a corner for the store for...