Vegan Cafe Ramuna — Restaurant in Nara

Went there yesterday for lunch, had an amazing time. We sat down at a traditional low table and the very nice lady (she's the owner and cooks everything herself and you're literally eating in her house) took good care of us. We both had the vegan Japanese lunch plate and it was so tasty and varied. The food tasted authentic and was very flavourful. We had a blast. We tried the cakes, ice cream and tea too and everything was delicious.

Additional good points for all the ceramic cutlery and plates that look handmade (you can even buy some in a part of the shop).

We were in the mood for Japanese food but note that you can also order western food such as pizza, hot dog and burger (all vegan).

The owner doesn't speak English really but the menu is completely translated. And she does her best to answer your questions if you have any. She was absolutely adorable with us and saw we were checking out some muffins at the till so she just gave away 2 of them for free !

To sum up : go there ! Great food and relaxing atmosphere and the owner...

This restaurant is a hidden gem, located on a quiet street a short walk away from the main sights in Nara. It's a great place to relax and wind down for lunch after a morning of exploring Nara Park. The ambience is very quiet, peaceful, and traditional. There's a small outdoor seating area. There is only one lady who doesn't speak English who runs the place, so service was a bit slow, but I enjoyed that it allowed time for relaxation.

You MUST get the cutlet burger plate!! The burger patty itself was crispy and delicious, as was the burger bun (which kind of reminded me of the texture of steamed buns). It came with generous sides: green salad, pickles, potato salad, fried eggplant, vegetable tempura, spring roll, and a skewer of fried goodness (not sure what it was).

It was a bit pricey, but that's to be expected for a touristy area and it's totally worth it for the tasty food and peaceful experience. Please note that they...

A very unwelcoming experience unfortunately. We (a party of four) got to this restaurant exactly at 18.00 when it opened for the evening - four other people were already queuing before us. All the other customers were shown to a table. Despite there being available table space, we were not shown to a table but looked at blankly, despite attempting to ask for a table politely also. Having taken some seats (though still not understanding whether we were supposed to be sitting at the available table), all other customers were given menus apart from us, instead we were shown a sign saying any orders will take at least 40 mins. It’s absolutely not a problem if things take long or there aren’t any available seats etc, but a lack of effort at any type of communication and an unwelcoming attitude left us very disappointed, and also questioning why were treated so differently to other customers, despite not doing anything...