Vegan Friendly Ramen by Playpen Friends — Restaurant in Nara

Honestly some of the best ramen I had in my 3 years in Japan. I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen with the special shoyu sauce while my partner got the chicken tonkotsu ramen. They have vegan ramen too! IF YOU COME TO NARA, YOU SHOULD TRY THIS PLACE :D

The tonkotsu ramen had a very rich, fatty, and flavorful broth. Char siu/pork belly that soft, tender, and umami. I quite like the addition of cabbage as a side topping to the ramen, different from traditional ramen but it adds a nice crunch of texture and pairs well with the broth.

The chicken tonkotsu ramen (despite the name being tonkotsu, which normally refers to a pork broth) has a leaner yet rich and flavorful broth that is made entirely out of chicken and chicken bones. The flavor and quality is entirely equal to the traditional tonkotsu broth! As for the char siu, it is chicken char siu. It is almost identical if not completely like the pork belly. It is tender, juicy, and tasty as hell, AND it’s chicken. So for the non-pork people!: this is your chance to try out some tonkotsu ramen that doesn’t have pork in it!

The only thing that was unhappy here was my wallet cause it was 2,000 yen for one bowl of ramen, BUT I’d pay it again...

I came here because of the vegan options and there are 4 different types of vegan ramen you can choose from. They also have 4 types of non-vegan ramen so perfect when travelling in a mixed group.

The ramen was very delicious and not too salty. I chose the vegan tonkotsu ramen. The soup comes with various topings and each soup costs approximately 1800 ¥ which is worth the price especially when looking for vegan options in Nara.

The service was friendly and fast unlike what we have read in other reviews. I would...

This is one of the better ramens I have had in Japan as a vegetarian, has different vegan options. The Syoyu Tonkotsu was really flavourful,hearty and they had fried tofu with lots of veggies in it. The noodle was wheat so the texture was slightly different but I didn’t mind it as the overall ramen was pretty solid. Most other places don’t have any veggies or protein in veg ramen so I liked this as it had tofu instead of ‘fried fake meat’ like some other vegan ramens which I don’t prefer at all. I can...