Togaden: permanently closed or still open?

Hi everyone.

I was searching for restaurants in Kyoto and I found Togaden, looks amazing because it is a veggie restaurant, and even though I'm not vegetarian/vegan, I love veggie food. Some sites say it's open but I saw on a google search that is says that it's permanently closed...I'm confused! I need your help!

One Japanese site I looked at specifically said it closed on August 15, 2018. One major restaurant guide page said the status was unknown (thus their suspending their listing). So it is likely it closed. I hope someone local from Kyoto can confirm this.

Closed(•Â“X) at this Aug and No moving info.
https://twitter.com/latinatropicana/status/1027740935843536897
https://twitter.com/nao0915/status/1035457365561106433

It seems that it was not suddenly decided, the announcement of closing was issued from July.
I could not find a reason for closing.

Ohhh so it is closed, that's a pity really. I heard it was quite famous for it's healthy and delicious meals. I even heard that many people came to the restaurant and there was waiting lines. Quite a shame.

Thank you everyone for your help.

I found another place for veggie selection called Mumokuteki Cafe. The menu on their website looks good and it's not expensive. I also found a Kaiseki tofu restaurant called Tosouiro, they have two branches (looks a bit expensive from the prices shown on their website but looks delicious).

Happy Cow has really good reviews for Mumokuteki Cafe. If you're actually vegetarian/vegan according to Happy Cow you need to reserve ahead of time for Tosouiro, though there seems to be some debate if even with a reservation they can do vegetarian.

I went to Ain Soph Journey. The food was quite good, but I felt like the staff were nonplussed I had brought a child with me and the service I received was not as good as the single dinners.

It's weird, I've seen a few places that were popular close or completely change their menu. There use to be a great place, Cafe 15:17, I use to always hit up when I was in Kyoto, but at some point it closed. Eat More Greens in Tokyo, use to be mostly vegan and everything vegetarian when it first opened. It got a lot of customers and I remember waiting sometimes for a table. But they closed and re-opened with a much more meat-centric menu which is sort of weird for a place called Eat More Greens. *shrugs*

Enjoy your trip!

Yes it's weird, Togaden was famous too and it closed.

I'm not vegetarian/veggie, but I like veggie food. I eat meat but not that often, I'm more a fish/seafood person. Mumokuteki sounds like a good choice but I'm not sure if I'll be going to Tosouiro since it's a bit expensive for me. I'll do Kyoto as my last location on my trip, I'll see how much money I'll have and then I'll decide. Thank you for your help, and I'll check about the one you went with your child (and sorry to hear about the service you got, it shouldn't be like that).

Ain no Soph is a little expensive. Kyoto has a lot of options for healthy and delicious food, so does Tokyo for its part. We didn't go, but I was super surprised to see a relatively large gluten-free bakery there last trip in Kyoto. Mumokuteki sounds like a great option for us, because the reviews say it is child friendly and the location seems convenient. I'm still planning out our next trip and where we are going to stay.

I suspect places close when rent goes up or an owner retires and not just because the food is bad. A lot of Kyoto seems to be turning into new hotels or other places for tourists. I've stayed at 3 different places in Kyoto since 2016 and none of them were there in 2010 . The place in 2017 was brand new in 2017 and the place in 2018 was brand new in 2018! It feels like Kyoto (and Tokyo as well, we stayed at a hotel there which had opened less than a month before our arrival!) are constantly getting new hotels and it is possible Togaden had a prime spot a developer wanted. It's just so hard to say.

I hope you enjoy your trip and you are sure to find some great choices for healthy food.

@rkold

Thank you very much. I think Togaden had a shop on the ground floor, many restaurant do have it. Many someone bought the entire building to be an hotel like you said. I also found a good place for udon noodles called Omen Kodaiji (they have another branch nearby). Looks delicious and healthy too. Saw the menu and it isn't expensive. For Arashiyama I found a buffet style restaurant called Gyatei. It's been a while since I want to try a buffet restaurant in Japan, and I think I'll try this one out. It looks friendly.