The Best Vegan Bakeries in Tokyo

Wandering past shops across Japan lined with rows of Willy Wonka-esque butter cakes, it’s hard not to feel left out if you’re vegan or have a dairy or wheat allergy. However, over the past few years, the vegan bakery landscape has changed. Tokyo has woken up and now has its own vegan bakeries, as you can see from the shops below. Vegan cakes, vegan bread, and vegan pastries – this list has it all.

Best Vegan Bread: Universal Bakes and Cafe

I remember when Universal Bakes first opened in May 2020. It was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it was very difficult to go out and visit friends. We happened to live nearby and went there almost every day, spending a lot of money. During that time, we gorged on vegan croissants and tried every flavor of savory bread they had.

Universal Bakes is a specialty bakery run by the owners of vegan cafe Alaska Zwei in Nakameguro. From coconut muffins and pizza bread to raspberry tarts and French toast, everything is vegan.

Universal Bakes offers a wide variety of classic Japanese breads, including some amazing Red Bean Bread: A Japanese snack of red bean paste sandwiched between hard bread. There is also peanut butter bread, which is a sandwich with sugar and creamy peanut butter, and there are vegetarian Food trayalso known as Japanese milk bread. Each one is worth trying, but I especially like the ones that are filled with fillings. Topped with crumbled puff pastry, seasonal fruits or vegetables, it’s different every time. It’s like an explosion of new flavors. You can take them home and bake them, or eat them on the spot, with a cup of coffee or seasonal beverage.

Best Vegan Cake: Marble Vegan Cake

You’ve come all the way to Japan and you want to experience what Japan is like. Wandering through places like Ginza, Daikanyama, and even Shibuya, you pass by shops with beautiful, intricate cakes displayed in windows and glass cases. Most of the cakes don’t look real because they’re so intricately decorated. These are all butter cakes, you think to yourself, and you plan on window shopping your whole life and never buying anything. But that’s where Marbre Vegan comes in. This little shop, located across from the beautiful Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, sells cakes you’ve always wanted but never thought you could taste.

The shop’s most popular item is the gorgeous strawberry sponge cake, with tiny strawberries in the middle and a single strawberry on top. Be prepared to join long lines of Japanese and non-Japanese alike to try this dessert, as it’s a favorite among vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. You can eat it in for a full French-Japanese afternoon tea experience, or take it away and enjoy it in the park, which is just a stone’s throw away.

Marbre Vegan’s cakes are sweet, but not as sweet as some similar shops. Most of the cafe’s food is even gluten-free and clearly labelled, so anyone with coeliac disease can rest assured. Enjoy the drinks, which change with the seasons, as well as the cakes and vegan sandwiches. Perfect for a picnic!

Best Vegan Pastry: Te Cor Gentil

Te Cor Gentil is a small French bakery that makes delicious croissants and Japanese breads. Head to the little shop in Azabu-Juban to indulge in pastries and sandwiches that taste like they contain real meat. The shop’s ever-changing offerings include seasonal variations of the store’s popular croissants, such as lemon tea flavor in the summer and croissants filled with sweet pistachio cream.

Even without butter, the plain croissants are delicious and melt in your mouth. Te Cor Gentil also has its own specialties Melon Seed Pot — melon bread — and delicious Japanese salt bread sprinkled with blue seaweed. This is the kind of vegan bakery where you double-check with the staff whether it’s actually vegan.

The benches inside the store are limited to seating two people (or three friends), while the benches outside can only seat four. The store also serves seasonal drinks.

Best Vegan Melon Bread and Vegan Scones: Morethan Bakery

Morethan Bakery, a small bakery on the ground floor of The Knot Hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, started out as a vegan shop. Now, although its vegan offerings are limited to Sundays, it still has plenty of options on other days of the week.

The bakery serves up sweet vegan donuts, blueberry muffins with jam, vegan fruit and cream sandwiches, and a selection of classic Japanese breads. Its scones are made with just enough sugar to give them a sweet flavor, and are kneaded vigorously to ensure they are Mochi Mochi Texture. The bakery’s take on the classic melon bread is worth a mention. Morethan’s melon bread has the ideal crispy crust, which usually contains milk, but not here. It’s crunchy and sweet, and the bread underneath is light, which pairs perfectly with the melon coating. To be clear, melon bread does not contain melon and does not taste like melon. In fact, it’s a soft bread with a sugar coating that resembles the skin of a cartoon melon.

Visitors to Morethan can sit in the hotel lobby or lounge and enjoy a loaf of bread. Wi-Fi is available for anyone who wants to work remotely. Plug sockets are also available.

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