I kinda swore off Japanese restaurants last year after a chef plopped meat onto my plate (henceforth known as the meat incident). But then I saw vegan sushi on the menu at Bushido, a Japanese restaurant on Castro Street in downtown Mountain View. And it’s not the usual cucumber or avocado rolls, but a whole menu section of vegan sushi rolls.
Pictured above is the Alternative Rock ‘n’ Roll – tofu-nagi (imitation eel), avocado and sweet soy. My favorite roll of all time. Yes, it’s that good, it tasted amazingly like a regular unagi (broiled freshwater eel) roll. I don’t know how they got the tofu to taste like that, and it’s not just the sauce, the texture too is spot on.
To share, the Three Mushroom Fried Rice with garlic, onions, soy sauce, enoki, shiitake and shimeji mushrooms, topped with green onions. Rich and flavorful, a favorite of the table. I thought it was a just a tad oily but otherwise a great dish.
Pretty excited to try the Vegan Okinamiyaki (Japanese pancake), I’ve never seen it on any Japanese restaurant menu before. Sadly, the presentation left something to be desired. I saw beautiful sauce patterns on the regular version of okinamiyaki on Bushido’s yelp page. But mine looked like the vegan mayo was just glob on without much effort at all.
As for the taste, it was okay. Very filling though, I’m not sure exactly what’s in it besides veggies and the dough. As it was kinda big and thick, I only managed to eat a small portion of it. The leftovers the next day tasted a lot better, maybe it just needed a night in the fridge to help develop the flavors.
Shojin Crunch, an asparagus, hearts of palm, and avocado roll topped with tempura Japanese sweet potato. Pretty good. And there’s still three other vegan sushi rolls on the menu to try plus other items such as Vegetarian Miso Ramen or Yaki Onigiri – grilled rice balls with roasted seaweed. Faith in Japanese restaurants somewhat restored, I’ll definitely be back to Bushido.
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Whoa. You hit the vegan sushi jackpot! Japanese restaurants seem to be the last to offer vegan food, in my experience, which makes me sad because I love the food I make from my Japanese cookbooks so much. Of course, I also have the GF curse to deal with. Have you ever been to Shizen Vegan Sushi Bar & Izakaya in San Francisco? Aside from the possibility of a longish wait, I think you would like it.
I know! I love Japanese food but usually there’s hardly anything vegan on the menu. I haven’t been to Shizen in the city yet, I’ll put it on the list of places to visit. Thanks for the tip. :-)
It’s too bad that the okonomiyaki was just passable, because that’s a real rarity to find vegan! I’d still try it, of course… But that sushi looks awesome. I just wish my travels would ever bring me out to Mountain View.
Yup, I had to try the vegan okonomiyaki at least once. Someday you’ll make it down to the peninsula. :-)
I can’t think of how much someone putting meat on my plate would ruin my dinner, but rest assured, it’s a great deal. Shudder. On the other hand, that’s a great looking bunch of sushi, and really creative too. The hearts of palm sounds really good. The chef must have have been having an off day when they were decorating the Okinamiyaki though.
Luckily, I’m over the meat incident now. :-) The sushi was good, they just need to work on the presentation a little bit more.
I’m so jealous that you were able to feast on these divine vegan sushi. I’m in a city where I wouldn’t dare to step into the restaurant, just not vegan friendly with their menu. But it’s still very nice to find so many vegan options at this place, once again allowing me to drool and find inspiration. I make my own sushi at home with veggies and seasoned tofu, my kids love it. Awesome post!
Japanese restaurants with more than 1 or 2 vegan sushi rolls are far and few in between. It’s a bit of a drive to Bushido but it’s worth it for the vegan sushi. Other times, I’ve resorted to making sushi at home too – it’s fun to try out different fillings. :-)
This place looks amazing! I love sushi, but I do get bored of the same veggie rolls over and over and I do get jealous of the really awesome rolls my meat-eating fiances gets to eat!
Chef’s wife here. Don’t know what happened to that okonomiyaki. But here’s his website: chef isamukanai.com
Very friendly man, immigrant from Japan, and passionate about vegan food.
chefisamukanai.com
Thanks for stopping by and for the link to the chef’s site. So happy to see vegan food on the menu, hoping for more. :-) I’m guessing it was just an off day on the okonomiyaki?