What do you do when you are hungry? You’ll look for food, right? But when the desired food is not there for some reasons, you’ll find alternatives. Anything will do, as long as your stomach is fed. Well, in some cases its ingredients and our budget constrain. That was basically what happened while we were starving in Roppongi.

To be honest, we came up with this post by accident. It’s all thanks to a restaurant that was closed during our visit. We looked for other alternatives, and  found out that there are quite a few of Halal food along this Tokyo’s high-class area .

The restaurant that we initially wanted to go to is called Sumiyakiya Nishiazabu. We came there at around 12.30 PM for lunch. As described on sumiyakiya.com, they have lunch set menu for ¥1200 per person. This includes free refill for rice and miso soup. How tempting! But then, we got upset when one of the staff came out and said that they were closed that day. Among the 365 days of a year, why they did it on the day that we came??? Argh, poor you stomachs.. *patting ours*

The next building also has a halal restaurant called Nefertiti Tokyo.  They serve authentic Arabic and Egyptian cuisines. Although it is said that they open for lunch, they were still closed at the time we arrived. Maybe this restaurant is more suitable for dinner. Or maybe all halal restaurants in Roppongi were against us that day (okay, stop exaggerating!).

Across the street, there is Moroccan restaurant named Le Maghreb Chandelier. They display the menu outside with pictures and prices. But the pictures failed to impress us, even though we were really hungry back then. The prices were also a bit higher than the previous two restaurants. Moreover, they have very limited lights, the chandeliers were too dim for us.

In a result, we looked for other alternative. There was a vegetarian restaurant which offer Chinese lunch set menu for a reasonable price. It does not have Halal logo, but we made sure by asking the waiter that they do not use any animal-base ingredient at all. We even asked twice (to the point that the waiter started to get annoyed :p), because the menu mentioned chicken, shrimp, meat, even pork. But rest assured, they are mocks!

The price ranges from ¥980 to ¥1500, depends on the main course. The ones that we ordered are  ¥980 each. They have 4 options for the main courses. You can choose for white or brown rice, but the appetizer, dessert and drink are fixed. They also have a la carte with slightly higher price per item. The food was surprisingly yummy! Despite the soybean meat that they use, the texture and taste are acceptable. They use enough spices as expected from Asian cuisine.

The name of this restaurant is Chien Fu Taiwanese Vegan Restaurant. It is located in the 4th floor, you need to take an elevator. The entrance of the building is a bit small and hidden. They have their own website, but unfortunately it’s all in Japanese. But you can look for reviews in some websites for additional reference.

Please note that, except Sumiyakiya Nishiazabu, all those restaurant serve alcoholic beverages.

It’s not surprising that Roppongi has many kind of restaurant from all of the countries as this area is surrounded by embassies. We believe there are more restaurants that are recommended for Muslim there. We will keep you update if we happen to visit them 🙂

What: Sumiyakiya Nishiazabu, Nefertiti Tokyo, Le Maghreb Chandelier, and Chien Fu Taiwanese Vegan Restaurant
Where: Roppongi-dori, Tokyo, Japan [map]
How to go: Oedo Line or Hibiya Line to Roppongi Station (H04/E23)
How much: lunch set menu ¥980 – ¥2000 (excl. tax)

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Topik untuk tulisan ini sebetulnya dibuat secara tidak sengaja ketika kami kelaparan di Roppongi. Jadi ceritanya kami mau makan siang di Sumiyakiya Nishiazabu yang merupakan sebuah restoran bersertifikat halal di area ini. Eh, pas sampai sana kata salah satu stafnya hari itu mereka kebetulan tutup. Duh, kenapa mesti pas kita dateng sih? Padahal udah ngebayangin makan enak lagi halal pun lumayan murah di situ. Cek aja ke sumiyakiya.com untuk info lebih lengkapnya.

Di gedung sebelah ternyata ada restoran halal juga. Namanya Nefertiti Tokyo. Restoran ini khusus menyajikan menu Arab dan Mesir, sampai ada Belly Dance Show segala. Meski menurut info yang terpampang mereka buka untuk makan siang dan makan malam, siang itu entah kenapa mereka masih tutup. Apakah semesta mendukung kami untuk ga makan di Roppongi?

Di seberang jalan ada satu restoran halal yang sempat kami lewati sehari sebelumnya. Seuah restran Maroko bernama Le Maghreb Chandelier. Dari daftar menu, gambar, dan harga yang mereka pajang di depan restoran, kami merasa kurang tertarik. Ruangannya juga kelihatan terlalu gelap dari luar.

Akhirnya kami mencari alternatif lain. Ada sebuah restoran vegetarian yang menawarkan set menu makan siang ala China. Meski tidak bersertifikat halal, kami memastikan kepada pelayannya bahwa masakan mereka bebas dari unsur hewani. Sempat kaget ketika melihat buku menu karena di sana tertulis berbagai sajian berbahan ayam, udang, daging, bahkan babi. Kami pun tanya lagi ke si pelayan, sampai dia mulai kesel kayaknya. Ternyata itu hanya nama, mungkin biar menu tidak terlihat plain. Semua bahan hewani itu sesungguhnya terbuat dari kacang kedelai, kulit tahu dan konnyaku. Fyuh!

Sebuah set menu makan seiang terdiri dari sup, sesuatu seperti daging (maaf, kami ga tau apa namanya), nasi putih atau nasi merah, menu utama, pickels, puding, dan ocha hangat. Cukup murah dengan kisaran harga  ¥980 – ¥1500. Rasanya enak banget, salah satu masakan vegetarian tesedap menurut kami, bumbunya pas. Mereka juga punya menu a la carte dengan variasi pilihan, tapi harganya lebih mahal dibanding set menu seperti yang kami pesan.

Nama restoran ini adalah Chien Fu Taiwanese Vegan Restaurant. Letaknya di lantai 4 sebuah gedung, perlu pakai lift untuk sampai ke sana. Pintu masuk gedung ini kecil dan lokasinya lumayan tersembunyi. Sayangnya website mereka hanya tersedia dalam bahasa Jepang. Silakan cek review di website lain jika perlu tambahan referensi.

Perlu diketahui bahwa selain Sumiyakiya Nishiazabu, tiga restoran lain menyajikan minuman beralkohol.

Di atas adalah peta lokasi keempat restoran yang kami bahas tadi. Pasti masih ada restoran lain yang bisa direkomendasikan untuk muslim. Nanti kami update kalau ada kesempatan ke sana lagi ya!