Wandering past shops throughout Japan displaying rows of Willy Wonka-style cream cakes, it can be hard not to feel left out if you’re vegan or have a dairy or wheat allergy. Within the last few years, however, the vegan bakery landscape has changed. Tokyo has woken up, and now has its own vegan bakery scene, as you can see from the shops below.
Vegan cakes, vegan bread and vegan pastries — this list has it all. The Best Vegan Loaded Breads: Universal Bakes and Cafe I remember when Universal Bakes first opened in May 2020. It was during the height of COVID-19, so trips away to see friends were difficult.
We happened to live nearby and went there nearly every single day, spending way too much. During that period, we gorged ourselves on vegan croissants and tried all the different flavors of savory bread that the shop served up. Run by the owners of Alaska Zwei, a vegan café in Nakameguro, Universal Bakes is a special bakery.
Everything, from the coconut muffins and the pizza bread to the raspberry tart and the French toast, is vegan. Universal Bakes serves many classic Japanese bread varieties, including some amazing anpan : the Japanese snack of adzuki bean paste inside a hard bread bun. Then there’s the peanut butter bread, which is a sandwich of sugary, creamy peanut cream, as well as the vegan shokupan , also known as Japanese milk bread.
Everything is worth a try, but I particularly love the loaded breads. Topped with crumbling pastry bits, seasonal fruits or veget.