Notes · April 2026 · 4 min read
Vegetarian and vegan at Tsunami.
Sushi without the fish, robata without the meat, and the bits of the menu we wish we shouted about more.
We're a Japanese restaurant. The menu leads with raw fish and grilled meat. That doesn't mean there's nothing for you if you don't eat either — it means the bits worth ordering aren't always the obvious ones.
On the cold side: avocado-tobiko on crushed ice (vegetarian, ask for the no-tobiko version for vegan), edamame two ways (sea salt or chilli-garlic), sweet pumpkin tempura, and a sesame-spinach side that is genuinely the dish on the menu we'd order most often if we worked here.
On the hot side: the robata does aubergine miso (a half aubergine, scored, glazed in saikyo miso, finished on the binchotan) which sells out by 9pm most weekends. Tempura is fried in a dedicated vegetable oil — the courgette, sweet potato and shiitake order is what we'd put in front of someone curious about why anyone fries a vegetable.
Sushi-wise: the inari (sweet tofu pouch with rice) is plant-based and disappears at the counter. We do a vegetarian dragon roll with avocado, asparagus and cucumber. Sushi rice itself is made with rice vinegar, sugar and salt — no fish stock — so any of our maki are vegetarian if you swap the fish.
Allergies are a separate conversation. We hold the kitchen's allergen sheet at the door and send it on request. If you have a serious allergy (especially shellfish or sesame), call ahead — we run a busy counter and the easiest way to manage cross-contact is for us to know before service starts.
Most of our regulars don't realise how broad the menu is on this front, mostly because we don't shout about it. If you're a vegetarian or vegan booking with us, mention it when you book — we'll have a look at the night you're coming and pre-flag the things on the menu that work, plus the off-menu things the kitchen can do with notice.
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