Move over, Nobu. Seriously, move over. This Japanese restaurant in Echo Park has taken over your throne. Meet: Tsubaki. Tucked away in Echo Park, Tsubaki is like a dark horse. It’s not widely known, but it SHOULD be. It is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to and their vegan options are OFF THE CHARTS. Our non-vegan friend who went said their non-vegan options were 10/10 as well. It’s a great place to bring vegan or non-vegan friends because they have options for everyone.

I found this place from TikTok (I think? Although I can’t remember) and I was drawn to go because, not only did they have all their vegan options clearly labeled on the menu, but also  one of their 3 desserts was ENTIRELY vegan. And no, it wasn’t just “mango sorbet”.

To start, we got the Oshinko (Japanese pickles) which came with pickled asian pear, pickled daikon, and pickled cucumbers (aka pickles lmao). and GUYSSSS this shit was fire. It was so delicious. I wish I had ordered my own instead of sharing with my sister. The flavors were incredible and dynamic, and I’m craving it so bad right now. 

Shortly after, we had their vegan salad and it was literally one of the best salads I’ve ever had in my entire life??? No cap. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t even like salad. The greens were PERFECTLY dressed and seasoned. Each bite felt like an explosion of yummy goodness. Again, craving it so bad right now.

After that, we had the cold tofu dish. It was 100000/10. It was DELICIOUS. It was so good, we almost ordered another but were too full by the end of the meal. This dish was actual perfection. I would drive all the way to Echo Park right now just to eat that again. The tofu was so soft and yummy and the sauce/toppings were magical????? WOW. I need this in my life again.

Next we got the mushroom tempura, which was good, but I probably wouldn’t order it again. 

And then we got the tofu skewer, which was super interesting and delicious, but I probably wouldn’t order it again.

The main star of the evening? THE VEGAN DESSERT. It was a citrus pavlova, which is essentially vegan meringue with citrus fruit and matcha cream and it was AMAZING. So decadent and light and fluffy. It had the perfect mixture of tart/sour from the citrus but sweet and creamy from the meringue and cream. It also felt like the perfect palette cleanser at the end of the meal. Tsubaki should be nominated for some vegan award for offering a vegan dessert that wasn’t just fruit sorbet. Seriously, like that is epic. If you live in LA, Tsubaki is a MUST.