As you walk to your seat you are greeted with all the various conscious awareness products that supports the lifestyle of a plant based eater. It was the first time I‘ve actually seen the Vibram five finger shoes being sold in a vegan restaurant. But I am sure you guys already noticed those round bins and wondering what is cheese doing in a vegan restaurant? Well… it’s vegan cheese!

I am sure some of you are saying to yourself that this could not be possible, but oh yes it is! Come to CHOICE and make a choice between a numerous amount of flavors for you to indulge in. Cheese is the special item of this store, and the best thing about this cheese it that doesn’t smell!

Now you may be asking yourself, “What is the meaning of the name CHOICE?” ( I know I sure did.) The owner, Harue Suzuki believes in the statement, “Choice determines destiny, not chance.” When I heard that from the hostess, I was in disbelief how this powerful message had set the foundation of the restaurant. From that point on I was already sold on whatever the store was selling. Learning more about the owner, Harue has worked for over 30 years as a laser surgeon in cosmetic dermatology. She realized through her practice that many skin and health problems were a result of what we are eating. She highly believes in the quote, “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT”. From 2011 she decided to start studying food and nutrition, and this choice has led her to opening up the establishment we are discussing today. The interesting thing about this restaurant is that on the second floor she has her cosmetic dermatology practice. The two establishments actually go together. She offers many different services that you may be interested in, check out her website for more information.

I came around lunchtime, and I asked the hostess what would be the best thing to order, and she confidently directed me to this beauty you see before your eyes. It looks like a regular vegan burger with a side salad am I right? You are correct, but don’t let her looks fool you! The taste of the burger was out of this world! The sauce was light, sweet, and taste bud arousing. The bun O-M-G was the best bread I ever tasted in my honest opinion! I am literally craving this burger again as I am writing about it! The side salad as well is filled with the usual ingredients of a garden salad, but the cashew nut dressing drizzled on top was life changing. I made sure that no trace of the sauce was left on my plate. I am not ashamed to say it, I licked my fingers dry! Let’s get a closer look at this burger!

I know you see the sauce dripping out! Don’t worry I didn’t let it get away by any chance!

Some of you may be wondering, that’s it? They have the best cheese in Kyoto and you didn’t get none? Now now class relax, you don’t trust me by now? Your wish is my command, when you order the vegan burger meal, you get an assortment of cheese and crackers to taste the “you can’t believe it’s not cheese” cheese!

So as pictured, with the vegan burger set, you get 3 different cheeses and various items to experiment with the cheeses. I felt like I was a taste tester giving a review on a top tier restaurant. It was my first time to eat vegan cheese in this way, so it was very new to me how to eat the assorted cheese. I tried all the little dipping items with all the different cheeses. To give you a better picture of how they tasted, I’ll go through the cheeses from left to right.

The one farthest to the left is called KOTO. It contains a Japanese pepper called sanshou which gives it a slightly sweet taste with a tangy cream cheese base. The cheese in the middle is a recreation of smoky cheese. Created from aged and smoked cashews added to a fermented culture for the cheese, if you are into smoky tastes, this will surely fill your appetite. The last cheese was called the ITALIANA. It was chock full of sun-dried tomatoes and basil. By far this one matched with my taste palette. I was adventurous and dipped raisins in the cheese and wow I hit it right on the money, the sweet and tarty taste was perfect! For you cheese lovers who need more, they have a wide range of different cheeses that you can try and actually buy a tub of it when you are leaving.

For those who would like to try the other dishes offered at CHOICE, here are some choices they offer on their menu which is English friendly!

Truly feeling like I had a 1st class meal, I had to complete the experience with a fancy desert. I once again was recommended by the hostess on what to order and she chose…

PANCAKES!!!!! (My favorite desert by far) Being that I love pancakes, I feel like I am a pancake expert, so CHOICE was really going to have to knock my socks off in order to get my vote.

I am not even going to explain how I thought about the pancakes, take a look for yourself!