Little Spice - kanazawa

It was challenging to communicate our preference for a vegan meal at this restaurant. The food was decent, but I don't think I would return. I'm giving it three stars because vegan options are limited in Kanazawa at the moment.

The waiter was friendly, but unfortunately did not speak English or know the ingredients in the meals, making the vegan card useless. The chef was too busy to speak with us, so the waiter recommended curry options, which we ordered in red and mussel varieties. Upon tasting the curry, we suspected there was fish sauce or shrimp paste included, as the flavor was overpowering. After 3 years of being vegan, we could easily detect the taste and smell of animal products. We use vegan fish sauce at home, so it was very noticeable to us. We wanted to clarify with the chef if there were indeed animal products in the curry, but he declined to speak with us. While we understand that in Japanese culture it may be impolite to question the kitchen, offering non-vegan options without warning is unacceptable. We were upset to realize we had consumed animal products after 3 years of avoiding them. The vegan card may not be effective in Japan, as some dishes like Thai food often contain fish sauce or shrimp paste. The best advice is to speak directly with the chef for vegan options, rather than relying on the waiter. It seems that other reviewers may have also been misled, as these ingredients are commonly used in Thai cooking.

We were excited to try this Thai restaurant because of their vegetarian options, but unfortunately our experience was not great. The waiter seemed unsure about vegetarian dishes and it took a while to find options that could be made vegetarian. It was clear that they were not used to serving vegetarians and even a vegan couple seemed to have trouble ordering. The food was tasty when it finally arrived, but the portions were quite small. Overall, I would only recommend this place if you have no other options available.

Near where I work, but not open for lunch, there was finally an evening with two friends who had not been in Thailand long before. They loved it said it was quite the authentic taste and I loved it too. Definitely not everything on the menu when vegan or vegetarian, but the menu is extensive and they have some options!

It was quite difficult to get over the fact that we didn't want any animal products. The food was good enough but I probably wouldn't go back. I'm giving it three stars because there aren't many options in Kanazawa at the moment anyway.