Where to Eat Vegan: Agico Japanese, Philippines

To find an all veg Filipino restaurant in the Philippines may be a surprise, but to find an all veg Japanese restaurant in the Philippines is a shocker.

Agico Japanese Vegetarian Cafe in San Juan is one of my top recommendations in the Philippines. The drive to get there was a bit tricky but it turns out Agico wasn’t that far from Greenhills mall (a good landmark). In case you still couldn’t get there, Agico also delivers.

Here we are, Chris and I posing by Agico’s front store. We found it at last!

We arrived around 3pm, after the lunch rush. Good thing Agico doesn’t close mid-day. Actually almost all of the restaurants in the Philippines do not close midday, some are even open 24 hours. The restaurant wars in the Philippines are fierce. You will see stalls after stalls in every block. Unfortunately most of these restaurants serve meat so you could just imagine my excitement when I  find a vegetarian restaurant out of all of them.

Agico is a vegetarian restaurant that has tons of vegan options. It’s a cheerful little place with bright colors and cartoon murals on the wall.

We ordered “Vegan Katsu don”. The Katsu was savory sweet, tender, and juicy. The vegetable toppings and white rice completed the Katsu in every bite.

Their “pork” barbecue on a stick (a Filipino delicacy), was chewy, savory, and tasty. I thought it wasn’t as smoky as the ones at Greens, or maybe because this one wasn’t grilled. Agico’s barbecue was served with atchara, pickled raw papaya (a Filipino condiment).

“Agico’s Spicy Karaage” Ramen hits the spot. Never mind that it was sweltering hot in the Philippines when you have a good bowl of ramen. The name is a bit tricky though because it wasn’t really that spicy. If you are into spicy peppers, you could always ask the server for hot sauce.

“Agico’s Vegan Crispy California Roll” is by far the best vegan sushi I’ve had. I don’t even think California has anything like these!  The roll is originally listed as vegetarian but you could easily ask for the vegan version. Who cares about the vegetarian version anyway when the vegan version alone tasted so good you might forget to use the soy sauce.

Agico is also a place to order coffee and pastries (their cupcakes are all vegan!). They have wifi so this is a good spot to bring a laptop and do some work while sipping coffee and enjoying a cupcake -or a crispy California Roll.

Here we are: our friend Justin who took us there, Chris, and I.

Agico’s prices are a little to the high-end -this is compared to the ones at other Filipino restaurants. In American dollars, at Agico’s you’ll spend $11 a dish.

Conveniently, Agico also accepts major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

Despite the price, I do hope that Filipinos would eat at Agico’s and at other healthier alternatives. After all, it’s more practical and economical to stay healthy and avoid costly medical bills.

AGICO VEGETARIAN CAFE

#83 Araullo St., San Juan, Metro Manila
Mondays to Sundays 10:00am – 10:00pm

(T) +63 2 705 1997(M) +63 923 7214552

agicoveggy@gmail.com