N35°2.625' E135°46.559' TowZen or Mamezen is very hard to find in the Sakyō-ku ward of Northern Kyoto near the Shimogamo-jinja Shrine. This restaurant, listed in the Rough Guide, is located in a residential street. The entrance is not visible from the side of the road...and only can be recognised by the illuminated red lantern when it is open. Walk through the small alley towards this tiny restaurant with only 15 seats, 3 of them at the counter. Because of limited seating, a reservation is advised. This ramen shop is specialized in ramen made with soymilk soup, topped with tofu skin and mushrooms. The translated menu consists of a questionnaire of six questions, such as bowl size (small, medium or large). The chef can cater for vegans. The creamy ramen tasted excellent and made our search for this restaurant in the rain worthwhile. We added excellent pieces of sushi to our menu. The staff has limited knowledge of the English language, but a friendly guest assisted us in ordering in April 2018. Service was friendly and good, but there is a no photography policy in the small restaurant. As gaijin, they allowed us to disobey. Wi-Fi is free. Towzen or Mamezen offers a fun dining experience with creamy ramen. Cash only.More

Went with my girlfriend to try an amazing ramen on soymilk base. Foreigner friendly owner who speaks English and runs the shop from his house with his family will definitely come back again!

Tiny Tiny place with the best ramen I have ever had, and it is completely vegan and so so rich. Well priced too! 8 bucks (950 yen) for a large ramen bowl

Really great vegan ramen (soy based). It's located near bus line and was easy find using pocket wifi. Looks like a regular house but has red ramen lantern outside. We were seated right away and food tasted great. The ramen didn't feel too heavy or...oily. I will definitely want to come back again.More

My wife and I had a wonderful dinner at Towzen recently, and I heartily recommend it! Located in North Kyoto, it’s convenient to bus lines that service the rest of the city. The food at this intimate family restaurant is fantastic! We had two different...kinds of ramen, both of which had a terrific soy milk broth and tasty homemade noodles. We also had the eggplant sushi which is fantastic, and their vegan desserts, including a lovely gateau de chocolat and soy ice cream. It’s worth a special trip to visit Towzen!More

Delicious food and such a relief and joy to experience vegetarian food!! Beware, the wait is very long, we waited for about 3 hrs but the food was really tasty!

I was recommended this place for vegan ramen, as my partner had been having trouble guaranteeing no fish/animal stocks used in cooking elsewhere. We both really enjoyed the meal, delicious and quality ramen served in a great little space. Treat the spice rating with some...scepticism - we didn't notice any heat on the 'medium-low' option! We found the service pretty slow, particularly when it came to getting out of the door, but it seemed like we were unlucky n this respect, other tables were in and out much quicker!More