Travelling through Haneda Airport is always a pleasure, but for plant-based travellers, finding satisfying meals at airports can often feel limited. Thankfully, the JAL airport lounge offers a surprisingly thoughtful vegan selection — and it has been interesting to see how it has (slowly) evolved over the years.
Visiting at Different Times: Morning vs Night
On this trip, I visited the lounge twice — once in the early morning from around 6 am, and again later at night. The experience actually changes quite a bit depending on the time of day.
In the morning, the fruit selection is especially good. It feels light, fresh, and perfect for an early flight. It’s one of the best vegan-friendly options available at that time.
Fruits for an early breakfast
One important thing to note: the vegan sushi options are not available in the early morning. The sushi selection (including nigiri and other items) only becomes available after around 8am, so timing your visit makes a real difference.
A Familiar Menu (With a Few Standouts)
For quite some time, the vegan options remained mostly unchanged. Even after 3–4 years, many of the same dishes were still being served.
The vegan burger, however, continues to stand out. It’s one of those rare plant-based options that even non-vegans enjoy — my husband, who usually avoids “fake meat,” genuinely likes this one.
Vegan Burger – even non vegan hubby’s favourite
The tomato penne is exactly what you would expect — a safe, familiar choice you might find in cafés anywhere in the world.
Tomato Penne
One dish I personally always enjoy is the salad. Simple, fresh, and satisfying, it comes with olive oil and salt, allowing you to dress it just the way you like. The addition of crunchy freeze-dried vegetables and grains gives it a lovely texture and makes it feel a bit more special than your average side salad.
Crunchy Colourful Salad
A Welcome Surprise: Vegan Sushi Expands
On a visit last year, I was excited to see something new added to the menu.
Previously, the only vegan sushi option available was temaki (hand roll). But this time, they introduced vegan nigiri sushi — such a delightful surprise! It felt like a small but meaningful step forward in offering more variety and creativity in plant-based Japanese cuisine. Please note that sushi is not available early morning!
Vegan Temaki Roll and Vegan Nigiri Sushi ( salmon, tuna, squid)
Small Changes (and a Few Disappointments)
There are always little changes between visits. Last year, there was even “fancy water” available, which added a nice touch to the lounge experience — though sadly, it wasn’t there this time.
JAL Lounge’s Fancy Water (not available anymore)
New Additions This Year
This year brought even more updates to the vegan menu.
A new creamy chickpea pasta appeared, which sounded promising but unfortunately didn’t quite deliver in flavour.
Creamy Chickpea Pasta – new menu but not a fan!
However, the highlight for me was definitely the dessert.
A Sweet Ending: Wagashi
I absolutely loved the addition of traditional Japanese sweets, known as Wagashi.
The selection included warabi mochi and matcha ohagi — both beautifully made and deeply satisfying.
Ohagi, in particular, is one of my favourite wagashi. It is a traditional sweet made from sweet rice, often coated or filled with anko (red bean paste). It has a comforting, nostalgic quality and represents the simplicity and elegance of Japanese confectionery.
Another wonderful aspect of wagashi is that many varieties are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, making them perfect for those following a plant-based diet.
Wagashi– warabi mochi and matcha ohagi
Final Thoughts
It’s truly encouraging to see an international airport lounge in Tokyo gradually expanding its vegan offerings. While not every dish is perfect, the effort to include more variety — especially traditional Japanese options — is a step in the right direction.
For plant-based travellers passing through Haneda, the JAL lounge is definitely a place where you can enjoy a thoughtful and satisfying meal.
JAL First Class Lounge Menu
So tell me — which of these dishes would you most like to try?
Check out my Instagram here for my experience!
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