
Mercy Vegan Factory: A Clear Concept of Truly Tasty Vegan Cuisine
An Egg Sandwich to Make You Reevaluate Your Idea of an Egg Sandwich
Mercy’s “Plant-based egg sandwich” is a wonder to behold. It looks, tastes, and feels so like a real egg sandwich, you’d swear a chicken was involved somewhere in its production. But no, the “you’ll never believe it’s not egg” sandwich contains no eggs or dairy.
Mercy Vegan Factory is the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Kenkoh Sanada and Ou Rei, who converted to veganism around a decade ago. Located a short five-minute stroll from Tanimachi 9-chome Station on the eastern side of central Osaka, the restaurant has been a fixture of the vegan cuisine scene since June 2022.
“I used to eat yakiniku BBQ a couple of nights a week, then sushi, Italian, French, whatever,” says Sanada. “If I heard about some nice new place, I’d traverse the whole country if need be to eat there. And I loved red wine too; my liver took a real pounding.”
At age 44, though, he quit his job at a medical equipment manufacturer and trained as a Buddhist monk. After three years of training, he struck out on his own in business. Meanwhile, Ou Rei ran a fortune-telling house. Indeed, their fascinating lives would require an entire book to tell.
From Omnivore Gourmets to Vegans
The seeds of Mercy were planted by one of Ou Rei’s customers, who was less than impressed with the lavish epicurean lifestyle of a one purporting to be a Buddhist monk and another who would guide the souls of others. It occurred to Sanada and Ou Rei that carrying on with such a gourmet lifestyle might be counterproductive to a long and healthy life, and they came to realize that they must cherish and care for all living things. So, in accordance with the five precepts of Buddhism, they decided to change their ways and become vegans.
Okay, But Where Can Vegans Go to Eat Out?
Newly converted to veganism, Sanada and Ou Rei struggled to find places to eat out, which was the opposite of what they were used to. The answer: start their own restaurant serving genuinely delicious vegan fare.
As gourmets, they had obviously developed a refined palate. Their idea was for a place serving food that was tasty, regardless of whether it was vegan or not. There would be breads, sweets, curries, Korean gimbap, and much more, and they’d hire a reliable head chef to oversee things, as well as a pâtissier for the cakes and confections.
Not that the staff are vegans—after all, Mercy’s philosophy is that its vegan menu must satisfy its non-vegan cooks if it is to be served to customers.
Take, for example, the aptly named “you’ll never believe it’s not egg” sandwich. It is, no matter how you look at it, an egg sandwich. But you guessed it, it’s actually egg-free and dairy-free. So, what’s in it? To find out, come and try it for yourself.
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Name: Mercy Vegan Factory
Address: 2-4-15 Kawaraya-machi, Chuo-ku, Osaka City
Phone: 06-6718-5846
Hours: Lunch 09:00-16:00 (last orders); dinner 18:00-20:00 (last orders)
Closed: Sat.
Getting there: 7 min. walk from Tanimachi 9-chome Stn. on the Osaka Metro
Seating: 16 table seats, 8 terrace seats
Menu: Breakfast (e.g., Plant-based egg sandwich drink set) ¥1,210 yen; lunch (e.g., Mercy Gimbap and fried Kurumafu set) ¥1,980; course meals (by reservation only) from ¥4,950
English-language menus available
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mercy_veganfactory/
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