If you like curry or spices, visit Sajilo Cafe Forest (サジロカフェ・フォレスト), close to Karuizawa’s best gelato shop, L’ibisco! Following the alley from Old Karuizawa Ginza Street, you will soon see a cute white house in the leafy area. Sajilo means cozy in Nepalese. While it doesn’t have a typical curry house look, you will surely have a pleasant time here!
About Sajilo Cafe Forest
As soon as you open the door, you will be welcomed by the pleasant aroma of various spices and herbs the shop uses and sells. Whether the ample sunshine from the windows during the day or the dim lighting at night, both are perfect for Sajilo Cafe Forest’s simple but elegant interior and the antique furniture bought from France. While the owner Neel was born in Nepal, he is passionate about France that he travels there every year and brings back more and more items!
Sajilo Cafe specializes in Nepalese and Indian cuisine. Apparently, there are 36 different types of spices added to their curry! Slowly simmered with vegetables for a day, the resulting curry is very smooth. The lunch menu consists of a few set courses that include a different number of curry flavors and side dishes. After deciding which set menu to go with, you then decide on the curry flavors and the spicy level.
If you love cheese, remember to order the cheese naan. While the size isn’t big, it is filled with cheese! So either pay a little extra to change the ordinary naan or rice to the cheese naan or order it as a side!
Do you know to the Nepalese, curry isn’t a dish’s name? In Nepal, each curry’s flavor is a different dish with its own name.
Our Visit to Sajilo Cafe Forest
We got to Sajilo Cafe Forest at night. The road to the cafe was rather dark because all the shops were closed already. The darkness and quietness made us doubt whether the cafe was open and made us hesitate to keep walking. Seeing the lighting was on when we got there was a relief.
The staff in the cafe all looked Nepalese, making the curry house seem more authentic. But we ran into problems when making orders. The staff didn’t seem to quite understand what we tried to communicate, despite we said it in Japanese and English (´▽｀*). Thankfully, what was brought to our table was correct.
We had a bowl of curry to share between two people. The portion was generous and we wouldn’t be able to finish the curry if we had one each, especially with the cheese naan.
How did the curry taste? Incredible! It was so rich and full of flavor that we would have ordered another one if we hadn’t already been full!
The cheese naan was amazing. It was the best one we ever had. If you have leftover curry, the bread goes well with it, too.
The plate in the second photo of the Instagram is battered deep-fried vegetables. The batter is spiced up and matched with the dipping sauce perfectly. The drink in the photo is mango lassi, an Indian creamy yogurt-based drink. We highly recommend it.
Neel, the cafe owner, stopped by to chat with us. Thankfully, he speaks both Japanese and English, so the conversation flew. It was great talking to him, and it allowed us to understand a bit more about his restaurant!
Tip: The curry can be customized. So, if there is anything you can’t eat, let the staff know.
Sajilo Cafe Forest’s Business Hours and Access Information
- Sajilo Cafe Forest is a 25-minute walk from Karuizawa Station.
- You can also take a bus and get off at Kyū Karuizawa (旧軽井沢). The café is then a 5 to 10-minute walk.
- Sajilo Café Forest is open from
- 11 am to 3 pm and 5 pm to 10 pm on weekdays
- 11 am to 10 pm on weekends and public holidays
Discover Other Vegetarian-Friendly Cafes and Restaurants in Karuizawa
Because there are many things to see in Karuizawa, you will most likely have more than one meals in this summer resort near Tokyo. Fortunately, there are more than one vegetarian-friendly cafes and restaurants so you don’t need to have the same type of cuisine over and over again.
So, refer to our article on the Vegetarian-Friendly Cafes and Restaurants in Karuizawa for other places to include in your itinerary!
