I have professed my love for beer and cheese numerous times in this column, and always look forward to the next kushiage (deep-fried kebabs) or pizza outing. I admit, I'm not always the healthiest of vegetarians.

For this month, however, I've decided to at least make an effort to regain some nutritional balance. I couldn't have asked for a better starting block than Piman, a juice bar near Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

Piman is more than a juice bar, it is also a restaurant that serves curries, pasta, pilaf and more. While not completely vegetarian, most of the dishes just "turn out that way" the server pointed out to me.