on our recent trip to nyc, we ate at our fair share of vegan restaurants and a really damn good one was cafe blossom. there are a few blossom locations in manhattan, but we ate at the up town restaurant on the recommendation from vegan beauty review.

seitan skewers: flame grilled seitan in a bbq sauce served with jicama slaw. $8

we started with an order of seitan skewers, which were fantastic. thick wheat meat mixed up with a tangy yet not too sweet sauce, served with a refreshing side of jicama slaw. we polished them right off. a+!

soy bacon cheeseburger: grilled soy burger topped with caramelized onions, daiya cheese, soy bacon, mushrooms, lettuce and chipotle aioli. $13

we also ordered a soy bacon cheeseburger….and this thing was was not fucking around. it came stacked with a juicy patty, daiya cheese, grilled vegetables and crispy bacon. my only complaint was that the patty was too small for the bun. i mean, look at it—i had to go through two bites of bread before even reaching the “meat”. either way, it was really good and it made me wish LA had more vegan bacon burgers. we ordered it with a side of potato salad, which would have been perfect if it didn’t have bell peppers in it.

southern seitan sandwich: spiced seitan with caramelized onions, avocado and chipotle aioli on foccacia bread. $14

we also shared the southern seitan sandwich with an order of fries. the sandwich was good, but from the description i thought it would be much better. overall it was a little dry and just didn’t hold up to the awesomeness of the bacon cheeseburger. the fries were excellent though, long thin and crispy—some of the best i’ve had in a while.

although the food was on point for the most part, our service was a bit slow. the place wasn’t busy, and we had to go find our server and ask for the check because we’d been sitting there for thirty minutes. oh well, maybe they were just having an off day. either way, i will definitely be back next time i’m in nyc for some more skewers and a bacon cheeseburger.

blossom up town
466 Columbus Avenue, NYC
212-875-2600

Open Daily
Monday – Friday: 11am-10pm
Saturday: 11am-10:30pm
Sunday: 11am-9:30pm

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a warning to all my los angeles readers, before you get your hopes up, lula’s sweet apothecary is located in new york. sad but true…

lula’s is like a modern version of those romantic 1950’s ice cream parlours you grew up hearing about—it’s got a huge menu of various frozen treats, bar stools lining a counter, and friendly staff members who greet you with a smile. the big difference with lula’s is the whole place is 100% VEGAN. that’s right…the floats, shakes, malts, cones, sundaes, and banana splits are all entirely animal-free. woooooo!

brownie sundae: 2 scoops or soft serve + 1 sauce + 1 topping. topped with whipped cream and a cherry. $8.50

my first trip to lula’s in manhattan was in december on the coldest day of 2009. even in that ridiculous weather, a huge brownie sundae smothered in hot fudge and cookie crumbles went down extremely well. for my two ice cream flavors i chose the soft serve “cake batter” and the hand-packed “mint chip,” both of which were exquisite.

when i asked the girl behind the counter what cake batter would taste like, she said casually, “oh it’s like when you are making a cake and then you lick the batter off the mixer…”. granted, i had no idea what to expect after that explanation, but she was right on the money. i haven’t made a cake like that in years, and it’s a taste i would have forgotten entirely, but lula’s really nailed the flavor of old school boxed cake batter. it was like being 8 years old all over again with a box of betty crocker.

everything from the cherry on top to the moist fudgey brownie on bottom, was absolutely perfect. if you are vegan and you like desserts, you will highly appreciate lula’s sweet apothecary.

nothing tasted “dairy-free” at all, this was just seriously some of the best fucking ice cream i’ve ever had in my entire life! and the menu is so massive…i may have to move to new york just so i can make my way through it. wow, so good. vegan bakeries are cool, but i’d like to see a lot more vegan ice cream parlours.

hello! los angeles, you are failing! it is always hot here….and it is always cold in nyc. why do they have such a bad-ass ice cream place and we don’t? sad. sad. sad.

lula’s sweet apothecary
516 E 6th St
(between Avenue A & Avenue B)
New York, NY 10009
(646) 912-4549

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’snice is like the nyc equivalent of cafe muse…but even better. the small and comfy coffee shop in the west village boasts an impressive and entirely vegetarian menu, with plenty of vegan options to choose from. breakfast dishes, sandwiches, salads, wraps, and specials—’snice has it all.

vegan reuben: kraut, vegan thousand island dressing and daiya cheese. $8.75

we tried ’snice on our recent trip to new york, and after all the talk of vegan reubens in LA, of course i had to their take on the classic sandwich. unfortunately we arrived at ’snice at around 10:45am, and although they open everyday early in the morning, they don’t serve lunch until 11. the breakfast options are kind of limited and full of bell peppers, so we decided to wait it out until the full menu was available. when my sandwich finally did arrive, it was well worth the wait! while i wouldn’t call it “the best reuben ever,” it was hearty and delicious….with a huge helping of soft tempeh and melty daiya cheese. i’d recommend it.

vegan panini: smoked tofu, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. $8.75

on top of the reuben, we also split a vegan panini…which was un-fuckin-believable! soft grilled bread, creamy dairy-free pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and huge slabs of firm tofu; could anything be more perfect. while i was a fan of the reuben, this thing was definitely more memorable. if you go to ’snice, you GOTTA TRY the vegan panini.

so visit ’snice when in manhattan for cheapish, satisfying, casual vegan food. it really hits the spot. just be sure to show up AFTER 11am…when all the good stuff on the menu is available.

’snice
45 8th Ave
(between Jane St & West 4th St)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 645-0310

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manhattan is full of upscale places that charge a phenomenally high price for food in a posh, trendy environment…and now vegans can get in on the fun. cocoa v is a recently opened and entirely vegan chocolate & wine bar located in chelsea NYC that definitely offers the fancy pants experience. we hit them up last month on a snowy day for a late afternoon snack and had a very lovely, albeit very expensive time.

although cocoa v has a menu full of incredible-sounding chocolate plates (or as the pretentiously call them, “chocolat” plates), we decided to go the a la carte route and save ourselves for the cheese plate. we had a look at the display case up front an chose a couple stumptown coffee candies, as well as a serving of coffee-flavored chocolate bark. i believe each piece of chocolate was about $4, and while it was tasty, the candy itself did not justify the price. i guess you aren’t just paying for the chocolate though, you are paying for the location, the atmosphere, and the all upperclassy-ness of it all.

we also ordered a few glasses of house red wine and a cocoa v cheese plate, which came with a combo of dr. cow cheese, crackers, strawberries and vegan honey.

the cheese plate was delicious (i am a big fan of dr. cow), although it was phenomenally expensive. it came with 3 small wedges of cheese cut into thirds, and i think the whole plate was about $17. i would probably pay it again though, considering it was so tasty and the ambiance was so relaxing.

overall, i would recommend cocoa v if you want to go somewhere special and don’t mind paying what most people would consider way too much money. our bill before tip for the items pictured above was around $50…but hey, the place is beautiful and it’s a bloody upscale VEGAN chocolate bar in nyc! what do you expect? since our visit, they have posted an expanded menu online which looks pretty interesting. they’ve got stuff like english tea sandwiches, quiche, and even a nutella plate.

i definitely plan to return to cocoa v on my next visit to new york; i just better start saving up for it now.

CocoaV
174 Ninth Ave (20th & 21st)
New York, NY 10011
212-242-3339

Hours:
Mon: 1 PM–8 PM
Tue-Thurs: 11 AM–9 PM
Fri: 11 AM–10 PM
Sat: 10:30 AM–10 PM
Sun: 12 AM–8 PM

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there is a lot to be said for food tourism. sometimes, you just haven’t been somewhere unless you’ve eaten certain things. as far as i’m concerned you’ve never been to paris if you haven’t eaten a warm baguette while walking the streets, nor london if you’ve not enjoyed a crispy basket of chips alongside mushy peas, nor new york city without a fresh bagel and a hot cup of black coffee. i have been lucky enough to check all these things off my list, the last being breakfast at H&H midtown bagels in manhattan.

H and H bagels are famous for being new york’s best, and it’s a good job too…because they are very vegan-friendly. not just are they water-brushed (where as most bagels are coated in egg), but H and H offers THREE TYPES of vegan cream cheese. yep, they’ve got tofutti regular, scallion, and vegetable….all available for your smearing.

i went with an onion bagel slathered in scallion tofu cream, and it was absolutely amazing. seriously, the freshness and thickness of the bread along with the delicate flavors was enough to make LA vegans bow down forever. NOT TO MENTION the fact that it was water-rinsed and filled with vegan cream cheese! amazing.

even at 9:30am on a weekday H and H was super busy, and i can totally see why. if i were vegan and living in NYC, i would get this for breakfast several times per week.

for an authentic AND vegan experience, be sure to hit up H and H midtown bagels.

also authentic and vegan: riding in a taxi! so cool, i don’t think we have these in LA…!

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From the moment I got a voicemail from Pure Food and Wine calling to confirm my reservation I thought I might be in trouble. The person on the other end of the line said “… as you’re not picking up we’ll have to assume this is the right number…”. The reason I didn’t pick up is that I was on an airplane headed to JFK, so fuck you on the attitude.

We booked an early table as we’d been told that the place can sometimes get rather busy and doesn’t always honor its confirmed reservations with decent punctuality. Upon arriving at the the restaurant after a short walk from our hotel at nearby Union Square in sub-zero temperatures, with empty stomachs and a full wallet (more on that later) we were greeted and asked to wait by the door. And wait we did for about 5 minutes while the greeter walked to the back of the restaurant and appeared to be texting somebody from her ‘phone. Oh dear, I sensed trouble ahead.

I tried to crack a trite and harmless joke with the dead-eyed greeter “can we dine on the patio?” which I thought was rather funny considering the blizzard conditions outside and the fact it was covered in snow. Without any eye contact she said “sorry, that’s closed tonight”. Fuck you number two.

After being seated at a rather small two-top against a wall (remember: the restaurant was EMPTY), the greeter resumed her texting, and we waited another 5 minutes before somebody showed up with the wine and food menus. They also offered some kind of fancy filtered tap water which we gleefully accepted before ordering our food and wine. We also asked the server (whom we never saw again after that interaction) if the menu was entirely vegan, to which he replied “of couuuuuurse it is!” in such a patronizing way that I was stunned. Fuck you number three. I pressed further, seeking clarity on the “honey” that was included on several items to be equally patronized: “Well, most vegans eat honey.” Well I don’t, so fuck you number four.

I ended up ordering a horrendously expensive bottle of wine from the list (as none of them were reasonably priced), and we began to settle in and review the food menu, deciding on a HONEY FREE appetizer of “Sushi Rolls with Dr. Cow’s Cheese”, which we ordered when a rather bubbly lady server finally showed up at our table to give us some attention. We also went for the incredible sounding “Thai Coconut Noodles in Galangal Red Coconut Curry: mung bean shoots, heirloom carrot, saffron oil, thai basil.” and “Port Soaked Portabella Mushroom Layered with Spinach and Fennel Caponata. Lemon garlic kohlrabi with smoked paprika aioli, aged balsamic.” for our two entrees, which we decided to share.

Thai Coconut Noodles in Galangal Red Coconut Curry: mung bean shoots, heirloom carrot, saffron oil, thai basil. $24

Upon arrival (remarkably quickly, indicating that these dishes might have been pre-made), the noodle thing was a smallish pile of bland, cold, slimy noodles topped with bean shoots and grated carrots atop some sticky dressing. Upon looking at the menu description, it was just a fancy way of describing exactly what the meal was. To call it disgusting would be an understatement. It was not only cold (as in refrigerator cold) but composed mostly of air and leaves. Still, at only $24 I suppose it was a deal (joke). Fuck you number five.

Port Soaked Portabella Mushroom Layered with Spinach and Fennel Caponata. Lemon garlic kohlrabi with smoked paprika aioli, aged balsamic. $26

Next up was the mushroom thing. If you think that it looks like a couple of portobello mushrooms with some spinach in between them, you wouldn’t be far wrong. The thing was tiny, freezing cold and tasted like the bile one pukes up the morning after food poisoning. Two cold, limp and wet mushrooms still containing the grit from the ground with bell peppers (missing from the long list of ingredients listed in the menu). I can’t imagine how any sane person would want to eat this. The fancy menu description, again, set a stratospherically high expectation for what was a deeply disappointing dish. Sorry, but that thing for $26 deserves a Fuck you number six.

Sushi rolls with Dr. Cow's cheese. $16

The highlight of the meal was clearly the appetizer. We were served very small sushi rolls (both in circumference and length. ahem.) with basic ingredients (mainly daikon sprouts and cucumber) and an almost undetectable amount of Dr. Cow’s cheese deep inside (not that those small roll slices could go deep at all). At $2 per slice, $16 total this was a complete rip-off and wasn’t even that good. Yeah fuck you number seven, Pure Food And Wine.

Oh, and after we placed the order, the only attention we received until check time was from a very polite person (within limited English language skills) delivering food from the kitchen who topped up our glasses on occasion and was otherwise busy bussing tables and sweeping the floors. The server didn’t show up except to try and sell us dessert after everything had been cleared away. There was no enquiry into the food, no “was everything OK?”, NOTHING. She just thrust the desert menu at us and walked away. Fuck you number eight.

The entire time we were there (40 minutes) only a couple of parties showed up, and the waitstaff spent most of their time at the bar area laughing loudly while discussing how cool it would be to live in LA as weed is “legal out there”. I shit you not. At the same time they were enjoying themselves, the bus boy/server/bathroom cleaner/water filler and probably chef was running his ass all over the restaurant keeping everything together.

We paid, and promptly left, $114 poorer (we just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave a tip) and headed to Maoz for some real food – even though we’d choked down every morsel of our meager portions.

We discussed our experience with some fellow vegans via twitter and email that evening, and here are some select responses that we got:

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since we wrote our open letter to chipotle, it appears as if they heard our plea and begun cooking the vegan gardein meat (aka garden blend) separately from all the real meat!

i was first tipped off by a commenter, and then called the west chelsea location myself…and it appears that it’s true!!!!

on the phone, chipotle said the garden blend is vegan. when i asked if the gardein is cooked separately than the meat, they replied, “of course it is! otherwise it wouldn’t be vegan!” they also said they made the decision to cook the gardein in a separate pan LAST WEEK after several people complained. ahem.

so if you are lucky enough to live in NYC (i’m jealous), head on over to the west chelsea chipotle on 8th avenue between 17th and 18th street for a VEGAN GARDEIN BURRITO.

oh and since we got chipotle’s attention with the last letter, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask for one more thing….

dear chipotle,
PLEASE bring vegan garden burrito to ALL YOUR LOCATIONS!!!! and if that’s not possible, and you can only bring it to one more storefront, please bring it to los angeles.
i love you!
quarrygirl

there are a few chipotles in chelsea, and i have read some inaccurate info online about which location has the garden blend. so here is a map just to make sure you go to the right one:

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one thing i really hate about traveling to nyc, is that i always find a wonderful restaurant with food so delicious and lovely, it makes me sad that i can’t pack a lifetime supply and smuggle it back home in my suitcase. sure enough last week when i visited the big apple it happened again, and the one restaurant that screamed “holy shit why don’t we have this in LA?!?!?!” the loudest, was curly’s vegetarian lunch.

curly’s vegetarian lunch is a meatless hole in the wall located in the east village, with a larger than life menu full of greasy diner food that more than makes up for their lack of square footage. to call this place vegan-friendly would be an understatement, considering ANY item curly’s offers can be made vegan (and the most appetizing of the selections are already).

we arrived around noonish on a weekday and were welcomed in from the blustering cold by a friendly gentleman who looked like curly himself, judging by the newspaper clippings hung allover the walls. the service was impeccable; a friendly waitress immediately took our order and was always ready with a refill of hot coffee. we settled on two of the menu items that were vegan by default, the open-faced turkey sandwich and the tofu scramble.

open-faced turkey sandwich: sage and garlic rubbed soy fillet over corn bread stuffing and toasted rye, napped with gravy and served with cranberry dressing, garlicky kale and butternut squash. $12.95

while both dishes were great, and the experience overall i cannot fault….the one thing that keeps haunting my dreams is the FUCKING TASTY TURKEY SANDWICH. i know, i know i rave about food a lot on this blog, but please believe me…this deserves extra attention. first off, it was massive. the plate was so full of food, i only ate about half of it and i went from starving to bloated. secondly, it comes with ample servings of all the food groups we vegans crave: tons of greens, check. seitan, check. ridic amount of gravy, check. not to mention the squash, oily yet fluffy stuffing, and sweet chunky cranberry sauce. wowowow. lastly, this plate (enough to feed 3 people) was under $13….in manhattan. that is less than real food daily, and even m cafe holiday plate prices. oh, and this is offered all year round.

seriously, so many nyc restaurants get talked up, but this REALLY WAS amazing. please put this on your ultimate, must, no matter what, to do list.

on to the next dish! although it was a little late, it was our first meal of the day….so my husband went with the vegan tofu scramble plus added spinach. (curly’s serves breakfast all day!) this thing came fried up with mounds of yellow tofu, sauteed greens, wedges of toast and deliciously crispy curly fries. not quite as good as my sandwich, but definitely a wonderful indulgence.

scrambled tofu: with toast and curly fries. plus spinach. $8.70

look at all that food! eh?!?! i have been brought up to believe that you are supposed to pay more in manhattan for everything…but this was a shit ton of breakfast for under $9, and i challenge you to find a deal that good in LA!

i cannot even stress how superb our experience at curly’s was, and i urge you to visit them whenever you are in nyc. the place is SUPER SMALL (for the LA crowd, it’s about the size of the meet market/flore cafe/the vegan spot) but they do wonders to actually transform it into a comfortable dining experience.

i will be back for sure, because curly’s has earned a place in my heart as one of my favorite restaurants ever.

curly’s vegetarian lunch
328 East 14th Street
New York, NY‎
(212) 598-9998‎
Mon-Fri: 11am-11pm
Sat–Sun 10am-11pm

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You can tell a classy lady just by looking at her, and the same is true of Manhattan’s Candle 79. Ensconced on a wide, tree-lined street in the affluent Upper East Side and surrounded by some of the world’s finest restaurants (and most expensive real estate), Candle 79 has incredibly sexy curb appeal and, like that classy lady, proves that beauty is not only skin deep but the real treasure is what lies within.

On our recent visit, we were treated to some of the finest cuisine we’d ever experienced, in an atmosphere that rivals only Sublime in Fort Lauderdale (the East Coast’s only other vegan fine dining establishment). Probably because we reserved for 6pm and arrived a little early, we lucked out with a great table (actually, a large booth beside the cocktail bar).

Our very attentive server ran over over the menu with us, explaining that the restaurant is entirely vegan, and if the menu said “cheese” or “ice cream” the ingredients were, in fact, vegan. Clearly, this explanation was somewhat reassuring! He then took our drink order, which was a reasonably priced bottle of organic Côtes du Rhône that arrived with a couple of small and complimentary appetizers of sliced zucchini, with a spicy vegetable-infused cream cheese combination atop. They were each gone in one scrumptious bite, and set a realistic expectation for the meal that was to come.

It took us forever to decide what to order as everything on the menu looked astounding. In the end, we mixed up the flavors by going for a Mexican-style appetizer followed by American and Italian-style entrees.

The appetizer was “Angel’s Nachos”, an incredible creation that tasted better than I remember vegetarian nachos being. Here in LA, we have a similar dish from Real Food Daily, which not only costs a few bucks more, but uses chips FROM A BAG (yes, the kind you’d get in a grocery store). Not at Candle 79, as these were freshly fried (one could taste the warm oil), and crunchy. Combined with the the vegetables and seitan created an amazing mouth texture, especially when mixed up with the layers of Daiya cheese, fresh guacamole, salsa and tofu sour cream. These are far and away the best vegan nachos we’d ever eaten, and are worth a trip to Candle 79 alone. Even if you have to walk all the way there from Downtown.

Angel's Nachos: corn chips, cheddar and mozzarella, tomatoes, refried pinto beans, chili-grilled seitan, guacamole, salsa, tofu sour cream, romaine lettuce. $16

Next up were the two entrees. We opted for the black-pepper grilled seitan, in honor of New York’s legendary prowess as the steak capital of the world. Oh, and this was amazing. I’d never had anything grilled with a balsamic base before, and this turned me on to a whole new avenue of taste. The texture of the seitan was very “grill-like”, with burned edges and a soft, succulent interior – rather like the descriptions I found online of high-end fillet steak.

Black Pepper & Balsamic Grilled Seitan: sautéed haricots verts, leeks, almonds, cornmeal crusted onion rings, celeriac purée. $23

This, combined with green beans, and a celery mashed potato-style base, all drizzled with a tasty and tangy sauce was an incredible mash-up (no pun intended!) of taste. I would be remiss not to mention the onion rings, which were perfectly crunchy and had a cornmeal batter, making them rather interesting, and a perfect compliment to the tasty seitan.

So, after paying vegan homage to NYC’s steak-house history we decided to move things up a notch and go for something Italian-style, as Italian food is usually better here than in Italy itself (go ahead, argue in the comments). Our Italian-style entree was a mixture of succulent vegetables (mainly wild mushrooms) and porcini crusted tofu sauteed up a treat in a smooth and slightly sweet red wine sauce with a layered cheese and root vegetable gratin, all on a bed of spinach, soaked in the red wine sauce.

Porcini Crusted Tofu: sauteed spinach, root vegetable gratin, wild mushrooms, red wine sauce. $22

Again, an amazing intersection of taste and textures with perfectly cooked ingredients coming together in just the right way. The layered cheese thing was out of this world – I wish I knew exactly what it is as I’d be most interested in trying to create it myself. Not that I could, but it’s nice to pretend.

Finally, for desert, we continued the Italian theme with a warm cannoli, filled with vanilla cream and topped with chocolate chip ice cream. The server also bought us some complimentary home-made ice cream (see later for why we got it for free), which went down extremely well with the cannoli. I think one of the successes of a vegan desert is that it should not taste “vegan”, and none of this stuff did. The vanilla filling was like a heavy-cream and powdered sugar filling in a non-vegan cannoli, and the ice cream tasted just like, well, very nice ice cream you’d buy in an up-market ice cream parlor. The desert was amazing, and we were very full upon leaving the restaurant.

Cannoli: vanilla cream filling, vanilla chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate drizzle. $12

On this visit, the service was excellent, but being early the place was only starting to fill up as we left. We tried to visit Candle 79 a year or so before, waited 30 minutes for our table (even after our allotted reservation time was up), got the shittiest table in the place and finally walked out after another 20 minutes as nobody came to serve us. Also, even on this trip, we did find the staff a little snooty – I don’t think they appreciated my bright yellow bobble-hat I wore upon arriving out of the 20 degree cold. When we ordered dessert, the server asked if it was our first trip to Candle 79, and we recounted (politely) our experience the first time around. He apologized, and kindly gave us some free ice cream “for your inconvenience last time”. See told you they were a little snooty, but this gesture was much appreciated.

Homemade Ice Cream & Sorbet Sampler: chef's daily selection. $9

Also, our server neglected to tell us they had any specials, and I listened to several other customers getting a run-down of some amazing-sounding specials. Not that I’m really upset as I liked what we ordered, but it would have been nice to have the same choices as the other guests. Maybe he was just too much in shock about my bobble hat…?

So, to sum up, if you’re lucky and you get a nice table and a good server you will have one of the finest vegan dining experiences possible. Yeah it’s was pricey (our bill came to just shy of $150 with tip), but, like a classy lady, Candle 79 really is worth every penny.

Candle 79
154 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10021
(212) 537-7179

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well, my dear readers, it’s about time for your humble narrator’s vegan culinary tour of manhattan to come to a stop. and what better way for me to end the string of quarrygirl nyc posts than to leave you with my absolute favorite meal from manhattan: brunch at an awesome little restaurant called counter.

like most places worth eating at in new york, counter is trendy. counter is pricey. counter is maybe even a bit pretentious. but counter is sooooooo worth it. i read about this swanky little restaurant originally on one of my favorite la based blogs, huggerfood, and i decided that i had to dine there on my trip, no matter what. when another new york based blog backed it up as being the best brunch spot in town, i dedicated an entire saturday morning to trekking across manhattan in search of the perfect post-hangover eats.

i found my way there and…..wow. wow. wow!!!! counter was fucking incredible. it’s a snazzy vegetarian joint where most of the food is vegan, the service is friendly, the digs are posh, and the ingredients are top-notch.

frittata alla fiorentina: tofu frittata with a creamy mushroom hollandaise on a bed of spinach with home fries. $9.75

i ordered the frittata alla fiorentina, because the tofu patties and vegan hollandaise sauce sounded absolutely divine. the dish lived up to its hype and so much more. a firm vegetable-tofu medley was formed into two succulent patties and topped with the most incredible eggless creamy sauce and made for the perfect late morning meal. plus, the course came with an ample serving of dark leafy greens and thick, fried potatoes. they also gave me a serving of vegan nutella on the house. i just had to have it after reading about it on huggerfood. even without any pastries to spread it on, counter’s vegan nutella was delightful, and acted as a great condiment for all my food.

the brunch was amazing—everything was out of this world. the real kicker is, the tofu patties actually contained bell peppers (which i hate) and i was still able to eat them. there’s absolutely no logical explanation for that…the food was just THAT FUCKING GOOD! i am still trying to rationalize it.

being seitan obsessed, my husband was thrilled to see the east side burger on the brunch menu at counter. he didn’t let the fact that it was 11 am stop him from ordering a slap-up meal consisting of a huge vegan burger and thick, juicy, sliced potato french fries.

east side burger: wild mushroom pâté, housemade seitan & fresh herbs with all the normal fixin's. $10

there was nothing at all to fault about the east side burger. i tried it, and it was one of the best vegan burgers i’ve ever had. the patty was absolutely huge, and obviously homemade….none of that freeze-dried shit. this was the real deal. vegetables, grains, soy protein, all blended together perfectly to taste hearty and slightly unhealthy. if we lived in new york, we’d be at counter every weekend for brunch, most def.

after wolfing down two incredible brunch items at counter, i was super satisfied…but also extremely disappointed that i wouldn’t be in town long enough to sample their plentiful dinner menu. i guess there’s always next time.

wrapping up my tour of nyc, i gotta say, counter was the most bitchin’ place i ate at. a dripping saucy tofu breakfast, chunky and rich clumps of vegan nutella, lush & fried perfectly seasoned potatoes and a juicy thick vegan-grain burger patty made for the most amazing meal i’ve had in quite some time. when in nyc, get your ass to counter.

thanks for reading, now i’m back home…so you’d better get ready for a shitload of cool posts about vegan los angeles.

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quarrygirl’s tour of nyc continues! in this installment, we’re here to tell you all about a cozy little chinese joint in manhattan called zen palate.

you see, here in los angeles when you hear “vegan asian food”, you probably think of one of the 975,000 vegan thai restaurants that are so popular here. well, nyc is packed full of vegan options that aren’t thai food: chinese, korean, malaysian, you name it! what a relief.

granted these places are usually a lot more expensive than the thai ones i’m used to here in la, it’s usually pretty easy to sneak in on a lunch special and get a fixed price meal for not a lot of money. zen palate, a semi-fancy chinese vegetarian restaurant located right in the hustle and bustle of midtown, has a pretty good deal going where during the day, you can get an appetizer, rice and a tasty entree for just under ten bucks. plus, the menu has tons of vegan options and anything that contains dairy or eggs is clearly marked. my husband and i had to check it out.

shredded melody (with taro spring rolls and rice): shredded soy protein stir-fried with celery, carrots, zucchini, & pine nuts in a light garlic sauce. $9.50

my husband ordered the shredded melody, which was definitely the favorite at the table. it had so many vegetables, delicious and garlicky sauce with thin strips of soy meat. plus, it came with pine nuts…which i love and have never ever eaten an asian dish. seriously, so good. the taro rolls were delicious as well, albeit fried and pretty unhealthy tasting.

i opted for the tofu delight, because i love black bean sauce, and it was pretty good as well.

tofu delight (with taro spring rolls and rice): soft tofu with zucchini & tomatoes in a black bean sauce. $9.50

the tofu was soft and silken, but cooked sooooo nicely. i think they must have fried it, because the outside got kinda crispy and developed a bit of a skin, but the inside stayed fluffy and white. the black bean sauce was delicious as well, and perfectly coated the yummy array of vegetables. so lovely to have vegan chinese food for a change, and not have to worry about anything icky like fish stock or even cross-contamination.

overall, zen palate was lovely. judging by the menu, it may be a bit pricey for dinner, but their lunch specials are a deal and a half! the service is great as well, they were happy to accommodate my obsessive orders that nothing contain bell peppers, and they were quite knowledgeable about veganism upfront about their ingredients. plus the food came out in like 5 minutes….now that i like!

so check out zen palate when you visit nyc for some fast, tasty, no-brainer chinese food. ahhhhh, such a welcome rest from all this los angeles thai fare.

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on my recent trip to nyc, it’s an understatement to say i was stoked to try out better burger, a natural and healthy “fast food” joint with a huge menu and some very impressive vegan options. they had so many choices, from multiple vegan burgers to a vegan hotdog, even sides like vegan chili. so when i read a positive review of them on another blog, i made it my mission to get to better burger no matter what.

ick, what a letdown. better burger ended up being anything but. i guess it was better than eating a meat burger, but it sure wasn’t better than any of the boca burgers in my freezer at home…especially considering the price, service, presentation, and amount of time the food took to arrive. when my husband and i went to better burger, we were the only people eating in the restaurant…and from the time we placed our order at the counter, it took 25 minutes for our food to arrive. food which ended up being very meh.

homemade veggie burger: a medley of organic grains & veggies. $5.99 + soy american cheese. $1.25

one good thing about better burger, is they have 2 different vegan burgers and each one scratches a different itch. they have the savory soy burger, which consists of a meaty protein patty that’s more like a real hamburger—and then they have the homemade veggie burger, which is a blend of grains and vegetables, you know, a more “healthy” tasting hippie-style burger. i went with the homemade veggie burger which wasn’t totally awful, but it was definitely the wrong choice for me. some of the prominent vegetables making up the patty happened to be bell peppers, which i absolutely deplore. i covered the thing in ketchup, mustard, and anything else i could find, but the taste wouldn’t go away. i ended up only being able to stomach about half the burger.

that’s my own fault though, not everyone hates bell peppers. even then, the patty was dry beyond belief and kind of burnt. i wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. plus, i forked out an extra buck 25 for a slice of soy cheese which tasted like tofutti straight out of the fridge. it was cold and lifeless, not even slightly melted. highway robbery, i tell ya.

my husband, on the other hand, was in more of a meaty mood. so he went with the savory soy burger and some baked fries. they were also pretty disappointing.

savory soy burger: rich, hearty flavor turns soy into high protein salvation. $5.99 + soy american cheese. $1.25 + air-baked fries. $2.75

the savory soy burger was puny, and at these prices we expected so much more. plus the presentation was poor, the vegetables didn’t taste fresh, and again the cheese was limp and chilly. ugh. not to mention the soggy fries and the inexcusably stale bun.

when they took 25 minutes in the kitchen (seriously, i’m not exaggerating!), we thought they were making some awesome homemade patties that would be so much better than the mass produced vegan burgers most sit down fast food joints use (for instance, johnny rockets offers a boca burger), but no way. this homemade burger wasn’t better than its brand name counter parts, in fact it was much much worse.

it was tasteless. it was overcooked. it was small. the best way i can describe it is “pffffffft.”

oh wait, and i haven’t told you the worst part about better burger. when we dined in, they had a really loud radio station playing. you know the type, where obnoxious top 40 hits blare through tinny speakers and annoying djs interrupt the awful music to shout cheesy one-liners and throw to advertisements? well it was one of those, on a bad day. see, while we were there the station was having a beyonce marathon. i’m talking stale songs from 5 years ago (think “crazy in love” and “baby boy“) turned right up, all the way to 11.

imagine sitting with that, on an empty stomach for 25 minutes, then having to listen to it while you eat the most depressing meal you’ve had in days. total hell on earth.

so as you can imagine, my recommendation is to skip better burger when you visit new york. maybe it has a place for vegans who live there and have exhausted all their options….but for vacationing vegans, manhattan has so many better restaurants to offer. eat at every single one of those first.

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on quarrygirl’s recent vegan tour of manhattan, we went to plenty of restaurants, and red bamboo was probably my 2nd favorite (trust me, it was really freakin’ close!). of course we’ll save the #1 favorite for last.

red bamboo is bustling little stylish restaurant located on 4th street in greenwich village, with tons of cocktails and an impressive wine list. from the online menu, you’d think they were homestyle comfort soul food restaurant. …and they kind of are, just with an uber-hip and classy twist. cute white tables are packed together neatly in the dimly lit interior, where smartly-dressed servers wait on an array of cosmopolitan earth-conscious yuppies and cooler-than-thou fashionista hipsters.

the food, however, isn’t trendy and doesn’t arrive in small, fancy portions. it’s just fucking good vegan fare, presented elegantly and prepared with fine ingredients. if i lived in new york, red bamboo would be my go to. alcohol, kick-ass vegan eats, and a huge selection. what more do i require?

we started off with an appetizer that i can’t find on the online red bamboo menu. i can only describe it to you as a thick piece of soy meat sandwiched between two white rice patties, along with some vegetables. sounds a little weird, i know, but it was awesome! the rice stuck together and acted as a totally refreshing replacement for standard ole buns—we loved every bite. the patty inside was also to die for. it was slim and crisp, but full of amazing flavor. i wish i could remember what it was called or exactly how much it cost…but you will know it if you dine in and see it on the menu, and i recall it was a reasonable price.

rice patty appetizer with vegetables and dipping sauce.

for my entree, i ordered the philly cheesesteak sandwich. i was anxious to see if this swanky nyc joint could hold it’s own against my los angeles favorites, doomie’s and the vegan spot. of course, red bamboo stepped up to the challenge.

philly cheesesteak: tender marinated soy beef chunks layered over caramelized onions, sliced mushrooms, and melted vegan cheddar cheese served on toasted hero bread. $9.95

this modest looking sandwich packed so much flavor and awesomeness, i had to ask my server if she was sure they used the vegan cheese (normal cheese is also an option). the vegan cheese on this sandwich wasn’t that gooey creamy stuff that i’m used to back home. this was just soft, melted, “normal” looking and tasting slices of cheddar. seriously, it’s  closest i’ve ever had to the real thing. the fake meat was also eerily convincing. i can definitely see why red bamboo is known to be the best at re-creating old school meaty flavors.

my husband’s dish was even more carnivore-friendly. he got something called voodoo sticks, which were basically long nuggets of soy meat. they were crazy good.

voodoo sticks: grilled soy beef and pepper kabobs served with rice and steamed vegetables. $8.95

now, queazy vegans, don’t let all this talk about “meat” creep you out. the texture of this soy stuff doesn’t have any of the grossness of the real thing, and it doesn’t really taste like flesh. it basically brings over all the good stuff like meaty flavor and thickness, and i have absolutely no idea how they do it. seriously, the voodoo sticks were the most insane soy meat i’ve ever tried. how this started out as any kind of vegetable is way beyond me. the edges even got crispy while the inside stayed moist. it was one of the most delectable things i’ve eaten in quite a while.

just look at this stuff. you know you want it.

so, overall red bamboo is pretty freakin’ special. they have a cool atmosphere, vegan comfort food, and the best fake meat i’ve ever tried. i urge you to check this place out. i’ve never been anywhere quite like it. you may have to wait a little while for a table like i did, but i assure you it was worth my while.

red bamboo
140 w 4th street
ny ny 10014

(212)260-1212

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Every few years, a great culinary idea comes along that revolutionizes fast food. Over the past 50 years we’ve seen burger chains, pizza chains, burrito chains, sandwich chains and even coffee chains. The basic premise is the same: “Here’s our basic product, now you tell us what you want on it or in it and we’ll complete the preparation just for you!”. And, it works. In my vegetarian days I used to love experimenting with different pizza toppings, and still now, a visit to a Subway fills me with excitement as I get to decide every time what kind of vegetables I want on my Veggie Delite(tm).

Now, the vegetarian and (more to the point) vegan world has no specialist fast food concepts that are aimed directly at us. Of course, we can get ’something’ at most chain establishments but food preparation practices and very limited choice typically leave us with the least appetizing thing on the menu.

A small, European-based chain called Maoz threatens to change all this with a stunningly simple, yet highly compelling, concept that’s vegetarian in nature but appeals to carnivores as well. With today’s emphasis on fast, healthy food that’s inexpensive I think they might just be on to something. See how deceptively simple the menu is! (pdf link)

At a Maoz you get handed a warm, soft pita bread with a few perfectly cooked and very tasty falafel balls deep inside, and your choice of several integrated condiments (I like Humous, but there are two other vegan options), then (get THIS!) they let you loose on an amazing cold salad bar that’s NOTHING like you’ve ever seen before. Here’s my Maoz, after salad bar application, outside the Union Square outlet this past weekend.

I’ve visited two outlets: Union Square (twice!) and London once. Both were highly consistent and tasted almost exactly the same. That’s a good sign for fast food, as the founder of McDonald’s, Sam McDonald (or whatever his name was) had an obsession about the customer experience being the same globally. Now, talking of customer experience, you’re in and out of the place pretty quick. Even on crazily busy Union Square Market Day. 

It works as follows:

• You line up
• You order a “Maoz with X”, where X is the condiment you want
• They hand it to you, usually within a minute
• You get to peruse and help yourself to as many things as you want from the salad bar
• You get to stand in the street and eat your Maoz, or take it back to the office

 
The real kicker here is not so much the amazing pita and falafel but the incredible choice of salad items you can put on it. Here’s what I put on mine:

Spicy Mushrooms with Chilies, Toasted Broccoli and Cauliflower, Carrot and Garlic Pickle, Onion and Chili relish, Fresh Zucchini and Lime

I then proceeded to add some amazing cilantro-based hot sauce all over the top before retiring to a bench in the square to eat my lunch. Miss Anthrope was a little more cautious (her noted hatred of bell peppers can only be described as a handicap in situations such as this), opting instead for only Cous Cous, Tabouli and Tahini:

But, even with such a limited selection, the Anthropic One had one heck of a sandwich to enjoy. I hope beyond hope that Maoz takes off in the US. They seem to be opening more outlets (Washington DC and somewhere on the West Coast [Seattle or Vancouver - difficult to tell from the map] are about to open, and they have a franchise application on the US site, which (if we were not in a historic credit crunch) would be a great indicator of more restaurants in the US to come.

Regardless, I’ll be in London in a few weeks and will report back on Maoz, along with a storyboard of ordering and dressing the perfect sandwich.

Do visit one of their locations if you can. You won’t regret it, even if you have to fly to Amsterdam or Mumbai to enjoy. Meanwhile, here’s the Union Square location exterior:

If you ever walk past, please stop in for a Maoz. All this deliciousness was only $9.90 + TAX. Can’t think of a better deal for fast, healthy nutritious food in Manhattan — or elsewhere!

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what self-respecting, sweets-lovin’ vegan doesn’t go nuts over the thought of VEGAN CUPCAKES!!?? i know i do. and since leda’s bakeshop in los angeles has practically shut down, i’ve been fiending for my next vegan cupcake fix. that’s why when in nyc, i absolutely had to check out manhattan’s famous vegan bakery, babycakes! i sure wasn’t disappointed.

cookies 'n cream frosted cupcake: $3.95

for my cupcake choice, i went with a chocolate cake topped of with cookies ‘n cream frosting. it was out of this world. the cupcake sure wasn’t as pretty or daintily decorated as the ones over at leda’s, but it tasted even better. the frosting was by far the best part, being rich, creamy, and full of little chocolate chunks. the cake was moist and decadent as well…i seriously could have eaten like 5 of these. so friggin’ delicious.

best frosting ever.

i happened to be at babycakes on halloween, so they had a selection of ghoulish goodies for sale as well. i decided to buy a variation of the chocolate chip cookie sandwich with orange frosting and the word “BOO” written on it.

chocolate chip cookie sandwich, halloween style! $4.25

the cookie sandwich was even more scrumptious than the cupcake and filled with so much sticky-gooey frosting. i loved every last bite. seriously, i can’t figure out how they get a frosting with no eggs and no dairy to taste so damn rich and creamy.

the cookies themselves were incredible as well. crunchy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside, and littered with almost-melting chocolate morsels. by far the best cookie sandwich i’ve ever had. now if only they sold a version with soy ice cream in the middle. mmmm.

i can’t wait to get back to nyc and eat at babycakes again and again. rumor has it they are even gonna open one in los angeles, right here in our very own weho! i hope that happens sooner rather than later. i don’t think i can wait.

everything i tried at babycakes was off the chain and worth raving about. although their treats are pretty expensive, they make up for it with healthier, natural, organic and VEGAN ingredients along with a tastiness that is unmatched. yum. yum. yum.

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