Stop Spreading the News

it’s time we talked about the mediocrity of food in NYC

Hey there Broiler Heads, Michelle here back from my vacation in New York City with a full belly and lots of opinions. Every trip I’ve ever taken in my life has always been an excuse for me to eat a ton of new food and try a bunch of new places. This last trip was no different. So this week I thought I’d share some of the favorite places I ate and some places I’d avoid if you’re planning a trip to New York City. I usually shy away from reviewing restaurants because it’s extremely subjective but shit is truly too expensive out here for me to keep my opinions to myself.

I never visited New York City with any regularity before our first book dropped in 2014. I grew up in the Bay Area and have lived in Los Angeles and San Diego most of my adult life, which made flying to NYC prohibitively expensive. Our publisher is based in New York so I was very excited to have a reason and the money to visit the city. I was ready to be floored since the reputation of the NYC’s food scene proceeds itself but honestly, I’ve always been left wanting. Yes, the number of vegan restaurants and places with vegan options have grown exponentially since 2014 and that is a great thing. But overall, even the best meals I’ve had in New York (RIP Franny’s and Kajitsu) still pale in comparison to the average meals I have here in Los Angeles. I believe that LA’s longer growing season, proximity to top quality raw ingredients, and the affordability of those ingredients means that of our food tastes exponentially better. The New York food scene is largely coasting on its reputation as a culinary hot spot from the decades in the 1900’s when they didn’t have much stateside competition. Maybe if I exclusively ate at fine dining establishments, I’d see things differently but I eat like a normal person-albeit a vegan one- so I didn’t give my last good kidney to eat blanched asparagus at Eleven Madison Park.

Here are some of the places I liked, the places that are fine but not worth going twice, and the places to avoid in New York City.

pumpkin pie macaroon which I would kill for

Right up top, no visit to New York for any vegan or lover of sweet things is complete without a stop at Confectionary! right outside Thompson Square Park. Everything from the cookies, chocolates, macaroons, caramels, down to the *vibes* are fucking immaculate. I have never had a single bad thing here and it’s obvious that Lagusta Yearwood and her team put a lot of love and attention into everything they make. Sure, you can order their treats through the mail but I highly recommend that you visit them in-person at their original New Paltz location or here on the Lower East Side. I am always impressed with what they churn out and I can’t imagine anyone not being head over heels in love with their creations. Absolutely worth the price.

Located inside Chelsea Market, Very Fresh Noodles lives up to the name as you can watch the kitchen staff pulling the noodles and cooking them to order as you wait. I got the spicy vegan noodles as a soup and the vegan dan dan mian. The soup was the standout; the cumin in the broth mixed with the Sichuan peppercorn in a way that made me wonder why I haven’t eaten the two together more often. The noodles are perfectly chewy and delicious. There’s chunks of mock duck in there which isn’t my favorite but everything else was so perfect it didn’t bother me much. The dan dan mian was good but at a certain point the tingly spiciness of the peppercorns overwhelmed whatever other flavors were going on in there.

horrible night photo, sorry

Little Myanmar is Manhattan’s only Burmese restaurant so luckily, it’s fucking delicious and has tons of vegan options. I was a little thrown by the high price of their tea leaf salad, which I got with added corn, but once it arrived, I understood. There is hardly any cabbage or other leafy filler. You’re paying for a shitton of fermented tea leaves and all the fixings which is completely worth it. This was the only place I didn’t order a ton of different dishes and honestly I regret it.

Café Himalaya on the Lower East Side is a tiny place but the food is fast, affordable and pretty damn good. The lentil soup was forgettable- like most lentil soups- but the both kinds of momos I had were delicious. The dumpling skin was crispy and substantial with the potato fillings really stealing the show. The dipping sauce was fine but not really needed. A great, affordable stop with lots of clearly labeled vegan options on the menu.

pic of their wonton from the internet because i forgot to snap a photo

Spicy Moon is one of the few all-vegan places I’ve tried in NYC before that I’ve made an effort to return to. This trip I visited their West Village spot though I don’t think the menu really differs based on the location. Their vegetable wontons in chili oil are great and I recommend ordering two if you have dumpling lovers at your table because I can eat one order on my own with zero effort. Their dan dan noodles were just okay, but the cold sesame noodles and scallion pancakes were delicious and made for great leftovers. I really wanted to try their hen of the woods bao bun but they were out of it that night so I left a little heartbroken.

it’s fine

Artistic Pizza is an otherwise forgettable slice shop BUT it was one of the only spots I found in the city that offered vegan slices that weren’t just toppings and sauce and/or didn’t use Daiya which I personally dislike. It’s cheap, they have a good mix of vegan options, and they’re open until 1 am. No notes.

Murphy’s is a Jamaican patty spot in the East Village that offers a vegan patty filled with black beans, carrots, peas, and some other veggies. It was great paired with their lemonade but I wish the crust was as flaky and golden as the non vegan varieties. Still, even just one was super filling and their lemonade was fucking perfect.

pulled from their Yelp but you get the idea

John’s of 12th Street gets a lot of attention for having a separate vegan menu about a decade before the rest of the city and that’s great. But the food? It needs an update. It’s not hard to make Italian food delicious and vegan but everything from this place is just okay. It will do if you’re in the area but don’t make a special trip. You can make better food at home for a lot less money.

Beatnic is the rebranded, revamped all-vegan chain originally called By Chloe (read about the drama here) with locations all over NYC. I only went here because it was conveniently located to what I was doing one day but damn if it wasn’t bland as hell. I got the caesar salad, and the dressing was flavorless, the croutons were sweet (?!), and “shiitake” bacon was made from regular ass mushrooms. The mac and cheese was bland and the only thing that had any flavor was the buffalo cauliflower. Don’t waste your time or money.

Despite my lukewarm affection for the food of New York, I had a wonderful time visiting old friends, going to museums, and eating everything. And the bookstores?! My god. I had to buy another suitcase to fit all the books I bought from cute shops like this one.

Truthfully I hadn’t been on a plane since before the 2020 shutdown, so the whole trip was overwhelming and sorely needed. I hope the city stops resting on its laurels because I’ve had better, more inventive vegan food in places like Memphis, Richmond, VA, and Wolfville, Nova Scotia. And at way better prices. I’m sure I’ll be back soon so if there are spots you think I missed, let me know in the comments.

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Thanks for joining us here in The Broiler Room. Paid subscribers to our Sunday recipe club will get our Fall Spiced Maple Syrup tomorrow which is kicking off a new three part recipe series that will build on each other. Wanna join in? It’s worth it just for all the holiday foods we’ve got planned out. Trust us.

Michelle and Matt