Big Nick’s

This is a special treat for me! Big Nick’s is a burger and pizza joint that has made UWS residents a very lucky crowd since 1962. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! It’s menu use to be a 27 pages booklet and after eating there for nearly a decade, I still have not tried everything on it!

Name: Big Nick’s

Description: An old New York Burger and Pizza joint.

Web Site: http://bignicksnyc.com/

Address: 2175 Broadway, New York, NY 10024 (btwn 76^th and 77^th)

Phone: (212) 362-9238

Sanitary Inspection Grade: A

Vegetarian Rating:

Meat lover Rating:

Vegetarian Meatball Hero

A small portion of the endless veggie options

Outside of Big Nick’s (Picture from The missadventures of Nina)

Big Nick’s counter on the burger side (Picture from KenRockwell.com)

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Big Nick’s is truly a classis for the west siders. At any time of the day or night, you can walk in here and get pretty much Anything you want. There is something for everyone. Breakfast, pizza, burgers, desserts, vegetarian, vegan, whatever, you name it, you got it at Big Nick’s! I have many favorites here but speaking of vegetarian food, one of my favorites is the vegetarian meatball hero with mozzarella cheese (they also have soy cheese available). Everything is made fresh when you order. Make your order a deluxe and enjoy the steak fries, pickles, and coleslaw with it.

 

Basically, this is a spot you have to try and no matter what you order, you can’t go wrong! If you are lucky, you might even catch Big Nick sitting at the end of the bar!

Café Blossom

Blossom was highly recommended by a few friends as well as a “best of” list from Refinery29 so I had to try it. I went to Café Blossom located on the UWS instead of its original sister restaurant in Chelsea.

 

Name: Café Blossom

Description: An organic and vegan restaurant.

Web Site: http://www.blossomnyc.com/cafeblossom.php

Address: 466 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024 (btwn 82^nd and 83^rd)

Phone: (212) 875-2600

Sanitary Inspection Grade: A

Vegetarian Rating:

Meat lover Rating:

Seitan Skewers
house-made bbq sauce, onions and peppers, jicama carrot coleslaw

Spicy Tofu Sandwich (with french fries)
marinated tofu, carrot and jicama slaw, cucumber, sprouts, avocado,
peanut sauce, on rosemary focaccia

Soy Filet Sandwich (with sweet potato fries)
basil pesto, soy mayo, tomato, vegan mozzarella, baby greens,
citrus dressing, on rosemary focaccia

Pink Lady beet, pineapple, ginger, pear

Café Blossom is a organic vegan store that is described as an animal-loving establishment. It aims to provide it’s customers with the best local ingredients and promote a healthy conscious lifestyle. The food was absolutely great especially the Seitan skewers. The seitan was covered in a great bbq sauce and the salad that accompanied the dish was simply delightful. I strongly recommend the Spicy tofu sandwich, the taste, the texture, the spice, and the crunch from the cucumber created a perfect balance to each bite. I would also recommend trying their sweet potato fries even if you are usually not a fan. It is one of the best sweet potato fries I’ve tried. You can absolutely taste how fresh it is and its natural sweetness. The only downside to the meal is the Pink Lady fresh juice that I ordered. It is slightly too strong on the ginger and personally I like to have my drinks colder.

This is a great place for vegetarians to gather but for a meat lover, it was alright. I had more trouble picking something that I think I would enjoy from the menu. The menu did not have as many “substitute” dishes that is familiar to a meat eater and the overall feel to the place is a bit on the further down on the side of “vegetarianism.” Overall, I enjoyed a great meal and if you are vegetarian or vegan, don’t miss this place!

Candle Café West

Oh Candle Café… as soon as I stepped out of the place, I was looking at my schedule trying to figure out when I can come back again!

Name: Candle Café West

Description: An organic and vegan restaurant.

Web Site: http://www.candlecafe.com/west/index.html

Address: 2427 Broadway, New York, NY 10024 (btwn 89^th and 90^th)

Phone: (212) 769-8900

Sanitary Inspection Grade: A

Vegetarian Rating:

Meat lover Rating:

Candles Nachos

Chili-grilled seitan, tapioca cheese, tomatoes, chili, guacamole, salsa, tofu sour cream, romaine lettuce and corn chips

Cajun Seitan Sandwich

Cajun crusted seitan, arugula, caramelized onions and avocado served on grilled focaccia with ancho chili aioli and mixed field greens with cherry tomatoes

Southern Plate

Barbequed seitan, macaroni & cheese, chili, sautéed greens and corn bread

Passion Fruit Smoothie Passion fruit, orange, grapefruit, chia seeds and agave

Candle Café West is an vegan restaurant with a focus on being fresh, organic, and delicious with exceptional service. It joins the category of “from farm to table” food services and has out done itself. Not only is the food amazing, it also has a great eco friendly bar and dessert menu that perfectly complimented the meal.

Let’s start with the service, the staff at Candle was excellent! Everyone was friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and borderline psychic. Water glasses were filled, plates taken away, everything done just right. The food, oh what can I say, it was perfect! Not only were the seitan (fake meat made from wheat) in my Cajun Seitan Sandwich done perfectly with texture and taste, the over all meal was simply amazing. The food was so good I couldn’t careless that it wasn’t real meat that I was eating. Unfortunately, the same thing happens every time I have great food, no room left for dessert!!! I had my eyes on the Black and White Empanadas (Filled with chocolate rice pudding, served with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce) which sounds amazing! Let’s just say, I definitely plan on going back to Candle soon.

Soy and Sake!

First stop, Soy and Sake Café in West Village for some delicious classic pan-Asian dishes!

Name: Soy and Sake Cafe

Description: A Soy vegan Restaurant.

Web Site: http://www.soyandsake.com/

Address: 47 7th Ave S #1 New York, NY 10014

Phone: (212) 255-2848

Sanitary Inspection Grade: A

Vegetarian Rating:

Meat lover Rating:

Coconut Crusted Chicken

Oven roasted soy chicken, top w. coconut, grilled pineapple, sweet chili sauce

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Breaded soy chicken or soy pork, onions, pineapples, lychees, green and red peppers with sweet and sour sauce

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Soy and Sake Café is considered a typical pan-Asian restaurant. It’s big menu incorporates classic Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and Malaysia dishes. The big difference is, all the meats here are made from soy! The fake meats are so well done in every aspect especially when it comes to the texture where a lot of fake meats fails. After biting into my Sweet and Sour Chicken, I had to double check to make sure it is really not real meat that I’m chewing on. If I didn’t know what I was getting into, I would’ve had a great meal without ever knowing that it was a vegetarian meal! This is really a great place for the vegetarian lovers out there that can never eat the good old General Tso’s Chicken, Peking Duck, Curry Lamb, Szechuan Beef, and all kinds of sushi with soy eel, soy crab, soy shrimp and so on!

Veg Out NYC!

There is a ton of reasons on why people become vegetarians, vegans, etc. It could be religious, health, political, environmental, ethical/philosophical, or that they simply never enjoyed the taste of meat (this one I never understood)… Luckily for them, NYC is perhaps one of the easiest places in the world to be one while still able to enjoy a wide variety of the world cuisines! Anywhere you go, you can at the very least find a veggie burger, a simple pasta, or if you get desperate, the grill cheese on the kids menu.

As a foodie who loves meat, I often feel bad for the vegetarians around me that they will never understand what they are missing out! Through my years of experience of living and hanging out with vegetarian family and friends, I would to share some great dining experiences with meat lovers out there on how to eat vegetarian… and enjoy it too! Whether you are doing this for one of the reasons I listed above or simply to finally have a nice place to take your vegetarian friend or family where everyone at the table can actually be adventurous and enjoy a great meal!

Well, let words be words and let’s start eating great!