Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated August 29, 2011.

I read about this restaurant in The Vegan Guide to New York City, where it received a great review, and wasn’t disappointed. My experiences with Dim Sum dishes are limited, and I was excited to find a place that served vegan options.

The Vegetarian Dim Sum House is located in China Town, an area in Manhattan which I don’t particularly like. All the restaurants have dead animals hanging in their windows, and I always feel anxious and depressed whenever I walk through this neighbourhood; but I decided to seek out the restaurant anyway and am glad that I did.

The restaurant serves almost exclusively vegan food, and specializes in Dim Sum and mock-meat dishes. They have a huge menu; the variety of food on offer at this place is incredible.

I ordered Dim Sum: steamed Snow Peas Leaves Dumplings ($ 3.50) and fried Sesame Paste Buns ($ 2.95). I chose them as an appetizer, and fully intended to order more food later on, thinking that I would be served small, bite-sized pieces of Dim Sum. Imagine my surprise when I was served three huge pieces of dumplings and four medium-sized sesame buns. I barely managed to eat it all – but did, because the food was delicious.

The Snow Peas Leaves Dumplings tasted unlike anything I’d eaten before and I can’t really describe them (snow peas!); but I’m glad I tried them.

The fried sesame paste buns were sweet dumplings, which I didn’t know when I ordered them, and they made for a great dessert; also a good choice.

The waitress served free tea when I arrived, and I ordered a Pineapple Ice Tea ($ 2.95), which was very refreshing.

The restaurant itself has seen better days and is rather run down (May 2011); but don’t let that deter you from visiting. This is a simple place, where you can eat lots of good food at moderate prices. The Vegetarian Dim Sum House is cash only and doesn’t serve alcohol.

Address: 24 Pell Street, Manhattan

Opening hours: daily 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM

Phone: +1-212-577-7176

The restaurant doesn’t have a Website.

Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated August 9, 2011.

Maoz Vegetarian is a vegetarian fast food chain, where the menu is built around falafels: ground chickpeas mixed with vegetables, herbs, and spices (formed into balls and fried in vegetable oil).

Maoz is not a vegan restaurant chain, they do offer feta cheese and yoghurt sauces, but most of the food at this restaurant chain is indeed vegan.

In Manhattan, there are currently six restaurants; I ate lunch at the Times Square branch. The location is very convenient for tourists, but the restaurant is tiny and take-out only. They do have a small counter in one corner, where two people can put down their food and eat standing up, which is what I did; but that’s it. This location also doesn’t have customer bathrooms. If you want to sit down to enjoy your lunch, you’re better off choosing one of the other locations, most of which have some sort of in-store seating (I don’t know about bathroom facilities).

But let’s talk about the food.

I loved it. Make no mistake, this is a fast food chain: I ordered the “Meal Deal,” which consists of a falafel sandwich (pita bread) with eggplant and hummus, a side order of fries, and a drink.

French fries are never healthy, and I also chose white pita bread (instead of whole-wheat) and lemonade as a drink (freshly squeezed orange juice would have been an option). So this was clearly not the healthiest of lunches; but I chose Maoz exactly for that reason – I was in the mood for French fries, and the fries at Maoz – a mixture of potato and sweet potato fries – were delicious.

At Maoz, the fries are not served with hamburgers, but with falafel sandwiches and hummus and salad. That’s so much better, healthier – and vegan, too.

They also offer a variety of salads, one of their other “Meal Deals” is centered around a salad box.

The bill came to $ 9.45 plus tax and a small tip (for counter service), which wasn’t expensive as portion sizes are very generous. That day, I just ate a couple of pieces of fruit for dinner, because I was still quite full several hours later from my big lunch.

There are photos of the different Maoz Vegetarian branches on the company’s Website, and there are also photographs of the food online. I particularly like that they publish their nutritional charts, as well as a list of possible food allergens. The menu is also available online.

Address for the Times Square branch: 558 7^th Avenue (Corner of 40^th Street), Manhattan

Opening hours at Times Square: Monday through Thursday 11:00 AM – 1:00 AM; Friday and Saturday: open until 2: 00 AM, Sunday: open until midnight.

Phone: +1-212-777-0820

Website: http://www.maozusa.com

Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated July 11, 2011. I deleted inactive links on February 24, 2021.

I spent ten days on a research trip in New York City in May 2011, and the Peacefood Cafe was the first vegetarian restaurant I visited. It was a great introduction to New York vegan dining.

I’d spent the morning at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on 2289 Broadway, and the Peacefood Cafe is just one block away, at 460 Amsterdam Avenue (at 82^nd Street). When I arrived there a little after 11:30 for lunch, half the tables were already occupied. Clearly, the restaurant is very popular amongst the locals.

The Peacefood Cafe serves strictly vegan food. They strive to use seasonal ingredients and locally grown produce. You can check out the daily specials and the regular menu on their Website.

I’d read about the restaurant in The Vegan Guide to New York City, where the reviewers raved about it. They recommended “The Other Cesar” salad, made from romaine lettuce, tomatoes, smoked tempeh, red onions and crostini, so I ordered it as a main dish. It was delicious, and a great choice. I loved the creamy vegan dressing.

I also ordered a side dish, the “Chickpea Fries” (served with a dipping sauce), which is another one of their signature dishes. The fries are quite spicy and I could have used a bit more dipping sauce, as I was served a huge plate of fries, but they, too, were delicious.

The Cesar salad and the chickpea fries especially were so filling that I didn’t eat any other food for the rest of the day and was still not hungry the next morning.

I also very much enjoyed the ambience at the Peacefood Cafe. Huge glass windows let in a lot of light, and the furniture and décor give the restaurant a Bohemian, almost European flair. Add a relaxed and friendly staff, and you make a (very much) jet-lagged traveler very happy.

In addition to the food, I also ordered iced tea, and my total bill, including tax and tip, came to almost $ 25.00. That’s a lot more than what I would usually spend on lunch. The Peacefood Cafe is a great place for special occasions (and New Yorkers, who seem to be used to those prices), but for many tourists from other parts of the country (and the rest of the world) $ 25.00 for lunch is probably a bit steep. I enjoyed my dining experience at the Peacefood Cafe, but spent the rest of my stay in New York City eating at cheaper restaurants.

Check out the Café’s Website, where they don’t only list the menu but also several reviews, which include great photos of the restaurant and some of the dishes (including photos of the Chickpea Fries and The Other Cesar salad).

Address: 460 Amsterdam Avenue at 82^nd Street, Manhattan

Opening hours: not listed on the Website, and unfortunately I didn’t write them down, but The Vegan Guide to New York City lists them as M-F 10am-10pm, and Sa, Su 8am-11pm. I hope they haven’t changed. Call the restaurant, if you want to make sure they are correct.

Phone: +1-212-362-2266

Website: http://www.peacefoodcafe.com

Please note: This article was first published on The Vegan Tourist and last updated May 25, 2019. I deleted inactive links on February 24, 2021.

Update May 25, 2019: This restaurant closed in 2017.

Original blog post:

I spent ten days on a research trip in Manhattan in May 2011, and ate at (mostly vegetarian) restaurants at least twice a day. Lunch at Angelica Kitchen, an organic vegan restaurant in the East Village was hands down the best dining experience I had during my stay in New York City.

The restaurant has been around for a long time, it opened in 1976. It serves 100% vegan food, and at last 95% of the ingredients used are organic and fairly traded. They don’t use refined sugars or preservatives and serve no bottled drinks of any kind (including alcohol). Leftover food is donated to City Harvest, a non-profit organization that “Rescues Food for New York’s Hungry.”

You might find it strange that I start a review with a long introduction into a restaurant’s philosophy; but being vegan is so much more than not wanting to eat meat, fish, and dairy, or refusing to use animal-based products: it’s also about respect for the environment and the desire to minimize one’s ecological footprint.

There are so few restaurants that recognize and honor their responsibility for the environment that it’s important to spread the word about those businesses that try to do more than just serve food.

But enough about philosophy, let’s concentrate on the food:

Angelica Kitchen serves daily specials, which you can look up on their website, in addition to their everyday menu (also available online). I chose one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, which they’ve been serving since they opened their doors 25 years ago: the Dragon Bowl.

The Dragon Bowl is a “combination of basics,” which can be ordered with or without soup and bread, and also as a “Wee Dragon” (half size).

I ordered the “Wee Dragon Bargain,” a half Dragon served with a cup of soup and bread with spread (priced at $ 14.00). I could choose between a selection of dressings, breads, and spreads.

Soup of the Day was creamy sweet potato and coconut with cilantro. It was served with two slices of bread (I chose sourdough) and a spread. I chose the onion spread, miso-tahini and ginger-carrot were the other two available options.

The Dragon Bowl (served on a plate, but named for the Chinese bowls in which these dishes were originally served) consists of brown rice, beans, tofu, sea vegetables, and steamed vegetables. I ordered the Black Sesame Dressing with wasabi, garlic, and toasted sesame oil.

The food was delicious and the portions were huge, even though I only ordered the half Dragon.

The hostess seated me at the communal table, where a pitcher with tap water was freely available, so I didn’t order any drinks. The waitress didn’t pressure me to order a drink in addition to my food, which was nice. It was all very low key and relaxed. I thoroughly enjoyed eating there, and not just because of the food. If you ever visit New York City, make sure to stop by for lunch or dinner.

Angelica Kitchen doesn’t take reservations but seats patrons on a “first come, first served” basis. Please note that the restaurant doesn’t accept credit cards, only cash.

The restaurant has also published a cookbook, “The Angelica Home Kitchen: Recipes and Rabble Rousings from an Organic Vegan Restaurant”.

Address: 300 East 12^th Street between 1^st & 2^nd Aves., NY, NY 10003

Opening hours: daily, 11:30 AM – 10:30 PM

Phone: +1-212-228-2909

Website: no longer in service