48 hours in New York City
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Earlier this year I was in New York City for just two days and obviously had to eat as much vegan food as possible in that time period. So without further ado, here is a photo-heavy collection of what I ate.
First stop: 100% vegan Champs Diner in Brooklyn where my dining companions and I devoured the following:
Champs Diner – BBQ Tempeh Wings
Champs Diner – Sweet Potato Fries
Champs Diner – Hangover Hashbrowns
Champs Diner – French Toast Slam
Champs Diner – Amazing vegan milkshakes
I love Champs so much. Everything was delicious and I can’t wait to go back to NYC just for them!
Next up was Superiority Burger in the East Village:
Superiority Burger – The famous Superiority Burger. Tasty but tiny.
Superiority Burger – Burnt Broccoli Salad
Superiority Burger – A broccoli rabe side
Overall I wasn’t blown away by Superiority Burger. Everything was tasty but the fact that they aren’t 100% vegan and that they have tiny servings would probably keep me from going back in a hurry. However, they did redeem themselves by having a poster of Divine on the wall:
Superiority Burger – Divine was watching over us!
Still a little peckish, we excitedly remembered that 100% vegan Dunwell Doughnuts now have a location in the East Village just minutes away from Superiority Burger…
Dunwell Doughnuts in the East Village, NYC
Outrageous deliciousness from Dunwell Doughnuts
Dunwell Doughnuts – Choc chip doughnut… out of this world!
Dunwell Doughnuts are amazing and they have locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan so there’s no excuse not to try them. The staff in both locations are lovely and our upon entering the shop and seeing my eyes glaze over at the sight of so much vegan deliciousness, the server correctly summed up the situation as “an embarrassment of donut riches”. How very true!
It could have been the same day or it could have been the next… it’s all a blur. Either way, at some point during my 48 hours in NYC my sister and I decided to head down to Nolita/Chinatown to try the pan-Asian dishes at 100% vegan LuAnne’s Wild Ginger.
LuAnne’s Wild Ginger in NYC
Wild Ginger – Fresh Rolls
Wild Ginger – Crispy Wontons
Wild Ginger – Pad Thai
Wild Ginger – Basil Garlic Eggplant with String Beans
On my final morning in NYC, I was catching the train to Philly from Penn Station. Rather fortuitously 100% vegan The Cinnamon Snail now have a permanent location in The Pennsy, a kind of tricky-to-find food court in the Penn Station/Madison Square Garden complex. FGV has written about The Cinnamon Snail food truck in the past and I was certainly no stranger to their delicious sweet and savoury offerings. Seeing them with a permanent location was very exciting and their amazing array of sweet treats had me drooling.
The Cinnamon Snail at the Pennsy
The Cinnamon Snail – an incredible array of sweet treats
I had to start with the savoury offerings and I got the incredible Korean BBQ tortilla…
The Cinnamon Snail – Korean BBQ Seitan on a grilled tortilla
… while my dining companion got the Red Curry Grilled Tofu roll:
The Cinnamon Snail – Red Curry Grilled Tofu roll
As expected, everything was incredible and of course I couldn’t leave without two delicious donuts:
The Cinnamon Snail – donuts!
So that was my 48 hours in New York City. What good spots did I miss? Where should check out next time?
Oh man. I think on the next block over from Superiority Burger is Xi’an Famous Foods (one of a few outposts they have in the city). They’re not vegan, but they have a few VERY delicious vegan options: the hot oil noodles, the tofu, and the cucumber salad are all vegan. I have yet to try Superiority Burger because every time I’m in the neighborhood I end up caught by the siren song of spicy noodles. (That said, Xi’an Impression in London has a decent version of their noodles, albeit not quite as good as the NY ones.)
In the same neighborhood, there’s Confectionary, which is the New York outpost of the Lagusta’s Luscious brand. Tons of amazing vegan chocolates, macarons, and sometimes other random baked goods!
Down on the Lower East Side, Orchard Grocer just opened; it’s an all-vegan deli next door to Moo Shoes that does amaaaazing sandwiches. The bagel with carrot lox is can’t-miss.
It’s more of a trek, but Modern Love out in Brooklyn is fucking incredible—it’s Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s place, and one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. Everything I’ve had there has been ridiculously good, but the showstopper for me is the grilled caesar salad. I am not normally one to sing the praises of salads, but OH. MY. LORD.
Annnnd, now I’m hungry and missing Manhattan.
Thanks for the recommendations, Meghan! I did make it to Orchard… just wrote a separate blog about it here: http://fatgayvegan.com/2017/05/03/vegan-cheese-revolution-at-orchard-grocer-nyc/