diner

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?

Vienna calling

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Super special guest post by Hanna. Thank you!

My partner and I are just back from spending a few days in Vienna, which was quite easy to be vegan in. We found many places had clearly labelled vegan options, a wurst place that did a vegan sausage and a 100% vegan ice cream parlour. But the stand-out experience was Swing Kitchen.

Swing Kitchen (1)

It is an entirely vegan, diner-style establishment. On our first encounter we had a schnitzel burger, vegan nuggets with “chilli-tomato-tatar” sauce, tiramisu and kirsch soda. All of it was fantastic. The nugget coating with it’s sesame seeds was delicious and the sauce had a surprisingly refreshing taste. The tiramisu was creamy and slightly orangey, which worked really well. Of course, we had to go back for our last Vienese meal and both had the cheese burger, which is the best vegan burger I have ever had – you could really taste the cheese!

Anyway, I thought I’d give you a heads up, just in case you or any of your guests on the NYE cruise had the time or inclination to visit Swing Kitchen on your brief stop there.

Thanks, Hanna!

You can like Swing Kitchen on Facebook.

nye bottom banner 2015

All time Champs

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Many have tried but no one else comes close to what Champs do with diner comfort food in Brooklyn.

As my bus trundled into the Port Authority bus terminal, I had an overwhelming chorus of NYC vegan eatery recommendations swimming in my head. A call out on my blog for food ideas to explore during my time in the Big Apple had been met with countless suggestions and recommendations, so it was up to me to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Of all the recommendations that landed in my laptop, one place towered above the rest for sheer number of mentions.

Vegans of the world, I give you Champs Diner.

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