Brooklyn-Vegetarian Style

Sesame Bagel with Tofu Cream Cheese

I recently spent a weekend visiting a college friend in Brooklyn.  I’m a pretty big fan of New York City in general, but after visiting Dan a few times, I’ve decided Brooklyn is where it’s at.  I’ll take you on a bit of a food tour of the things I ate while I was visiting.

First, of course, is a sesame bagel with tofu cream cheese from La Bagel Delight.  You can’t come to the city and not eat a bagel.  The ones from here are pretty excellent, but my favorite part is the tofu cream cheese.  I have no idea what’s in it, but it’s heavenly.

Red Bamboo is sadly no longer in Brooklyn (BOO!) so we trekked over my favorite bridge to Manhattan to get our fill.

Brooklyn Bridge

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge is the best.  It’s even better at sunset, though.

The Red Bamboo space itself is not nearly as nice as the Brooklyn location.  The tables are super close together and the outside doesn’t look very welcoming. But go inside and sit ridiculously close to people you don’t know, your taste buds will thank you.

Dan is decidedly NOT a vegetarian, but when I first visited him and asked if we could go to Red Bamboo he was interested in trying some vegan eats, if a bit cautious.  Well, the Barbecue Buffalo Wings totally won him over on that first visit, and after I left he would send me the meanest messages saying he had ordered them for delivery.

Barbecue Buffalo Wings. We didn't eat the BlackBerry.

We weren’t super hungry when we sat down, so we decided to split a few appetizers. Obviously we had the Barbecue Buffalo Wings.

From the menu: “Soy buffalo wings marinated in a spicy citrus barbecue sauce served with vegan sesame garlic dressing and celery sticks”

There is something about the texture of these things that is really amazing.  The outside is super crispy and the inside is chewy without being rubbery like a lot of seitan wings you can buy.  The sauce is spicy, tomatoey, and just plain delicious.  The dipping sauce isn’t anything special, but is essential when you’re eating wings in my opinion.

Almond Coconut Chicken

This Almond Coconut Chicken was pretty good, but also quite greasy.  The coating was interesting though, and we gobbled them up pretty quickly dipped in the sauce.

From the menu: “Crispy golden soy chicken encrusted with toasted almonds and shaved coconut. Served with a sweet chili dipping sauce”

We also had the spring rolls, which weren’t great but were still consumed.

Original Sin Hard Cider

This is a really great cider from Puck Fair.  I’m not a fan of super sweet ciders, and this Original Sin Hard Cider was perfect.  It reminded me a lot of the ciders I had when I went to Europe a few years ago.  Dan used to work in the beer business and told me that this cider uses champagne yeast, meaning that it looks flat but really has a nice carbonation.  I might have had 2 pints.

House Salad at 67 burger

For dinner we went to 67 Burger.  I wasn’t very hungry after our heavy lunch and a veggie burger didn’t sound all that great (especially when I saw the note that they were cooked on the same grill as the meat) so I went with the “Small House Salad on a Plate.” (What else would they serve it on?)  Anyway, there was nothing small about this salad.  It was really filling and quite delicious.  Also pretty cheap at less than $5.

From the menu:  “mixed greens, fresh tomatoes, black olives, crispy garbanzo beans, kidney beans”

And the next morning, to hold off hunger before meeting up with some girlfriends for brunch in Manhattan, I picked up some Pirates Booty from the bagel shop and an Iced Coffee with soymilk at The Greene Grape which is right down the street from Dan’s apartment.  This place alone would make me bankrupt if I lived in Brooklyn.  It’s a gourmet market and it’s heaven.  I spotted this guy there right before I left:

(Source)

He was buying tomatoes for a salad.  Vinny Chase (aka Adrian Grenier) eats salads.  Swoon.

That New York Pizza flavored Pirates Booty was pretty disappointing.  It tasted like a less delicious version of pizza Pringles.