Are you vegetarian? Do you live in New York or plan to go? If so, I have two words for you.
Red Bamboo is without a doubt one of my favourite restaurants in the world. If you take down one address this year, make it this one - 140 West 4th Street (between 6th Ave & Macdougal).
The menu is extensive to say the least and normally this would ring alarm bells for me, however as I’m sure most veggies out there will know, when you’re faced with too many vegetarian options in a restaurant (instead of the one option of penne with tomato sauce and grilled mixed peppers) it gets you pretty excited. The menu covers a variety of cuisines, ranging from classic american burgers, through to tasty thai treats. Meat replacement is a big thing here, but for those of you who don’t do meat, even if it’s fake there are plenty of options. (Vegans, this place caters for you too).
On my last trip to New York, I spent the entire plane journey convincing my carnivore boss to join me there. (He is one of those ‘why do you only want to eat lettuce and seeds types’ - *siiigh*) after a few beers one night I managed to convince him that it was the place to take our guests, so off we went. Not only did he clear his plate, but he said he thoroughly enjoyed it - success!
I usually get a mix of a few things and last time I was there I went with some vegetable tempura to start which has a nice mix of veg that you can actually identify (unlike some places I’ve been where it might have been an onion?....) and the bonus of Bamboo’s tempura is it’s light and fluffy and doesn’t have a bucket of grease pouring from it. Lovely.
For my main I went with a Bamboo special, Panko breaded soy ‘chicken’ with cajun and rosemary seasoning served with sweet corn mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, yellow squash, courgette and mushroom gravy. Hearty (and delicious) to say the least.
This time around I opted for late night cocktails over dessert, but I have previously had the brownie bottom cheesecake (which I swiftly followed with a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery, but that is a whoooole other story)
I’ve eaten in both sides of the restaurant (they are next door to each other) and the décor isn’t fancy, but that is what I like about it. They make healthy, decent veggie food that doesn’t need all the bells and whistles because once you’ve had a gobful of their cooking, it speaks for itself. The place is always packed and buzzing and the few times I’ve been, the stereo is always playing something decent like the Foo Fighters. What more could you want? Go forth my vegetarian friends and get your tofu on....
Good for – Really good veggie/vegan food (and for a curious carnivore), relaxed lunch and dinner dates in a buzzing atmosphere.
Bad for – Something blingy.
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