NYC and vegan restaurants

Over these past few days, I went on a trip to New York city. We had so many adventures, and explored a bunch of cool restaurants. We also saw Hair on Broadway which was really fun, and went to the top of the empire state building. Yep, all that touristy stuff. But it was really cool to be in times square.

On the first day we went to check out Zen Palate, an all vegan restaurant. I ordered the Miso soup and the grilled tofu salad. Everything was so delicious, the servers were very friendly, and service was really speedy. It was a sweet getaway from the hectic streets of NYC. Later that night we visited the (windy) empire state building!

On Thursday, we stopped by the Candle cafe for lunch, after going to the metropolitan museum of art. It was very crowded, but it was a highly rated place so we stayed for lunch. That and we were all hungry and had walked a ton. Did I mention it was 90'F that day!? Yeah.

At the Candle Cafe I got a Mediterranean platter with garlicky hummus, baba gannoush, warm pita bread, and raw veggies. I also got the daily vegetables (zucchini and green beans, some cauliflower) with a tangy vinaigrette.

My friend who I spent this whole trip with is by no means a vegan, and I'm proud of her for finding things at these restaurants that didn't serve meat or dairy. So I think my dad was too, because he took her out for NYC style thin crust pizza after a light lunch at the candle cafe. My friend got guacamole with chips, and my dad got a salad. They then shared a thin crust pizza at a nearby place with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. I think they needed that!

After seeing Hair that night on Broadway, which was awesome, we went out for Greek food. It was about 11 o'clock, and we were all pretty much hungry and tired, but still a bit pumped from the show. I ordered the hummus, (yes, I know...) and spread it on the bread set on the table, with some cucumber slices. I got vegan grape leaves too, filled with rice and pine nuts and yummy spices. So even at a Greek place at 11 o'clock at night I found stuff!

On Friday, we went on a very long tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island. Although my friend and I were impatient to leave, it was interesting to see all those names on the plaque at Ellis island. The artifacts in the museum were surprising and the way they set up the museum was very much how it looked when immigrants arrived.

When we came back on the ferry, we went into SoHo and found a little Mexican place. We got guacamole and salsa with chips, and I got a salad with a lime-cilantro vinaigrette. After some shopping in SoHo, we met my dad's cousin at a jazz club and listened to music for a while. Afterwards, we walked over to Spring street Natural. This was soo yummy! Even the bread they set on the table was addicting. I split the spring rolls with my friend, and later got stir fried vegetables over brown rice with some amazing sauce that I wanted more of. This place serves dairy as well as free range chicken and some steak, but they mark all of their vegan options.

There were many more places we wanted to check out, but after all 3 days in NYC doesn't allow you to do everything. Thanks for reading!