Vegan Eats: Four Seasons Vegetarian Restaurant

It's difficult to fairly judge a vegan Caribbean soul food restaurant on Church Avenue. The entire time you are at Four Seasons you can't help but compare it to the now-closed Veggie Castle, just across the street. It's hard not to reminisce about sitting in that converted White Castle, listening to reggae while you eat vegan mac and cheese and ox tail and jerk chicken. But since Veggie Castle closed at the end of 2007, we have had to look to its neighbors to satisfy our cravings for vegan lo mein and mock meat. Comparisons to Veggie Castle aside, Four Seasons, on Church Avenue at Bedford Avenue, is a good place to get your soul food fix, although with fewer choices. (I told you it's hard not to compare!) It is cafeteria style and has a few tables for those who want to stay to eat, although the restaurant isn't air-conditioned and can get toasty in the summer.

The selection (all vegan) varies from day to day, but you can usually count on rice and beans (dry, although if you liked VC's r&b this tastes the same), lo mein (delicious), steamed vegetables (wonderful), mock meat (chicken is great, beef is good, but nothing special), and jerk tofu (haven't tried it).

More than a restaurant, Four Seasons also has a juice bar and sells bulk nuts, baked goods, and dried fruit as well as vegetarian frozen foods, including a few mock meat selections from May Wah. The front of the store also sells mostly Caribbean-themed clothing. I do wonder how they keep such a big space going because we are usually the only customers in there.

The staff is really friendly and happy to run down that day's menu. The small plate in the picture has lo mein, veggies, and mock beef- all for a very reasonable $6.

Food: A-
Service: A
Value: A+
Atmosphere: C

Four Seasons || 2281 Church Ave at Bedford Ave || (718) 693-7996