Thanks to a tip from one of our readers, we recently tried Zen Vegetarian House on Flatbush Avenue. With a menu full of fake meats that rival Manhattan vegan spots Red Bamboo and Vegetarian's Paradise 2, this restaurant is a welcome and delicious change from the other Chinese restaurants in the neighborhood.We took a long time to order because there were so many dishes that sounded good. I finally decided on the sweet and sour chicken, which is breaded and really crispy and is enough food for two meals. Probably not the healthiest thing I've eaten, but it was one of the tastiest. I did order the brown rice, so that helps my health guilt a little bit.
Patrick got the teryaki chicken, which had a great texture, but the sauce wasn't that good. Maybe we're just not big teryaki fans and should've stayed away from it to begin with. On the menu it was listed as a seitan dish, but the texture was thicker and chewier, more like soy protein. We're not sure if they were confused or they just figured out a whole new way to prepare seitan that we haven't seen in any other restaurant.
The juice, smoothie and soy milkshake selection was a really pleasant surprise. Patrick got e12: strawberry, lemon, grapefruit and orange and I got e16: pineapple, cucumber and apple. Both were really great. There is also soy ice cream on the menu, but we were too stuffed to try any.Zen Vegetarian's menu is spot on, but the restauarant seems to still be figuring out its style. From the outside it looks really hip and sleek and then you get inside and see that it's pretty much the same as all other Chinese food restaurants- some seating and a huge counter with the open kitchen behind it. But if you order delivery, you won't even have to consider the aesthetics of the place, and as an added bonus, you won't have to see the meat market directly across the street.
Food: A
Service: B
Value: B+
Atmosphere: C+ (was a higher grade until a woman who works there started yelling at the men who were cooking)
Zen Vegetarian House || 773 Flatbush Avenue || (718) 282-2255
5 comments:
That looks and sounds fantastic. It's now on my list.
It does look good... but why is it called "chicken"? That's always bothered me a little. Is the English language really lacking that a different descriptor couldn't be used... maybe something involving tofu or soy... or whatever it *actually* is? (It ain't chicken.)
I didn't know about this place! Thank you so much for the write up (and menu jpgs! Awesome!)
If these places labeled which items were gluten free and which not, they'd do much better, I feel. They could really tap into the celiac market (who have sadly few alternatives).
I will look into this restaurant. Sounds good!
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