Dining Out in New York City - Angelica Kitchen

Wee Dragon Bowl - Angelica Kitchen

Angelica Kitchen, located in the East Village, has a long history of serving vegan food. It was established in 1976! They pride themselves on being very eco-friendly, using fairly traded goods and supporting small, local businesses and non-profits. The menu is part-American, part-Asian inspired with everything from cornbread, soups, salads, dips, sandwiches, seitan and tempeh entrees, and rice bowls, to desserts. They don't take reservations so try to go during off-peak hours for the best experience.

Special Warm Appetizer People's Polenta

To begin the meal we went with my boyfriend's pick - People's Polenta, a dish consisting of three polenta balls with diced vegetables, basil-walnut pesto, chile de arbol – guajillo chili tofu cream, avocado and marinated kale. Proceeds of the dish go to charity. This was a great start to the meal; it was enough to please the palate and not too filling or heavily flavored. 

For my meal, I chose the healthiest, though less adventurous, route of a Dragon Bowl and even went with the Wee Dragon to save room for dessert. The Dragon Bowl was almost exactly the same as the Macro Plate that I enjoyed at Souen, a simple clean dish with brown rice, black beans, sea vegetables, and steamed vegetables like green beans, carrots, cauliflower. For the dressing I chose Brown Rice Gravy, but would have preferred a sweeter one like Creamy Carrot. That would have really made this identical to my meal at Souen. I was a little envious of my boyfriend's meal, the Olé Man Seitan a large burrito filled with homemade seitan and roasted vegetables mixed with a spicy chocolate mole sauce, and topped with lime-jalapeño tofu sour cream and pimento. It had so much flavor and the serving size was huge, a great pick for my non-vegan.

Olé Man Seitan - Angelica Kitchen

Pineapple Coconut Layer Cake - Angelica Kitchen

With some room leftover, we ordered a dessert to share. The Pineapple Coconut Layer Cake appealed to both of us and it did not disappoint. It's a spelt flour cake with a pineapple filling and coconut frosting. The cake was very moist and the frosting was not nearly as sweet as most vegan baked goods I've had, including recipes I've made. This wasn't a bad thing, as the pineapple filling was plenty sweet.

Overall it was such a bright and colorful meal, it didn't just taste healthy it looked healthy, too. To keep with a more wholesome vegan diet, I would happily dine here again!

Angelica Kitchen

300 East 12th Street

New York, NY 10003

Angelica Kitchen Website