quarrygirl’s tour of nyc continues! in this installment, we’re here to tell you all about a cozy little chinese joint in manhattan called zen palate.

you see, here in los angeles when you hear “vegan asian food”, you probably think of one of the 975,000 vegan thai restaurants that are so popular here. well, nyc is packed full of vegan options that aren’t thai food: chinese, korean, malaysian, you name it! what a relief.

granted these places are usually a lot more expensive than the thai ones i’m used to here in la, it’s usually pretty easy to sneak in on a lunch special and get a fixed price meal for not a lot of money. zen palate, a semi-fancy chinese vegetarian restaurant located right in the hustle and bustle of midtown, has a pretty good deal going where during the day, you can get an appetizer, rice and a tasty entree for just under ten bucks. plus, the menu has tons of vegan options and anything that contains dairy or eggs is clearly marked. my husband and i had to check it out.

shredded melody (with taro spring rolls and rice): shredded soy protein stir-fried with celery, carrots, zucchini, & pine nuts in a light garlic sauce. $9.50

my husband ordered the shredded melody, which was definitely the favorite at the table. it had so many vegetables, delicious and garlicky sauce with thin strips of soy meat. plus, it came with pine nuts…which i love and have never ever eaten an asian dish. seriously, so good. the taro rolls were delicious as well, albeit fried and pretty unhealthy tasting.

i opted for the tofu delight, because i love black bean sauce, and it was pretty good as well.

tofu delight (with taro spring rolls and rice): soft tofu with zucchini & tomatoes in a black bean sauce. $9.50

the tofu was soft and silken, but cooked sooooo nicely. i think they must have fried it, because the outside got kinda crispy and developed a bit of a skin, but the inside stayed fluffy and white. the black bean sauce was delicious as well, and perfectly coated the yummy array of vegetables. so lovely to have vegan chinese food for a change, and not have to worry about anything icky like fish stock or even cross-contamination. 🙂

overall, zen palate was lovely. judging by the menu, it may be a bit pricey for dinner, but their lunch specials are a deal and a half! the service is great as well, they were happy to accommodate my obsessive orders that nothing contain bell peppers, and they were quite knowledgeable about veganism upfront about their ingredients. plus the food came out in like 5 minutes….now that i like!

so check out zen palate when you visit nyc for some fast, tasty, no-brainer chinese food. ahhhhh, such a welcome rest from all this los angeles thai fare. 😀