It is our fourth day in NYC and we have a hankering for some natural food. We head over to Angelica Kitchen whose motto is "simple seasonal food that speaks for itself." It is a nice lunch place in Chelsea with just a few tables. I immediately ordered a lemonade (that was a bit on the watery side).
To start, we ordered the 3-item pantry plate. We chose seasonal pickled vegetables, walnut lentil pate, and garlic lemon marinated kale. The kale was really nice with a great balance of lemon and garlic - very soft on the palate. The pickled vegetables were okay, but tasted like they needed more pickling. The pate was pretty good, but nothing too special.
For my entree, I ordered the Sam or I (Samurai!) which is herbed baked tofu layered with marinated hiziki & arame, crisp grated daikon, ruby kraut, a smear of mellow sesame spread & lettuce. It was a twist on the hippie sandwiches of the 70's and seeing that this place has been in existence since then, I'm sure it has gone through some iterations over the years. It was pretty good for a simple sandwich, but, again, nothing too special.
Zach ordered the tempeh reuben. It had tempeh and sauerkraut -- we thought it was a bit bland. All in all, it tasted like good, homely food that your mom could make, that is, if she was a hippie vegan back in the 70's, which would be really awesome.
Angelica Kitchen
300 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-2909
I haven't eaten there in years but I think your description of "hippie mom food" is pretty bang-on :) Good food but it seems like their menu has been the same for YEARS. Used to love the tofu sandwich and dragon bowls with that famous East Village carrot-tahini dressing. Yum!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I'd never heard of it before! It's been there forever! I'd definitely go back. It's a fine lunch place. I'll have to try something different next time.
ReplyDeleteIt really has been there forever. I think I remember going there 20ish years ago. I don't really go to NYC anymore though.
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