Last night, I spent a lovely evening with my two non-vegan buddies, Dawn and Michelle, in the “happening” West Village of New York City. Since we had tickets to see a play at the Cherry Lane Theatre on Commerce Street, it was my job as the only vegan to find a place for dinner. Before I get to that, let me just mention that the Cherry Lane Theatre is the most intimate and charming place to see a play and the play we saw called “Psycho Therapy” was quite funny!!! In any event, my generous friends let me choose the vegetarian/vegan restaurant “Red Bamboo” for dinner.
We arrived at the small, casual restaurant at about 6 PM. Although we were immediately seated, the restaurant filled up shortly thereafter since it was a bustling Friday night in the village. Our waitress was prompt and attentive and the Asian based menu was extensive. We ordered the Asian Steamed Dumplings, Barbecue Buffalo Wings and Smoked Creole Chicken as appetizers.The Barbecue Buffalo Wings and Smoked Creole Chicken were good (a little problematic for me since they looked like real chicken), but we all went crazy for the Asian Steamed Dumplings. If you go there, I highly recommend the dumplings as an appetizer.
We shared the Grilled Bourbon Chicken and the Black Bean Ginger Stir-Fry as entrees and they were very good. But, for me, the highlights of the dinner were the desserts from the amazing Vegan Treats bakery which deserves its own special blog…later!!! We shared the Peanut Butter Heaven and Chocolate Decadence cakes and they both lived up to their names!!!
All in all, I would say that the Red Bamboo restaurant is a great place to eat if you are hanging out in the West Village of New York City. I would love to go back to try the other dishes on its vast menu and the restaurant was not too expensive. Although I always prefer an all-vegan kitchen (Red Bamboo had some dairy dishes), it is a great place to take your non-vegan friends since they mock real meats so well!!
