Gobo

Gobo is a veg restaurant (almost all vegan, I think) in the West Village (with a second location on the UES). The place has a very modern clean-feeling atmosphere. Many of their dishes are similar to Zen Palate's (but better!), but it's also a little pricier. Unlike Zen Palate, Gobo serves alcohol (just wine and beer), which will make me choose Gobo over Zen Palate any day. Oh, and another plus to Gobo? They have bubble tea! It's pretty good, too, but they often run out of tapioca late in the day, so you can't always count on it.

I went there the other night with a group of people, mostly non-vegetarians. I was pretty worried that the food would be too "weird" for them, with the menu full of seitan, soy protein, tofu, and, you know, vegetables. But everyone seemed to really enjoy their food. I was very relieved!

I had the "soy filet with coconut curry rice." That consisted of pieces of soy protein sauteed with veggies (bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli) with some sort of savory sauce. The coconut curry rice came in a cone-shape wrapped in a leaf of some sort (banana maybe?). The cone stood straight up on my plate, and although I remember being very excited about the presentation, I wasn't careful enough to get the whole cone in the picture...but you get the idea.


My food was delicious, and as I said, everyone else really enjoyed theirs as well. The only disappointment was at the end when we all tried to order bubble tea and they told us they were out of tapioca...

Edited to add: Gobo also has the best yam fries I've ever had!

Red Bamboo Brooklyn

Red Bamboo recently opened a branch in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. It's much like the original on W. 4th St, but better in so many ways:

• Not as crowded -- less/no waiting for a table

• Outdoor seating

• More Caribbean-style things on the menu

• Most importantly, they have a full bar! The Manhattan location only has wine and beer.

I went last week, and it was great. It's a bit of a walk from the Subway (the C or G train), but the neighborhood is nice and cute, and sitting outside on a warm spring evening made it worth the walk. Their menu has a lot of the same things as the original menu, but they do seem to have more Caribbean-inspired options. Most things on the menu are vegan, with those that aren't clearly labeled.

I ordered their "signature drink," the Red Bamboozle (yes, I actually ordered something called that). I can't remember what was in it, but it was delicious.

I also had the mango "chicken." It was pieces of fake chicken sauteed with strips of bell pepper and pieces of mango in a sweet mango sauce served in a mango shell (wait, mangoes don't have shells...I guess the proper description would be a hallowed out mango....or an intact mango peel?). It was really good, but it could have used less and/or less-sweet sauce...although that didn't stop me from gobbling it down.

Isn't it cute?