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Quite Nice

5 Posted on 03 / 06 / 2013

Had a very nice meal there while in NYC for business. They didn't mind seating a solo diner w/out a reservation on a busy evening. I did get there before the main rush so fortunately they still had open seats. If you're going during regular diner hours, book a reservation. They were packed on a Wednesday night. Solo diners don't always get good service and we often end up feeling like we're being hurried out in favor of giving our table to a group but the Franchia staff was very accommodating for solo diners. There were a few of us there. I wanted a quiet meal where I could relax and read after a long day and I got just what I was hoping for.

Service was excellent as was the food. I went with a few different appetizers and the prix fixe menu and took a couple items from the tapas menu to go. All the items were quite tasty, particularly the tofu & kabocha squash entree, and I left stuffed and satisfied.

Pros: Lovely food, Good service, Great for solo diners as well as groups

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mmm, so good

5 Posted on 01 / 16 / 2013

This is a clean restaurant with very friendly and attentive service. The crispy eggplant was NOT crispy in any way, but it was filled with many meat substitutes and really delicious.

I'd return if I visit New York again!

Pros: service, cleanliness, tasty dishes

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Beautiful space

5 Posted on 07 / 07 / 2012

Wow, what a beautiful space! My husband and I ate here on our first day in Manhattan. We were initially put off by the call button on the table because no one had explained to us what it was for. After we studied the menu, we decided to push the button since no one had come by. Within seconds someone was at the table to take our order. I have now decided that I think all restaurants should have call buttons! The food was excellent! I never eat Korean because in Vancouver the Korean restaurants are very meat heavy. It was all so good, as was the tea. I highly recommend Franchia!

Pros: Excellent menu, Tea selection and presentation
Cons: Confusing call buttons to order

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Great 'tea' and Korean food

5 Posted on 07 / 01 / 2012

We ate here at Xmas on a wet and cold day. We ordered the ginger tea, which was lovely, hot, spicy and sweet, perfect for the weather, some friend dumplings that were tasty and well presented, and a bimbibap and stone bowl for mains. We had never tried Korean food before, and we were really impressed with the flavours/textures. It was a little bit more expensive than we would usually spend on lunch, but for the ambiance, generous portions and quality of the meal we were very happy and would def. return if we visit NYC again.

Pros: Great food, Great tea

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Less than Good

2 Posted on 06 / 25 / 2012

My boyfriend and I were so disappointed with Franchia. Two out of three of the dishes we ordered were just BAD. The sauce on my dish was so sugary sweet, the tofu too fried and the pumpkin undercooked. My boyfriend had a veggie bowl that was super heavy and came with this cayenne paste-like sauce. So horrible. We asked for less spicy options and 30 min later, we got some. Not much better than the cayenne, taste-wise. On top of it all, the service was rushed at the wrong times and delayed at the wrong times. Such a shame, because the restaurant is actually really beautiful.

Pros: Summer rolls, Tea, Beautiful restaurant
Cons: Horrible service, Mostly horrible food, Cheesy music (think Titanic and Mannheim)

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The starters and desserts are choice

4 Posted on 06 / 09 / 2012

A wonderful place for a date night. The atmosphere is right. I had my birthday dinner here and filled my belly for the third time that day with vegan yummies. We started off with 'crab' cakes as the appetizer. I wanted more after they were gobbled up. The mains were mediocre. We had sushi, a Buddha's nest sort of dish and another stir-fry and rice sort of dish. It wasn't incredible, but desert was...I had one of the best cheezecakes in my career as vegan cheezecake eater. This is before I tried a vegan treats cheezecake in PA. (dubbed the best)

Pros: cheezecake, 'crab'cakes
Cons: mains boring, pricey

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Wow!

5 Posted on 02 / 19 / 2012

Ate there tonight. This place is fantastic. The ambiance, service and, most of all, the food, was beyond expectation.
We went there with kids and it was a great experience. The serene and beautiful surroundings helped calm everyone as soon as we bounced in the door. Remember to look up - the best art is on the ceiling.
The menu is truly exciting and extremely creative. Highlights were the kimchi tofu patties, crispy tofu sticks, tofu with sesame leaves stone bowl (way more exciting than the plain bibimbap), Soy 'chicken' sizzler on a hot plate. Rice noodles in Hot & Sour soup good, but not up to the subtle mingling of flavors and textures of other dishes. The Franchia Summer Rolls were tasty, but just lettuce leaves that required some assembly - great in another restaurant, but overshadowed but the high level of the rest of our meal.
The tea was some of the best I've had. The Lotus tea was sublime. It may seem strange to wax poetic about tea, but Franchia raises it to a new level. They even have a glossy, full-color pamphlet detailing the process used to make it.
Dessert: have the mochi (but give the peanut butter one to the closest kid). Delicious! Save up for this special treat and tae someone you really love -- or want to :)

Pros: Creative and varied menu, Delicious food, Service & ambiance
Cons: Price

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Disappointing

3 Posted on 01 / 14 / 2012

We went there today for dinner with much anticipation and left quite disappointed. Expectations for a place like this, that too in NYC are very high. To start with, service was slow, indifferent and inefficient. It started with getting a lunch menu instead of dinner, taking too long for any one to take our orders, for our drink order not coming, for the dishes not being cleared before the check was brought, and generally, the dishes were brought and served with an air of indifference and rush. Essentially there was no TLC in a restaurant that is a sister restaurant of Hangawi, one of the most sublime restaurants in NYC.

We ha dteh assorted pancake platter that was very good along with the baby dumplings that were doughy and devoid of flavor. So was the spicy stirfry noodles. The sauces were all laden with salt making them almost inedible. One of the bright aspects was the wonderful and extensive tea menu and the mixed herbal tea I had was excellent. The ambience is very upscale and serene, but try and get a table upstairs, We were seated downstairs near the door, and even though there are double set of doors, the frigid draft from outside was very uncomfortable. The cold service did not do anything to warm things up.

Pros: Value, Ambience, Tea
Cons: Service, Flavor

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I loveeeee this place!!!!

5 Posted on 01 / 11 / 2012

The rolls and tea selection are amazing! One Summer day I was walking and glancing over the menu was excited to find a vegan cafe however I didn't go in. I had forgotten the name and location of it and after weeks searching for it online thanks to happycow I found it. Ever since I eat there frequently. Just make sure you go on a slow day or make reservations before going or you'll have to wait a very long time!

Pros: Vast variety in teas, Delicious rolls, Nice ambience
Cons: Staff constantly standing near you, Long wait to be seated on busy days

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Good set lunch

4 Posted on 12 / 15 / 2011

My partner and I came here for our last meal in New York before flying home. We needed to be able to sit in comfort for a couple of hours and fill up on good, fresh, vegan food before the horrors of the flight home! Franchia was perfect. It is comfortable and stylishly decorated and the tiered spaces add to the atmosphere. We chose the 4-course prix fixe lunch menu which consisted of soup (a nice spicy soup with shredded tofu) or salad (unremarkable but with a nice dressing); dumplings (these were probably the highlight of the meal); a choice of mains (I had pad thai which was ok and my partner had a gorgeous tofu and pumpkin dish which was a real suprise); mango sorbet. It came with a choice of tea and we really enjoyed the unlimited hot water and having your own strainer. It made it fun. As it was a farewell meal we also had a bottle of wine. The total bill was about $80 including tip, which we thought was very reasonable for the style and quality we experienced. On balance it wouldn't make me put Korean food at the top of my list of best cuisines, but I think the freshness and unusual flavours/ingredients made it a memorable experience. 8/10.

Pros: Fixed price lunch was good value, Nice decor, 100% vegan
Cons: My pad thai was cold, The waiter clearly had a cold!

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Cute Place

5 Posted on 11 / 03 / 2011

Walking distance from GCT, this is my go-to spot for vegan sushi. It's a nice, welcoming place with very friendly service with a smile. They sometimes run out of dessert but that's only because they're so yummy. Lots of interesting choices for food and drink. It's a teahouse so there are plenty o' teas to choose from.

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Nice place

3 Posted on 05 / 31 / 2011

The restaurant in itself is beautifull, very well decorated, and we loved the 3 floors idea. The service is excellent, people are very nice and helpfull (they made my sauce pepper-free upon demand).
The food was good, although not exeptionnal. The deserts are excellent, on the other hand! A little expensive though.

Pros: Well decorated, great service, deserts
Cons: a little expensive

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Good food, one of the few vegan places in the area

4 Posted on 05 / 05 / 2011

There are very few vegan restaurants in mid-town so to find a good one is a nice find. The spicy vegetarian duck salad was delicious and the bibimbap was good too. Service was quick.

Pros: food
Cons: location

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Vegetarian stone bowl is a really poor value

2 Posted on 04 / 15 / 2011

The setting one flight up was pleasant. The four scallion pancakes were tasty. The vegetarian stone bowl with mountain greens and roots was very disappointing. The brown rice was hot and crispy, but a bit oily. Unfortunately, the vegetables were four TINY LITTLE dollops atop the rice, each amounting to a small, shamefully STINGY mouthful. So the vegetarian stone bowl is a decent sized serving of hot rice with a hint of vegetables, all almost tasteless, for a price of $13.95. If I visit again, I won't order the same entrée, which is a really poor value.

Pros: friendly staff, pleasant setting
Cons: food is bad value

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Beautiful Experience

5 Posted on 03 / 20 / 2011

I chose to dine at Franchia over it's sister-restaurant after reviewing the menu online, and finding it more to my liking. This was honestly the best restaurant meal I had in NYC. I imagine that, looking at the reviews, they have likely improved their menu and service since they first opened, because nothing we ordered could be described as bland or poorly prepared, and our service was very prompt. We recieved much larger food portions than at other restaurants we dined at. I highly recommend leaning towards the fresher, cleaner foods like the Bimibap bowls over the fried foods, or the heavier noodle dishes. Also, my friend tried their signature $10 green tea, and said he would pay for that tea again any day. If you want dessert though, plan to be there early, because they run out of most of their desserts later in the evening.

Pros: Authentic Korean flavours, Amazing teas, Beautiful atmosphere
Cons: May run out of dessert

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Too Many Choices!

5 Posted on 02 / 20 / 2011

Delicious! Wonderful teahouse atmosphere, extensive all vegan menu, candlelight at your table, and little call button for immediate service from waiters. Only possible complaint could be that our waiter wasn't veg and hadn't tried the menu so couldn't recommend anything. Loved the stone bowl meals, the peking dumplings, and the brown rice "tuna" rolls.

Pros: atmosphere, whole grain availability, fake meat
Cons: high price

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great spot

4 Posted on 08 / 14 / 2010

I visit Franchia almost every time I am in town. It has a lovely relaxed atmosphere and the food is always amazing. Saw some reviews that said it was over priced, and it can get pricey with appetizers and drinks, but a simple meal is certainly worth the cost. The dumplings are always amazing and I love the Shanghai style rice noodles with tofu substituted for the lobster balls.

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Defiantly Going Back

5 Posted on 07 / 23 / 2010

I loved Franchia. I had green noodles with fake meat and mushrooms that were amazing. I tried one vegetable dumpling that I did not really like (although no matter how many times I have vegetable dumplings, the only one I have ever liked is from Land Thai Kitchen.) The sauce for the noodles was unbelievable. The one problem was the menu did not tell me that the noodles were fried and I don't eat fried food. I ate it anyway (and I am glad I did.) It was huge (which meant the next day's lunch.) I had blueberry coconut cake for dessert. It was the best dessert I have ever tasted. I defiantly recommend going there.

Pros: excellent food, nice staff, large portions
Cons: Not a good description of food

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nice atmosphere, good food

5 Posted on 07 / 15 / 2010

We found this to be one of the best veg restaurants we went to during our week in NYC.
Very nice atmosphere, great food, great choice on the menu, wish I could go again and try out more things!
Friendly.

The only thing that bothered me was the airco being too cold!

Pros: nice atmosphere, good food
Cons: too cold airco

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YUM!

5 Posted on 01 / 18 / 2010

Han Gawi, Franchia's sister restaurant, has been a NYC fav of mine for awhile, so I was excited to try Franchia. I was not disappointed! The food is amazing - maybe even better than Han Gawi! Maybe. The crispy tofu sushi is an excellent starter. I typically do not like seaweed, as it tastes way too fishy for me, but the crispy tofu inside these rolls is so amazing that I can't even taste the seaweed. As a main course, the kabocha pumpkin and tofu dish is a must (unless you prefer the sizzling spinach noodles ;D ). The presentation is amazingly beautiful and the tofu is absolutely delicious, as is the entire dish. Overall this is a very stylish restaurant with excellent food, teas, and desserts... now one of my NYC favs!

Pros: flavor, presentation, atmosphere
Cons: none!

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Amazing!

5 Posted on 01 / 10 / 2010

Went here for dinner on New Years Eve and found it romantic, friendly and the food was excellent. Massive range of Korean teas so it was great to try teas we hadn't experienced before. Everything was vegan. The sushi was amazing and very well presented. Mains were lovely, mock meat sizzling with perfectly cooked brown rice (what a lovely change from white rice!) and the blueberry and coconut cake for dessert was fantastic. Massive portions (we're from the UK so they seem big to us) and reasonable price for the high quality restaurant it was. Was so good that we went here a second time on our holiday (we had gone to Hangwai but it was fully booked). Both times we didn't need a reservation. After having now ordered four main courses (two of us visiting twice) the only disappointing thing is that the sauce each of the four came in was the same (and we ordered completely different dishes each time) so if we ate here regularly it might become a bit samey. However there's such a massive menu it's not too much of a problem. The lychee wine is recommended as are the mojitos but the teas are so gorgeous that there's really no need for alcohol! Great website too. Highly recommended for vegan travellers or those that love tea and zen in equal measure!

Pros: large portions, friendly staff, large menu range
Cons: can be difficult to find

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A bit of an upset

2 Posted on 11 / 29 / 2009

I went here for take out because it's almost right on the way from Penn Station to Grand Central Station. The service was as fast as any Chinese restaurant I've seen (though this is Korean)-- less than 10 minutes for my entree. With tax, I paid $13 for 6 dumplings. I was glad that I wasn't super hungry before, because it left me satisfied, but not full. The dumplings themselves were a little bland. Contrary to another review, I got them steamed, and realized they tasted like "healthy food" (not that it was a bad thing). It just wasn't a special treat. I'm pretty sure all of the dumplings are freshly made. The spinach dumplings had bit, hearty pieces of spinach in them (which I liked).

The entire restaurant is 100% vegan, which is nice. I haven't tried any of the noodle dishes, so don't know if that deal is better (or at least closer to traditional Asian take out). The waiter was also friendly and the decor was lovely. It might be a good place to go for a special, fancy event, but certainly not for quick take out. I think most of what you pay for at Franchia is the experience.

Pros: Downtown location, All vegan, Lovely decor
Cons: Food is nothing special, Expensive

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great for mixed group

5 Posted on 11 / 27 / 2009

Visiting NYC, I had to find a restaurant that would cater to a mixed group of six including teenagers, adult meat-centered & alcohol-drinking omnivores, & myself, the lowly organic vegan :) This place worked well. We were seated in the middle tier of the "mountain" which offered some privacy & lovely decor. We ordered everything from sushi to noodles, tea, sake & wine, and desserts. My 14 yo non-veggie niece raved about the soy ice cream. All eaters seemed pleased with the experience. Service was attentive but relaxed, which allowed for a nice relaxing meal. Organic wine options. Yes, pricey but worth it since it met all of my criteria.

Pros: ambience, varied menu, organic wine
Cons: pricey

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Bland, tasteless

2 Posted on 09 / 25 / 2009

Ordered entree and sushi as takeout. Both very disappointing (and expensive). Sushi was tasteless and entree oddly put-together: hot food on a bed of cold lettuce, unidentifiable otherwise and I could not even tell if I was given the correct order since I could'nt make out any of the ingredients! Expected it to be pricey because of the location but definitely not worth the price.

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Not bad, but not good

3 Posted on 07 / 02 / 2009

We stopped off here on a hour delay coming back from Europe and took the train in from the airport and figured this was close enough to Penn Station. I enjoyed the ice blended tea, but I requested the Bim Bap bowl w/o any oil and they presented it to me covered in oil so I scrapped the poisoned veggies off and had some rice with chili paste... My girl's wrap came properly prepared, though. It seems like a nice enough place, but they are heavy on cooking oil, which is disgusting in my book and rude when cooks won't simple put the veggies on my plate w/o ruining them.

Pros: tea blends
Cons: don't follow dietary requests, everything covered in oil

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Overpriced and ehhh

2 Posted on 08 / 25 / 2008

I can't say the meal was awful, but boy do i think this place is overpriced and over rated. My wife and i got had a lunch consisting of 1 cup of tea each, a noodle dish, a tofu dish and an assorted dumplings which we shared... All this at a bargain price of 26 dollars each!! (FOR LUNCH!!!) The tea, which is supposedly this restaurant's trademark, was so sweet it made Snapple taste authentic. For 5 dollars a cup i can't believe that I was longing for an Arizona. Smehow the main dishes were even more disappointing though. If you consider a big portion to be an enormous plate with 10 times the amount of sauce neccesary, than this is the place for you, as far as food goes, if there are 10 bites on each plate I would be shocked. The noodles were almost non-existent as it was mostly very American vegetables with a few noodles mixed in. The tofu reminded me of the last time I tasted a sponge that fell into, overly sweet, sweet and sour sauce. Lastly of the dumplings the green tea were the best, but my wife thought they all tasted the same. The most embarrassing part is my best friends wife made dumplings for the first time in her life that night and we thought they were of higher quality. As for the other elements of this restaurant I can't complain. The presentation was beautiful from the cucumber flowers to the carrot roses. The restaurant itself through music architecture and atmosphere brings you a peaceful taste of Asia, and the service was quick and impeccable. Yet for 30 dollars a lunch I think you have the right to expect a better meal than the tiny westernized unsavory portions of Franchia, because say what you want about atmosphere, but there are plenty of places in NYC with higher quality vegetarian Asian food at more tempting prices.

Pros: Very good service, Great atmosphere
Cons: Mniscule portions, Underaverage food, EXPENSIVE

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Not a real friend to vegan diners

2 Posted on 07 / 19 / 2008

We were sorely disappointed in this restaurant. The service was very slow and food was just not good. We ordered vegerarina sushi, and it came with mushy rice! Other dish we ordered was apetizer size and essentially deep fat fried thread noodle with very litle vegetable. I would strongly recommend against spendning your $ at this place. It was expensive on top of all that!

Pros: Quiet, Take your time
Cons: Lousy food, Very small portion, Oily

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Amazingly delicious

5 Posted on 05 / 05 / 2008

I just now signed up for this site just so I could rave about this restaurant. The food was delicious as was the atmosphere. I can't wait to go back and try other menu items!!! I highly recommend this restaurant.

Pros: atmosphere, food, tea

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Glad I went

4 Posted on 02 / 12 / 2008

Ate there yesterday (Sunday 10 Feb 08) - was about half full but a relaxed atmosphere and the food was good. Not as large a selection of tea as you might expect given it was a 'tea house', but otherwise ok.

Pros: Easy to get to, Reasonable value ($30 per head)
Cons: Not huge portions

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awesome restaurant

5 Posted on 08 / 18 / 2007

The service was quick and friendly, the food was incredible and the portions were large. Overall it was a great deal for the quality and quantity of food. I would highly recommend the sushi combo platter, also the pumpkin noodles and kimchee tofu dish.

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Amazing!

5 Posted on 07 / 24 / 2007

On a recent trip to Manhattan (I grew up on Long Island but never went to Manhattan much until recently!), my husband and I had lunch at Franchia. I can't wait to go again! Having an ENTIRELY vegan restaurant is so very relieving when dining out. I did not have to ask 200 questions or have to dissect the menu to find hidden animal products. We had the fried dumplings to share. I had the lunch portion of the pad thai, and my husband had a dish with tomato, coconut and dill that was intensely delicious. I had the plum iced tea, and my husband had the iced chai tea. This is a great restaurant to bring a date.

Pros: Informative staff, not too expensive, fresh delicious food
Cons: uncomfortable seating

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Nice place for tea

4 Posted on 05 / 29 / 2007

This is a nicely decorated, quiet place to meet for tea and snacks. I didn't try any entrees, but the dumplings were decent (if a bit bland) and the tofu cheesecake was tasty, but not the best I've ever had. I did like their extensive options for tea and the great ambiance and decor inside.

Pros: Tea selection, Ambience
Cons: A bit bland

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love it

4 Posted on 04 / 10 / 2007

like the tea sister connection as well as the quiet upstairs.

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Soooo Good!

5 Posted on 11 / 22 / 2006

We stumbled on this restaurant because it was close to our hotel and we loved it so much we ate there two out of the three days we were in the city. The food is delicious. It is such a comfortable space to be in we lingered for a few hours over tea and the best asian food I have had since becoming vegan. Even our 18 month old daughter enjoyed the flavors. Try the first pick green tea, it is worth the experience!

Pros: Warm environment, Excellent service, Inovative flavors
Cons: none

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One of the best

5 Posted on 07 / 28 / 2006

This is fun by the same folks that run Hangawai. Although the atmosphere is simpler and the prices are a bit cheaper, the food here is of the highest quality: everything on the menu is good. I eat here regularly, and have brought many friends, too: everyone agrees that this is a great vegan restaurant. The location (near the Empire State Building) is also great.

Pros: Great food, healthy, clean
Cons: a bit pricey