Vegan-friendly
American
Chinese
Japanese
Beer/Wine
Delivery
Take-out
Pan-Asian
New York vegetarian cafe. Extensive menu featuring Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and American food. Casual nice. Confirmed closed, Sep 2014.
13 Reviews
First Review by Tiina
vegan_ryan
Points +3865
Great food - Edit
Friendly, good food, good service - I definitely recommend this place.
Read moreIt's not as "cool" and popular with the locals as Red Bamboo or Vegetarian Paradise, but I think this spot is better. The food is just as good, the service is better, and there's less of a crowd.
Go here!
Pros: All vegan, No crowds
Guest
slo0go
Points +1884
Best vegan sushi - Edit
This place has an extensive menu with lots to choose from: vegan sushi, bento boxes (including katsu [like porkchops] and teriyaki chicken), Asian dishes, sandwiches, etc etc etc. They got rid of the fish in their tank a few years ago because the NYC Vegan Guide poo poo'ed the fish as not being very vegan. Vegan Treat desserts and ice cream and floats as well!
Read moreUpdated from previous review on Saturday February 01, 2014
Also wanted to mention - Soy and Sake has two other sister restaurants: Vegetarian Paradise 2 and Red Bamboo, which are both located on West 4th Street between Sixth Ave and MacDougal.
Pros: Vegan Sushi, Lots to choose from, Everything is yummy
Guest
sirhin
Points +161
Great Sushi! - Edit
I came here for the sushi. I went to a vegan sushi place in LA previously and I was craving it again and was ecstatic that NYC offered such a place. Granted, that Soy & Sake is not primarily a sushi restaurant, it does boast a pretty good sushi menu. NOTE: they offer you an option of seats - oceanside or city view. Basically, there's this huge fish tank on one side and a large window on the other. The fish tank threw me off, but I love animals so I ended up sitting there since they're more exciting than people watching (it was late so the passersby were few in between).
Read moreThe sushi was good! My husband was iffy. He's more of the traditional sort and was vegetarian for most of his life so he doesn't like exploring whereas before I became vegetarian, I was a self-proclaimed sushi-tarian (in that I only ate raw seafood or sushi in general if I had to eat meat). Sushi is still a soft spot of mine so I had to come. He actually loved it! We got the Veggie Lover Roll, the Volcano Roll, and the Crunchy Roll. Our waitress' English wasn't the best but the sauce they use supposedly use no onion and garlic.
Three rolls for two people was perfect, which was good, because they didn't come cheap. We weren't full but we didn't leave hungry. The rice was perfectly cooked and the texture was great. The veggie "fish" they used was tender with some bite and flavorful and the sauces complimented the contents perfectly.
If I had a fatter wallet and a larger stomach (and fast metabolism), I would have totally been open to ordering another roll or two. I was a little curious about the bento, but those items seemed less friendly to vegetarians who avoid onion and garlic.
All in all, not bad. The service was good and as helpful as could be even though there was a large party and a steady stream of customers. The owner (?) was nice but she mainly handled the duties of a hostess. The decor was good (despite the large fish tank), the lighting dim, and though it was small, it didn't feel cramped. Do note that it's right on top of the subway line so whenever a train would pass under, the entire place would shake. However, I didn't mind that too much - it amused me more.
Pros: great sushi, nice atmosphere, good service
Cons: on top of a subway line (it shakes), a little pricey
Guest
gr8vegan
Points +2359
Open late! Food is pretty decent, nothing to rave - Edit
Having stayed out a little too late we realized all the vegan restaurants had already had their last seating of the evening and I scrambled to find some late night vegan eats in the city that supposedly never sleeps! Soy & Sake to the rescue! While I'm not a fan of hodge podge menus covering many different ethnic foods, Soy & Sake did a stand up job at feed our tired and hungry traveler bellies. We decided to embrace the menu and had veggie sushi, dumplings, noodles and veggies, and cucumber wraps. The spread was fantastic and filling and we enjoyed the fishless fish tank.
Read morePros: lots of items!, open late, fishless fish tank
Guest
Krsnamayi
Points +83
Non Vegetarians suggested this place! - Edit
I ate at Soy and Sake at the suggestion of two non-vegetarian friends who are addicted to the place. I had the Crusted "Shrimp" (yummers!) Tom Yam soup, which was excellent (and I lived in Thailand for two years, so I feel I am qualified to judge it), and the main dish I ordered chili chicken and basil, and for my extra spicy pallet it was a little plain for me. Another friend got the Bento box, which was a pretty decent amount of food, and someone else got the some type of mock chicken and broccoli. We all shared a bit of everything, and all the food was good. It looked pretty upscale, and especially for it being in the village...I was surprised at the reasonable prices! The other positive aspect is that the menu has a little of everything from many Asian countries...so there is something for everyone.
Read morePros: good variety, tasty, nice atmosphere
Guest
CraigFruitbat
Points +149
Great food, shame about fishtank - Edit
First thing to say is we were surprised that a vegetarian restaurant should have a fishtank - not something you'd expect its guests would enjoy and we were on the verge of leaving because of it.
Read moreAs for the food, we'd never been to a veggie/vegan sushi place before so that was a good experience. Vegan crab sushi with vegan eel was tasty but the miso soup was average.
Would recommend apart from its fishtank - maybe the owners can rehome them somewhere more suitable?
Cons: Fishtank
gr8vegan
The fish tank is now empty and displays coral and sea vegetables instead of fish, definite points for a fishless fish tank!
Read moreGuest
eye of judgement
Points +167
best sushi I ever had - Edit
I was never a big fan of sushi, but this place really changed my mind. In stead of some overcooked rice in seaweed with a piece of carrot in the middle, these guys really give you something special with wild rice on the outside, fake eel strips and syrup.
Read moreAbsolutely the best sushi I ever had and I am afraid that all else will fail in comparison, so I'm just scared to eat sushi these days.
Amazing place
Pros: best sushi ever, changed my mind about sushi
Cons: not really cheap, a bit poshy vibe
Guest
sandra_y
Points +45
Great place, great food, great staff, great price! - Edit
This restaurant is beautifully decorated, atmosphere is great, food is excellent, the prices are so low and the service is great. What else can you ask for?
Read moreI tried the tom yam soup, spring rolls, chicken mango salad and the fried ice cream, all were yummy!
Don't miss this lovely place!
Pros: Food, Atmosphere, service
Guest
DiaShel
Points +48
Mmm... vegan junk food - Edit
I went with a big group here. The food was good, if you don't mind being unhealthy. Once in a while though, even vegans need some good ol' friend food. The service on the other hand wasn't too great. The guy was not friendly and when someone would ask if they could have something a certain way he'd say "no" with no explanation. Now, I've only been there once so it could just be this one waiter or maybe he was having a bad day.
Read morePros: Yummy food, Quanity of food
Cons: not healthy, service
Guest
allycat
Points +21
Wonderful meal and experience - Edit
The mainly Japanese vegan menu was extensive while including some non-Japanese items such as vegetarian BBQ "chicken" wings with vegan blue cheese dip (which was absolutley delicious) in addition to veggie sushi and curries and mock fish dishes. Portion size was very generous. The restaurant, (including restrooms) was immaculately clean, the staff friendly and attentive and the food beautifully plated. The wide selection of items to choose from will satisfy any palate. A great place for the veggies to bring non-veggie friends. I ate there 3 nights in a row!
Read morePros: excellent variety, immaculately clean , large portions
Guest
BrienneAmber
Points +42
Wonderful food, & great atmosphere. - Edit
The food is delicious, the presentation is beautiful, the atmosphere is great, and the staff are very friendly. Everything I tried there was delicious, and their vegan cheesecake is amazing. The portions are also good size, so if you order an appetizer and main dish, you probably will take some food home with you. There are so many delicious options, it is hard to choose what to order.
Read moreSome of their faux meat seems a little too close to the real thing for my taste, but it would probably be great for non-veg friends. There are lots of choices for people not interested in faux meat as well. They also have a huge variety of sushi; I am particularly fond of the peanut avocado roll.
The staff here is very friendly, and will happily entertain any questions you have. This place is very vegan friendly; anything non-vegan is marked, but almost everything is vegan. However I must note, that they did not know if the wines were vegan.
Pros: Vegan-Friendly, Very Tasty, Beautiful Setting
Cons: Fish Tank
Guest
khb
Points +141
Decent but mostly unspectacular food - Edit
We made a reservation for dinner at 8:00 on a Saturday night, but it turns out that we probably didn't need to - the whole time we were there, there was always at least one empty table.
Read moreWe ordered a bento box - which came with miso soup, salad, dumplings, a California roll, fresh fruit (which turned out to be a slice of watermelon), and a choice of main dishes from which we selected vegetable tempura - and a spicy maki combo - which came with three mock fish sushi rolls (California, salmon, and tuna) and more miso soup. The soup, which was served to us very quickly, tasted just fine but was nowhere near hot enough. The salad was good and fresh. The dumplings tasted all right but were somewhat soggy. The vegetable tempura (broccoli, zucchini, and white-flesh sweet potatoes) was excellent - crisp and not greasy at all. The watermelon was watermelon.
The sushi, which was the thing I was most looking forward to trying here, was, for me, the biggest disappointment. I've only really started eating sushi since I've been veg*n, so I've come to think that a large part of the difference between good sushi and bad sushi is texture - whether the textures of the nori, the rice, and the vegetables are all well matched or not. The California rolls were all right in this respect, since California rolls are mostly vegetables anyway. The spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls were far less good - they were both filled with a sort of homogeneous paste that was far too mushy to have any business being inside a sushi roll - to the point where it was a bit difficult even to pick up the pieces with chopsticks without squirting all the filling out.
Still, at $12 for the bento box and $14 for the sushi combo, it was worth a try. Service is friendly, the space is attractive (we were seated right by the enormous fish tank), and the food was elegantly presented. I did notice that most of the other customers were eating things other than sushi. Maybe they knew something we didn't. If I find myself back in New York, I might go here again - and order something different.
Pros: Reasonable prices, Nice vegetable tempura, Good service
Cons: Lukewarm soup, Mushy sushi
Guest
Tiina
Points +29
Far Beyond A Typical Vegan/Vegetarian Experience - Edit
We stumbled upon this gem of a place that had just opened a month prior - and initially went in to get hot sake since it was around 20 degrees outside and we had been walking for well over 4 hours. We were also starving, and looked at the menu but thought 'oh well, maybe we can just get some miso soup or something'. Until, our wonderful bartender informed us that EVERYTHING on the menu was vegetarian and/or vegan. We saw fish...we saw sushi...we saw pork, chicken, crab, ribs, even eel. Vegan eel!
Read moreThe bartender generously brought us samples of a few things (among them, Bourbon Chicken Spears - OMG) We were leaving town the next day but came back then anyways to enjoy a real meal.
The menu items we sampled included: appetizers of Collard Green Roll (like an egg roll, but with vegan ham and collard greens - the ham tasted completely authentic!) and the Rock Shrimp Tempura. The shrimp was served up so beautifully that I had to take photos. It was presented in a martini glass on a bed of shaved radish noodles, with some kind of lighted base that slowly turned from blue to red and back again. It was a gorgeous, artful sight and also the most delicious 'fake' tempura shrimp we have ever tasted. Following that, we feasted upon their terrific Thai Cocount Soup (with soy chicken) and Tom Yam Soup (with soy shimp).
Then, on to the sushi: Spicy Salmon Cucumber Roll (tasted like a spicy, ground 'real' salmon roll - amazing!) and a Dragon Roll (made with fake eel). Already stuffed, we finished with an entree of the Thai Mango Chilean Fish (lightly breaded soy fish fillets with mint, mango, lime and steamed veggies). At the end of the meal, we were served complimentary dishes of an amazing soy based yogurt/fruit cream that we both found indescribably refreshing and delicious.
The service was far above quality and class both times. Presentation was immaculate and taste/healthfulness was considered in every bite. One would think that the prices would be as elegantly high as their food but this is not the case: the priciest main entree is $13. We are desperately hoping that they will one day open up a location in Los Angeles!
Pros: Amazing menu choices, High quality food, great prices, Outstanding friendly service
Guest
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