Not Soy Good

BROADWAY EAST

GREG:

Broadway East is a macrobiotic vegetarian-style restaurant in Chinatown that wouldn't normally have come up on my radar, but their original executive chef is a childhood friend of mine. So why not venture below Canal Street and taste some plant life? Can't kill us! And besides, we've been very safe with our Supper Club selections lately. Great meals, great experiences, but we know going in that we're going to love them. I've decided to take it upon myself to make more challenging choices when it's my month, tempting fate by trying cuisines we hadn't really thought about before. If it's not a hit, so be it. We may find some gems in the process.
Broadway East's nondescript facade gives way to a dimly lit, surprisingly spacious interior. I'd say a half dozen tables were occupied when we got there on Wednesday night, and the place didn't fill up much more after that. After a quick trip to restroom to wash up in their Japanese style wall sinks (or were they just water fountains?), we ordered our usual round of fancy cocktails. I started with a Cucumber Mint Mojito, a thematic choice indeed, and I believe Libby ordered one of the same.

SARA:
This place was a challenging choice Greg. Challenging to eat.

Broadway Least is more like costume jewelry than a gem...actually, make that a hippy-endorsed mood ring. It's atmosphere reminded me of that crunchy kid in high school being forced to dress up for a special occasion...made to find a tie to match his hemp blazer.

The cucumber mojito was tasty, and the bar-food appetizer was sufficient. We tried the yuba cracklin's (a tofu take on pork rinds), crispy lotus root chips (which tasted a lot like a bag of Taro Chips), and some pickled vegetables (which I found inedible, but Libby and Greg liked.) However, it took about seven hours for the waitress (who reminded me of Luna Lovegood with tattoos) to bring over each course. I would have accepted this if it was 4:20, not 8:30.

Please keep in mind that my negative opinion of the place isn't because its vegetarian. I happen to really like tofu, and love Blossom Gourmet Vegan on 9th Ave.

GREG:
Look, I’m not saying this was Perry Street, but I found the place enjoyable enough. And they just lost their executive chef, so I’m sure there’s a learning curve in the kitchen. So the waitress took a while with our drinks and apps, yes, but from that point on the service was just fine. And were we in a rush?

I did like the little sampler platter we got with our drinks, and I also liked the Cauliflower Frito Misto with arugula and some citrus sauce that I had as an appetizer. Granted, they could have called it Cauliflower Tempura because that’s basically what it was, but the cauliflower was fresh, the fried breading around it had a nice crunch, and the sauce added some good flavor to it. My biggest concern with the dish wasn’t the taste, it was the portion size--since it was fried, I didn’t need quite so much of it, especially since Libby ordered it too.

SARA:
The service was fine? She was slow all night. She also kept forgetting to bring out our bottle of wine. Also, my oyster appetizer came out about ten minutes after everyone else's course. I know ordering oysters at a "health food joint" in June is not the best idea. But honestly, they were the best things I ate the entire evening. I enjoyed the little salsa that came with them.

By the way, expecting polite and prompt service has nothing to do with "being in a rush." If I wanted fast food, I would go to Wendy's. But, I didn't feel like a place that charges that much money for taro chips and tofu skin should have the option of taking their sweet ass time in getting us our alcohol (we even had to ask an entirely different waiter about it). Plus, I needed booze to flush down my main course (which will be discussed later).

Your cauliflower fritter was fine, though it was basically a vegetable dunked in funnel cake batter.

GREG:
Wow...remind me not to invite you to my child’s first piano recital.

On to the entrees. I ordered the Crispy Coconut Tempeh, not really knowing what the heck Tempeh is. What I was served was a fried triangle and fried circle of something I’m not sure...but still liked a lot. The coconut flavor wasn’t overwhelming and it was actually on the light side as far as fried food goes. I kinda wish I hadn’t ordered two fried dishes, especially when I was in the mood for refreshing vegetarian fare, but I have to say it was quite delicious, crunchy, juicy on the inside, and satisfying. So there.

Libby’s entrée was also very good. She had the Chickpea And Butternut "B'steeya" with fire roasted tahini, pomegranate and wild
arugula. The butternut was definitely the most present of anything on that list, which in my opinion makes this more of an autumn dish than a hot summer night’s meal, and Libby said she would have much preferred it as an appetizer since it was so sweet. But our side of the table certainly seems to have won the entrée battle this evening.

SARA:
Don't worry...I won't boo your child unless she serves me food from Broadway East after she's done playing.....

Your main course was the only one I liked. Libby's was fine, but should have been a side dish. As a main dish it was overwhelming and sweet. But yes, even her sugary butternut squash was better than Liz's dish, or my monstrosity.

We both ordered the specials. Liz got the scallops, which were cooked fine, but topped with a pea puree of some sort that looked and tasted like baby food. She pushed the sauce aside and politely finished the scallops. I ordered the pasta with morels, feeling that I had made a safe bet. If you remember from our Dovetail review, I adore morels because of their rich earthy flavors. I was excited for that mushroom taste to fill my mouth, but instead I got.....nothing. NOTHING. The dish had absolutely no flavor. How this restaurant sucked the flavor out of the morels I will never know. But whoever did that to them should be locked up and shipped to Staten Island.

GREG:
SHE??? Are you suggesting my male offspring will have tonal deficiencies?

Okay, whatever. I’m not going to harp on this one. Obviously the kitchen is still adapting to it’s lack of an executive chef, and we probably chose the wrong time to go there. My meal was fine, sorry you were disappointed, and I don’t have much else to add. Chalk this month up to experience and we’ll return to our regularly scheduled carnivorous gluttony in July. And since writing this blog entry seems to have been as tedious for you as the meal itself, let’s just skip right to the grades.

GREG:
Ambiance: C+
Service: C
Appetizer: B-
Main Course: B-
Wine/Drinks: B
Desserts: B-
Value: B
Bread: B-

SARA:
Ambiance: C
Service: C-
Appetizer: B
Main Course: D
Wine/Drinks: B
Desserts: B-
Value: C-
Bread: B-

LIBBY:
Ambiance: B
Service: C
Appetizer: B-
Main Course: B-
Wine/Drinks: B
Desserts: B+
Value: B-
Bread: C

LIZ:
Ambiance: B(would have been nicer if more people were actually eating there)
Service: C
Appetizer: B (the ravioli was the best thing I ate all night but it was nothing special - looking back I should have eaten more of it rather than pass it around because it was definitely a million times better than my entree)
Main Course: D- (bland baby food - the "green" mash that was supposed to be some sort of sweet pea foam can be found under the dictionary.com definition for "nasty")
Wine/Drinks:B/B+
Desserts:B
Value:C
Bread:B