NYC4E

So it happened again...



I ended up in New York City. I think that the Fleet Foxes concert had a lot to do with it.



It was amazing... in case you were wondering.

After the concert, it only seemed right to head over to Foodswings. You might remember them as the vegan junk food joint from my last NY visit. I tried the Punk Fries AKA cheese fries with bacon bits!?^&*^*(!!?~?>!!#&*



Corn Dog (The thyme in the batter was a nice surprise!)



And Creamy Mac n' Cheese (which was actually pretty disappointing)



Then my friends and I went to The Organic Grill for a Sunday brunch. Admittedly, I wasn't super impressed with most of the stuff we ordered. That being said, it's worth a visit just to try the VEGAN OMELET! (filled with your choice of veggies and vegan cheese!)





The Indecisive Breakfast Plate came with tofu scramble, blueberry pancakes, and soy sausage



The waffles were way too dense for me, but my friends seemed to like them.



More tofu scramble



On my last day in New York, we decided to watch Chocolat. By the time it was over, I could hardly contain myself... I NEEDED to get to Cocoa V and order their signature hot chocolate stat. I seriously can't say enough about this vegan chocolate shop.



Another reason I love Cocoa V is for their Vegan Cheese Plate. Ummm... What!? yeah, I know! Okay okay, so it's kind of an investment. But I loved it and thought it was worth every cent.

Look, it's spreadable!

Then, my bestie and I headed to Chinatown for a dim sum date at the Vegetarian Dim Sum House. It was so inexpensive and yummy.

We got the Pan Fried Dumplings...



Then the Taro Treasure Boxes (They were so good! They had sweet mashed taro inside with a mock meat center)





I wouldn't feel right if I didn't warn you about the next dim sum we got. It was the mushroom one, but it came in this strange gelatinous casing. Apparently, they have a few on the menu that come like this but they don't indicate it in the description at all. I'm not gunna lie... it was pretty unpleasant. I just kept imagining I was eating a jellyfish :(



And last, but certainly not least, were these airy little mock pork dumpling. They really didn't taste meaty at all, which was kind of nice. They were just really light and sweet.



So in summation, I'm pretty full. Now I will leave you with a message from Fleet Foxes... ;)

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New York Food Tour - Take Three!

Finally, we've reached the last leg of our food tour. My favorite day in New York was definitely when Tess and I rode our bikes up the Hudson River Greenway, napped in Central Park, and ate one of the best vegan meals I've ever had at........

Peacefood Cafe!



If you go, I HIGHLY recommend getting the following items. It was the perfect meal to share with someone and every dish went together so well...

Potato Salad!



A Veggie Savory Biscuit with vegan butter (amazingly good!)!!!



a "PFC" Un-Chicken Basket with Chipotle Dipping Sauce!!! (SO SO SO GOOD)



Cesar Salad with Smoked Tempeh!



Now on to the dessert case. Admittedly, dessert was my least favorite part, but I think my mistake was in not getting the Tiramisu.



Strawberry Short Cake - The Cream filling was a little too savory and the biscuit was too dense.



If you LOVE peanut butter, I recommend the peanut butter cheesecake. It was a little too much peanut butter for me though :/



Then, In true VeganPANDAmonium fashion, we saw Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox of Animal Collective) perform in Williamsburg.



It was a really excellent show. This was my favorite song of the night...



Now, any vegans interested in indulging in some seriously unhealthy vegan junk food need to head over to Foodswings. It was our last stop on the food tour and we were so dedicated to eating at Foodswings before we flew home that we lugged all of our luggage to the restaurant (as we were cutting our flight very close).



It was everything I had hoped for AND MORE. I was most excited when I saw the long list of french fry sides they had. They had everything from bacon and cheese fries to gravy fries. I opted for the "Metal Fries" which were (a little overly doused) in blue cheese dressing and buffalo sauce.



Then we had the Chick'n Bacon Ranch burgers with a hot dog (they even had vegan corn dogs!!!)



A Butterfinger shake (INSANE!!!!)



and a "My Little Pony" shake (strawberry ice cream with orange juice)



Aside from the awesome food New York has to offer, my favorite thing about the city might be all the dogs. I saw so many great dogs that I almost considered starting a dog blog. Plus, Tess had some pretty adorable critters in her apartment too. Meet 'Cow'...



But at the end of the day, I'm so glad to be back home with my boy...

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New York Food Tour - Take Two!

So we're back for part two! Let's start off with the fantastic grub we ate at Rockaway Beach. First, we stopped for some tofu tacos with an insanely good guacamole at Rockaway Tacos. I honestly can't think of a more perfect snack for a beach day.



For those of you that don't know, Babycakes now has a spot RIGHT ON Rockaway beach. Not only did they have mini doughnuts, but they also had gluten-free pizza AND freshly made HOT WAFFLES!!!!! Obviously we both opted for the hot waffles, topped with sweet cream, maple syrup, powdered sugar, and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. We also tried a slice of pizza and a mini coconut doughnut. Absolutely amazing. I mean... vegan tacos and waffles on the beach?! sold!






inevitable beachy food coma...




If you're looking for a quick bite in the city, I also recommend Little Atlas Cafe. We had a truly yummy No-Chicken Salad Sandwich there.



If you are in the Chelsea area, you HAVE to stop by Cocoa V, a vegan chocolate, dessert, and wine shop. It would be a super cute place to have a date, because they even have a cashew cheese and dried fruit platter on the menu (fancy!). It is a little on the pricey side, but even if you just stop in for hot chocolate it's worth it. I mean it... it was THE BEST hot chocolate I have ever tried! Tess got their Signature Hot Chocolate and I had their Spiced Hot Chocolate. They were both absolutely out of this world good!! I felt like I had found the hot chocolate I have been searching for all my life. They also had an assortment of adorable chocolate truffles.



As great as everything looked, there was no avoiding the vegan butterfinger bars. I found this version more "peanutbuttery" than the original, but still really, really tasty.



For the 4th of July, Tess and I met up with our friend, Julia, for brunch at Bliss Cafe in Williamsburg. All in all, this place might have been my least favorite meal while in New York. That being said, everything was good, just nothing special.





We started out with the quesadillas as an appetizer.




Julia had the Citrus Sensation Seitan... tasty, but too pricey for how little seitan they gave you.



Tess and I each had the tofu scramble and tempeh bacon on a bagel with a side of homefries.



Later that night, we attended a vegan potluck in Brooklyn and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset on the roof followed by the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks show in Manhattan.




Believe it or not, I've decided to make this a three-parter. That's right, I ate THAT much food in New York. You won't want to miss the next post because it includes THE BEST meal I had in New York/my life!

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