The Angelica Kitchen is an institution.  It has been in existence since 1976.  You can’t say that about too many places in NYC; at least not on the restaurant scene.  And since it is vegetarian, they have been practicing sustainability and seasonal ingredients the entire time.  Imagine that. As far as atmosphere goes, eh, there really isn’t any.

So we have an institution with no atmosphere. The bigger challenge is the vegetarian part.  I, like Anthony Bourdain, am a carnivore.  To me the worst thing is ‘substitute meat’.  But as we have discovered on our recent diet, there is one edible item – a wheat gluten preparation called seitan. Here in NYC there are more vegetarian spots than you can imagine and some are even critically acclaimed.  The Angelica is at the top, so we decided to check it out.

I went with the seitan.  Steve had it at Gobo and I was jealous as I ate my gummy protein crap covered with curry.  The ‘ole man seitan’ was a burrito of sorts filled with seitan and veggies. Fantastic.  The presentation was a fright.  It looked like a large log slathered with peanut butter and decorated with a squiggle of mayo.  Shocker but I’d recommend this dish!

The Dashi and Noodles were sufficiently bad enough that I offered to switch with Steve half way through the meal.  After all, I am the udon fan.  This was tasteless and of course it was soba, not udon.  Wheat noodles basically suck in texture and taste.  Always. And I am never a fan of floating romaine lettuce in soup.  Ick.  The best part was the dashi.  I love a slice of white radish.  Fortunately the ‘Ole Man Seitan’ was more than enough for 2!

Would I go back?  Not sure.  I am hoping to maintain the loss of my ‘In NYC 10’ and never again resort to a vegetarian diet again.  I have introduced fish and fowl, so I plan to move on and pick the healthiest option.  Although the grilled Guinea hen I had at Po yesterday was slathered in butter on a bed of pasta so veggie might come back sooner than I think.

MENU

Kukicha Tea

Olé Man Seitan  $14.50
Homemade seitan & roasted vegetable mix folded into a warm whole wheat tortilla; dressed with spicy traditional mole sauce (peanuts & chocolate), & lime-jalapeño tofu sour cream; garnished with pimento.

Dashi and Noodles  small $8.50  large $10.50
Bowl of traditional Japanese broth made with shiitake mushrooms, kombu, fresh ginger & shoyu; served warm over soba noodles.
Adorned with chef’s select garnishes.

http://www.angelicakitchen.com/
300 E. 12th St. – East Village