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If you are a vegetarian, a vegan (especially!) or are simply interested in healthy and tasty food, check out VSpot, a relatively new 100% vegan restaurant on 5th Ave. between Douglass and DeGraw. If you visited the place in the summer when they just opened and was disappointed, give them another chance. The food has improved greatly and they have new items on the menu. http://www.thevspotcafe.com/ Elena P.S. I am in no way related to the restaurant, except by patronizing it often. But I do have a healthy self-interest in helping them succeed as they brought really good vegan food to the area and it would be a shame if they were to fold.
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There sure was alot of posting here about how bad the food was, even though the owner seemed nice and was pleading with people to try again . . . and some of those poor vegans went back, and it still sounded like anyone could do better at home with frozen food. Anyone else been going back more recently?
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fool me once, shame on you....fool me twice, shame on me.
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Well, all I can say is that the cooking sure is better than Vegetarian Palate and my family would be sad to see them fold. The food DID get incredibly tastier and the place is much better organized now than it was when it just opened.
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Do they have Kates-style buffalo un-chicken wings? I would single-handedly keep V-Spot in business if I could get those un-wings in the Slope. Deeeeeeeelicious!
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I recently ordered from there and was baffled by how they could stay in business with the gruel that they have on offer. I'm a vegetarian and generally love the fake meat, but this was just awful.
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10-Year Sloper » I recently ordered from there and was baffled by how they could stay in business with the gruel that they have on offer. I'm a vegetarian and generally love the fake meat, but this was just awful.
Have you tried Hunan Delight on Union+6th? They have excellent fake meat dishes... -
pitu » There sure was alot of posting here about how bad the food was, even though the owner seemed nice and was pleading with people to try again . . . and some of those poor vegans went back, and it still sounded like anyone could do better at home with frozen food. Anyone else been going back more recently?
I went there a few times in October. I'd always order the sweet potato fries to go which were sometimes really good and other times soggy and not good. I stopped going there because the person who served me (not sure whether or not he is the owner) was not very friendly and on two occasions made a big point of saying "is that all you're having?" and then looking disapproving when I said yes So I'm not overly impressed and I doubt I will go in there again If you want healthy food: Second Helpings on 9th STreet and 7th Avenue is a good option and they deliver pretty much all over Park SlopeDo you know where you're going to
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Diana Ross -
Yeah, sorry. 4 strikes rule. I kept trying because I wanted to support vegan business but come on.
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Isa » Yeah, sorry. 4 strikes rule. I kept trying because I wanted to support vegan business but come on.
I bet yours will be much much better (and cooler too)!
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Would like to see this place suceed as well being a vegetarian. I ordered the chicken cutlet sandwich with fries a few months ago and found it to be fine. Nothing to rave about but not utterly dissapointing either. Maybe boring would be the best way to decribe it. The staff was distant, like Foodswings, but that doesn't bother me. I think V-Spot should look at Swings' menu for more ideas. Foodswings is focused in what they do, they have a true vegetarian junk food menu at reasonable prices. V-Spot has the healthier salads and pastas and then the junk food like sandwiches. Maybe they're trying to please everyone. One thing they could do is make their food sound more exciting. Foodswings has a "Vegan Heart Attack," who can deny that?:-) (grilled soy burger with soy cheese and soy bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and fries for $7.95) Thanks for your post, Elena. I'll give 'em one more try even though the consensus here isn't positive. I live pretty far away and I dont think the sandwich/fries meals stand up well to delivery so I'll have to trek down there. Maybe eat at the Great Lakes while having a brew.
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Guest #2 » I'll give 'em one more try even though the consensus here isn't positive. I live pretty far away and I dont think the sandwich/fries meals stand up well to delivery so I'll have to trek down there. Maybe eat at the Great Lakes while having a brew.
I just love their brunch menu -- whole wheat pancakes (with berries or chocolate chips), scrambled tofu and breakfast burritos. The grilled seitan, lasagna and penne with vodka sauce on the entree menu are pretty good too. -
I’m all for a Kate’s Joint, Pukk, Zen Palate, Dimple or Angelica’s Kitchen in Park Slope, so these vegheads on 5th Ave better get their act together. I love vegan food, put to sleep by V-Spot’s plain jane menu. I hope the food is not as bland as the nondescript descriptions on the hardcopy menu. Reading about food’s texture, taste, spices, sauces, methods of preparation, and even colors excites me. I was hoping V-Spot rewrote their menu for their website, but when I went online, the text was too small too read.I blame such comments on beer.
© karlthedruid 2007 -
8thandPrez » [quote="10-Year Sloper"]I recently ordered from there and was baffled by how they could stay in business with the gruel that they have on offer. I'm a vegetarian and generally love the fake meat, but this was just awful.
Have you tried Hunan Delight on Union+6th? They have excellent fake meat dishes...[/quote] Agreed!I blame such comments on beer.
© karlthedruid 2007 -
Guest #2 » Would like to see this place suceed as well being a vegetarian. I ordered the chicken cutlet sandwich with fries a few months ago and found it to be fine. Nothing to rave about but not utterly dissapointing either. Maybe boring would be the best way to decribe it. The staff was distant, like Foodswings, but that doesn't bother me. I think V-Spot should look at Swings' menu for more ideas. Foodswings is focused in what they do, they have a true vegetarian junk food menu at reasonable prices. V-Spot has the healthier salads and pastas and then the junk food like sandwiches. Maybe they're trying to please everyone. One thing they could do is make their food sound more exciting. Foodswings has a "Vegan Heart Attack," who can deny that?:-) (grilled soy burger with soy cheese and soy bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and fries for $7.95) Thanks for your post, Elena. I'll give 'em one more try even though the consensus here isn't positive. I live pretty far away and I dont think the sandwich/fries meals stand up well to delivery so I'll have to trek down there. Maybe eat at the Great Lakes while having a brew.
What is Foodswings?I blame such comments on beer.
© karlthedruid 2007 -
raw » What is Foodswings?
http://www.foodswings.net/ -
Nice menu!I blame such comments on beer.
© karlthedruid 2007 -
Vegan Junkies I see.... If you'd like to try some real food (aka vegetables, grains, etc.) I'd love to cook for you! I'm a vegan chef and I teach cooking lessons in your home as well as meal delivery! Cheers!
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ok ok the food is not amazing but its gotten much better each time i go. the nacho chips themselves are amazing!! cooked on the premises. i still would prefer to have food swings, candle 79, VP2 or RedBamboo in Park Slope but Vspot is pretty good and getting better.
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terra » [quote="raw"]What is Foodswings?
http://www.foodswings.net//quote that menu is actually part of my problem with vegan food. yes, yes, I know, vegans want "meat-like" products. but I find an entire menu of mock-meals when, frankly, I'll eat the real thing, pretty lame. I prefer creative use of veggies, beans and tofu. I just don't want to eat fake meat. I want to eat creative food with non-meat if I'm at a vegan/vegetarian joint.like a smoked meat with an earthy youth overnote -
I agree!! Isn't a main advantage of a vegan and vegetarian diet for health reasons (for ourselves, animals and the planet)? I don't understand the mock meats....all they are are processed foods made in a factory just like any other junk food. Why spare yourself killing an animal but yet eat factory food? It doesn't make sense to me. BTW - what is that in your picture? Just curious....
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i love fake meat & would not be vegetarian if there was not fake meat.
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cheflady » I agree!! Isn't a main advantage of a vegan and vegetarian diet for health reasons (for ourselves, animals and the planet)? I don't understand the mock meats....all they are are processed foods made in a factory just like any other junk food. Why spare yourself killing an animal but yet eat factory food? It doesn't make sense to me. BTW - what is that in your picture? Just curious....
People chose vegan and vegetarian diets for many different reasons. Some vegetarians love animals and care little about their health. Some vegetarians are obsessed with their health, care little about animals, and even wear fur. Some vegetarians don't care much about their health or animals, but are concerned about the environment. Some vegetarians have phobia of meat. Some vegetarians don't eat meat for religious reasons. Some vegetarians are vegetarians for all of the above reasons. Everyone is different. Everyone likes to eat different things. -
cheflady » I agree!! Isn't a main advantage of a vegan and vegetarian diet for health reasons (for ourselves, animals and the planet)? I don't understand the mock meats....all they are are processed foods made in a factory just like any other junk food. Why spare yourself killing an animal but yet eat factory food? It doesn't make sense to me.
I am a vegan exclusively for ethical reasons, and accept the health benefits as a nice by-product of my ethical choices. I also very much like the taste of meat, so if I can get an ethically acceptable substitute, I will buy it, even though it may not be the healthiest option. -
cheflady » BTW - what is that in your picture? Just curious....
that's a pic of me drinking bubble tea in chinatown during a court break. I'm also wearing a hat with a braid attached. my work friends think they're funny.like a smoked meat with an earthy youth overnote -
off topic, but i always thought you were hitting a bong in your photo...
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8thandPrez » off topic, but i always thought you were hitting a bong in your photo...
I've heard crack pipe. how come youdidn't think that???? 
but yeah. it's totally me makin' sweet love to some bubble tea.like a smoked meat with an earthy youth overnote -
Subject: awful
V-Spot is awful!!! Its a shame too. The Slope could use a great Vegan place. -
I was in V-Spot once with friends. Ordered bruschetta - came on a white baguette, cold, no taste at all. Generally, as a vegetarian of 16 years, I like a variety of things, so I don't mind having fake meat here and there. The best I have had so far - I agree - is at Hunan Delight. (Beans and grains agrees with me more...) After expecting much, I was very dissapointed in V-Spot - bad and expensive. But I am willing to try again, especially since I want to write about vegan restaurants in the area. Looks like the Slope does not have much to offer that would be strictly vegetarian or vegan. I am right?
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miriam » I was in V-Spot once with friends. Ordered bruschetta - came on a white baguette, cold, no taste at all. Generally, as a vegetarian of 16 years, I like a variety of things, so I don't mind having fake meat here and there. The best I have had so far - I agree - is at Hunan Delight. (Beans and grains agrees with me more...) After expecting much, I was very dissapointed in V-Spot - bad and expensive. But I am willing to try again, especially since I want to write about vegan restaurants in the area. Looks like the Slope does not have much to offer that would be strictly vegetarian or vegan. I am right?
Yes, Park Slope does not have any good strictly vegetarian eat-out options, unless eating lettuce, cheese made with cow's milk, and bread is your idea of a good, "vegetarian" meal. Hunan Delight on Union Street is the most vegetarian sensitive restaurant offering a large strictly vegetarian menu. Vegetarian Palate on Flatbush Avenue is 100% vegetarian, but I prefer getting take out from Vegetarian Palate so I can bring the food back home and add in my own sauces and condiments. I've heard good things about Red Hot on 7th Avenue. I also want to praise V-Spot, but so far I cannot. V-Spot's food needs some excitement and pizazz injected into it. Right now its food is as exciting as a box of frozen Morning Star vegan burgers that you can pick up at any old grocery store. -
Subject: V-Spot
I like the V-Spot. Its one of my favorite places to eat in the slope. I like the American style vegan dishes that seem to have improved in the 6 months I've been eating there. The one major except for the music: always too loud and often annoying (a little too hard rocking for dinner). -
V-spot could use improvement--but based on FOODSWINGS?!! I still can't get over how a Vegan place doesn't have a juicer. dude.Ask a burning question, get a burning answer.
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Wow, I'm shocked to hear V-spot sucks so bad. That's too bad. I have not eaten there yet but have been meaning too. Still, I'll give it a try, but I guess I should not expect fireworks! I've been a vegetarian for more than a decade now, and I have to say, it's really not that hard to find veg friendly food, so if a place like V-spot sucks, I doubt it will last too long.
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alafairnadia » [quote="8thandPrez"]off topic, but i always thought you were hitting a bong in your photo...
I've heard crack pipe. how come youdidn't think that???? but yeah. it's totally me makin' sweet love to some bubble tea.[/quote]
Hmm, I always imagined you had just taken a hefty puff off of some stogie. Looks like smoke, but now I can see that it's bubble tea and a straw. funny shit! -
I did go back about three weeks ago. They do nothing above what I can do at home with some frozen Quorn stuff from Key Food besides the desserts they bring in, which still aren't anywhere near what I can get somewhere like Babycakes in the LES. It's a shame....this neighborhood would totally get behind a quality vegetarian place. V-Spot just comes off as lazy and overpriced.
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J0518 » I did go back about three weeks ago. They do nothing above what I can do at home with some frozen Quorn stuff from Key Food besides the desserts they bring in, which still aren't anywhere near what I can get somewhere like Babycakes in the LES. It's a shame....this neighborhood would totally get behind a quality vegetarian place. V-Spot just comes off as lazy and overpriced.
Well put. You summed it up.I blame such comments on beer.
© karlthedruid 2007 -
Subject: RED BAMBOO BROOKLYN
Have any of you tried the Reb Bamboo in brooklyn? (www.redbamboobrooklyn.com) Holy Awesome. They just added a whole lot of non-fake-meat items to their menu and they just started daily specials. I had a black-bean feijoda (brazilian specialty) with a Mushroom Ceviche. My girlfriend had the Fried Yuca and Plantains, chimichurri sauce was superb Her entry was a Thai coconut Curry Pasta with assorted asain vegetables like baby bok choy! DELICIOUS. I am so happy that Red Bamboo, even though famous for their fake meats, is trying to add more vegetable and grain friendly options. ALSO heard they are adding organic items to their menu come February. Not Park Slope but still close! I'd say the best vegetarian restaurant in BROOKLYN. -
hmmmm I've only heard bummed out reviews of Red Bamboo lately. Anyone else been? The above Guest review sounds like PR.
I hate PR. I like delicious vegetarian food. -
cheflady » I agree!! Isn't a main advantage of a vegan and vegetarian diet for health reasons (for ourselves, animals and the planet)? I don't understand the mock meats....all they are are processed foods made in a factory just like any other junk food. Why spare yourself killing an animal but yet eat factory food? It doesn't make sense to me. .
Totally agree. You'd be WAY better off with a nice grass-fed, organic ribeye steak.Do you know where you're going to
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Diana Ross -
There is a vegetarian potluck group that meets once a month - deeelicious! http://bluenotefoods.com/potluck.html Also, there's an Eco-Eatery Tour: http://bluenotefoods.com/Eco_Events.html
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mypasswordwontwork » [quote="cheflady"]I agree!! Isn't a main advantage of a vegan and vegetarian diet for health reasons (for ourselves, animals and the planet)? I don't understand the mock meats....all they are are processed foods made in a factory just like any other junk food. Why spare yourself killing an animal but yet eat factory food? It doesn't make sense to me. .
Totally agree. You'd be WAY better off with a nice grass-fed, organic ribeye steak.[/quote] Actually, the mock meats, most of which are seitan, are not exactly "junk food." True, they're processed food, but almost all of the seitan I've ever seen is organic and the ingredients are pretty simple: Water, Wheat Gluten, Soy Sauce (Water, Soybeans, Wheat, Salt), Garbanzo Bean Flour, Soy Flour, Ginger Oil, Aquaresin Garlic In addition, a hunk of seitan has a lot less calories and fat than an equivalent piece of real meat. -
Most mock meat indeed is NOT seitan. Seitan is simply wheat gluten, nothing else. It is a pure food that I would highly reccommend as a meat substitute. Mock meats in restaurants are generally made with soy protein isolate which is not a whole food, has been processed at high temperatures and denatured. Seitan is easily made at home with high-gluten bread flour and water. If a restaurant sells seitan they will say "seitan", and if they are selling "mock duck" it is not seitan. They are not interchangeable words. And I concur that seitan is not junk food. Mock meats are.
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Chef - I agree that some of the mock meat products contain soy protein isolate. But a lot of them are seitan or gluten, or texturized vegetable protein, defatted soy flour, or the like. I'll grant you that some of these are highly processed, but I still don't think it takes them into the category of junk food. A processed soy product typically has a lower fat content and higher protein content than standard soy, so some would say it has improved nutrition. If your goal is to avoid all processed food, I can understand staying away from some mock meats... but if your goal is eating healthier, I'd say that mock meats, if prepared properly, can be a better choice than real meat.
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Hungry Hippo - Good feedback you offer. I myself eat and prepare for clients no processed foods (exceptions may include prepared stocks, corn chips, tortillas and the like). I suppose my calling them "junk food" is my own category and others may disagree. I'm OK with that. I have lots of research/information on any of the processed foods if anyone is interested. Cheers!
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8thandPrez » ...I'd say that mock meats, if prepared properly, can be a better choice than real meat.
...except with regard to taste!
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Carnivore » [quote="8thandPrez"]...I'd say that mock meats, if prepared properly, can be a better choice than real meat.
...except with regard to taste! :twisted:[/quote]
Maybe for you... personally, seitan is one of my favorite foods. I'd take it over any meat any day. -
So I have a question for the vegan-restaurant contingent.... I was walking by V-Spot the other day and saw on their chalkboard -- I'm pretty sure I read this right, I did double check -- that the lunch special was "Latin Style" Beans and Rice...for $10. Does having food that should be cheap (like beans and rice without even any ham stock, I presume) cost a lot make it seem more substantial in some way? or is there some reason it should cost more that I am overlooking? (and yes, of course I am aware that the same questions could be asked of almost any eating establishment that is not a cheap diner. but this seemed an extreme example.)Bumping ancient threads with bot-like bullshit
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8thandPrez » [quote="Carnivore"][quote="8thandPrez"]...I'd say that mock meats, if prepared properly, can be a better choice than real meat.
...except with regard to taste! :twisted:[/quote]
Maybe for you... personally, seitan is one of my favorite foods. I'd take it over any meat any day.[/quote]
DELICIOUS SEITAN ALERT!
(yeah, that's what I said)
at the place on Atlantic Ave and 3rd Ave, "STIR IT UP"
here's the Times review
the vegi-chicken I had today was excellent super tender seitan
AND she delivers to the North Slope (at the least, since she seemed super amenable) $20 minimum, AND she said to call before you're starving -- advance time required... -
Seitan is my protein concentrate of choice - definately! I love to grind it in the food processor and it makes "ground beef" for tacos and stuff.
I was walking by V-Spot the other day and saw on their chalkboard -- I'm pretty sure I read this right, I did double check -- that the lunch special was "Latin Style" Beans and Rice...for $10. Does having food that should be cheap (like beans and rice without even any ham stock, I presume) cost a lot make it seem more substantial in some way? or is there some reason it should cost more that I am overlooking?
Maybe - just maybe it had safron in it, which is the priciest spice in the world (if I'm mistaken, I'm sure someone will point it out). But I agree - it bothers me when a restaurant jacks up the price on something you KNOW costs next to nothing. A fine ex: Grimaldi's and their $12 cheese pizza. -
cheflady » Hungry Hippo - Good feedback you offer. I myself eat and prepare for clients no processed foods (exceptions may include prepared stocks, corn chips, tortillas and the like). I suppose my calling them "junk food" is my own category and others may disagree. I'm OK with that. I have lots of research/information on any of the processed foods if anyone is interested. Cheers!
I think it's funny that 8thandPrez has better info on "mock meat" than cheflady . . .
Mock duck = tofu skin = delicious
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