Bonobo's

Bonobo's is a vegetarian restaurant located at 18 E 23rd st near Madison Square Park and Gramercy theater. Their whole menu is of the raw variety. All enzymes fully intact. Set up a bit like a deli, you select you meal and bring the tray to your table.

They have a wide variety of nut pates and house made dressing which were what I found unique and most impressive. The menu is pretty standard for a raw vegan style restaurant otherwise and reasonably priced for the good quality you're getting. I tried the salad with nut pate, in which you get to choose your ingredients and pate flavour, with their lemon garlic tahini dressing. I left feeling full and satisfied. Great place for a quick and nutritious meal.

Rating: 8/10

One Lucky Duck

One Lucky Duck is the take out companion of Pure Food and Wine. They prepare small batch, take-out, raw vegan sweets, juices, smoothies and ice cream. There is a small amount of seating where you can also get an array of salads and savory dishes. Walls are covered in nuts, truffles, cookies, coconut oil, sweeteners, dog treats an supplements. The vibe is cozy but busy.

This is one of my favorite vegan establishments in NYC so far. Needless to say, the list of things I've tried has been over several visits:

Smoothies:
cacao or carob latte – $9
banana, cashew milk, cacao or carob, vanilla

Thoughts: This is by far my favorite thing I've tried here so far. I get mine with carob and no sweetener. It's satisfying, thick and creamy.

green mango – $9
mango, cucumber, cilantro, coconut water, lime

Thoughts: Marvelous! If you love the taste of coconut water and want a good way to get in some cleansing greens, this is where it's at. The taste of cilantro is not overpowering so with the combination of cucumber, mango and lime, this makes for a deliciously fresh taste.

Sweets:
mallomar – $6
chocolate coated pecan cookie with vanilla cream GF

Thoughts: With a thick dollop cashew based cream on the top as its marshmallow and a crunchy chocolate dipped base, I'd say they're better than their mass produced counterparts by far. Trouble is, I could easily eat more than one, and if you want to be satisfied, two is a little overkill financially speaking.

moon pie – $9
chocolate brownie vanilla cream sandwich GF

Thoughts: If you're really looking for something raw vegan that seems to mimic its original texture, this is pretty close. I still have no idea how they got the cake portion to have the fluffiness of real wheat flour cake and still have it raw and gluten free. Not really for me though the flavor was great.

lemon bar – $8
almond coconut crust, tart lemon custard GF

Thoughts: I tried these as some free samples. While I'm not a huge fan of lemon desserts, these tasted much like a traditional lemon bar, but with better texture. I was pleasantly surprised.

chocolate caramel bar – $5
chocolate dipped pecan caramel bar O

Thoughts: I was a little underwhelmed by these. Felt there was a bit too much of the bar base and not enough of the caramel filling. **I wouldn't chance this one if you're gluten sensitive.

chocolate ganache tart – $12
chocolate ganache filling, chocolate crust GF

Thoughts: Coming from a self proclaimed chocoholic, this is an obvious favorite. Served with cashew cream, it is absolutely addictive. That being said, it's very sweet and may have you bouncing off the walls after if your blood sugar is out of wack or you haven't eaten enough solid food ahead of time to balance your nerves from the caffeine in the cacao. Also, the price for this seems a little steep for raw vegan tarts since I'm used to the $5-$7 slices in Canada but for NY the average seems to be $12-$14 though outrageous, it's in the ballpark for the city as I see it.

orreo cookie – $3.5
vanilla cream filled chocolate cookie GF

Thoughts: I don't know why but I tend to love raw desserts generally because of their moist texture due to fresh ingredients. This one just tries too hard to be like a real oreo. It's dehydrated to the point of a packaged cookie. Still tasty and one of the cheaper options if you're just looking for a sweet snack.

linzer cookie – $5
spiced hazelnut and almond cookie sandwich, raspberry jam GF

Thoughts: This is my favorite raw vegan cookie I've ever tried. The flavor is spicy and outstanding. The raspberry jam layer in the center is just perfect; not too sweet. Coupled with a smoothie, it's my breakfast made in heaven.

Rating: 9.5/10

Lula's Sweet Apothecary

Lula's Sweet Apothecary is a tiny vegan ice cream shop in the east village of New York. The vibe is vintage and inviting along with the bar style stools and counter which make for an authentic ice cream eating experience if I've ever had one.

Flavor selection was fair enough. About 10 to choose from, covering all the basics. This shop adds to intrigue with its various topping and sauces, which totally make up for any flavor you might have been wishing they had. All vegan as well, though subject to availability depending on the day. Needles to say I had been hoping to try their peanut butter sauce. Taste testing was encouraged, so I sampled their peanut butter fudge and espresso flavors.

The peanut butter fudge flavor was rich and delicious. Just like sticking a spoon into a jar of creamy peanut butter but with the soft and smooth texture of ice cream. Seeing as how I had been craving peanut butter, I probably should have gone for this option.

I, on the other hand went with the espresso flavor which was much more subtle and had the slight texture of bean grinds blended throughout. On it's own it was light and flavorful. I topped it with some of their vegan caramel which, though delicious in its own right, was a bit overkill. If you don't have a sweet tooth (which I luckily do), this sauce it pure sugar.

I left feeling jacked. Espresso and caramel. What was I expecting right? Also re-realizing that I'm not really an ice cream person as far as primary dessert choices. That all being said, the quality was pure and for being made on the premises, you get what you pay for.

Check out the menu for yourself: http://www.lulassweetapothecary.com/lsamenu.pdf

Rating: 7/10*

*This rating is bias, due to my preference for none ice cream related desserts.

Caravan of Dreams

Caravan of Dreams is a quaint, atmospheric vegan restaurant on the lower east side of Manhattan. The lighting inside is dim, coupled with light and airy music selections for the perfect vibe of comfort and relaxation. I must admit, the menu was a bit overwhelming. So much selection that if you're one who finds it hard to make decisions, maybe have a look at the choices before hand online. Including brunch, dinner, dessert and smoothie options, there is no shortage of delicious organic, kosher food descriptions to make you salivate.

Dinning with a friend here is probably your best bet if you're looking to try as many things as possible seeing and the prices are a bit steep. Understandably so due to the standards they keep, yet still on the hefty side for this type of restaurant in my opinion.

I tried:

Pizzetta, one of their raw vegan options. The veggies were fresh and the nut cheese was the perfect texture but this pizza left allot to be desired. The sauce had no tang to mingle with the rest of the toppings. Its flavor was practically obsolete. The crust was probably the most disappointing aspect. If it were analyzed by food scientists, I'm sure they'd agree that that cracker was no longer LIVE. It was too thick and over dehydrated for my liking. It's flavor was also lacking, possible due to over dehydration but none the less, it could have used some more salty flavors such as sun dried tomatoes or celery. For $19, I was disappointed.

The Coco-Mango Pie was my savior. One layer of coconut cream, then a layer of mango cream, drizzled in strawberry sauce and a thin nutty crust. This gluten free dessert was to die for. Allot lighter than most raw vegan pies which was a delightful surprise and didn't give me the feeling of being weighed down later, due to my body processing to much fat.

Over all, I think I'll have to go back to try one of their superfood smoothies or coconut keifer drinks to satisfy my curiosity with their unique flavor combinations.

Rating: 6.5/10