Dining: Nu Age Cafe
In Tarrytown, a Nu dining venue for vegans
By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
Web posted: Sept. 14, 2005
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Photo by Larry Kolvoord/AA-S
Pine nut cup-ettes, left, combine piñons with chopped vegetables in crisp shells for an unusual entree. The Nu Age soup spills over with vegetables. Nu Age Cafe. 2425 Exposition Blvd., 469-9390. Rating: Forks up. Price: Moderate. |
But that's a misnomer.
There's no longer any honey in this dessert.
That's because Nu Age Cafe wants to remain as vegan as possible.
A vegan is a vegetarian purist who consumes no animal-derivative items such as eggs, butter and cheese.
Many vegans even view domesticated hives as a form of bee enslavement, so they refuse to use honey as a sweetener.
With that in mind, Nu Age replaced the honey with maple syrup.
Although owner Kuan Wang calls his restaurant vegetarian, nearly every item served is vegan.
The sushi platter ($10), which we shared as an appetizer, brought mixed results from a textural standpoint. The roll with asparagus and avocado was firm, while the one centered around pumpkin was unappealingly soft.
An entree, the noodle soup ($10) was a hearty and tasty bowl of tomato broth filled with noodles, soy, mushrooms, turnips, carrots, tomatoes and corn.
The sizzling soy ($15) delivered slices of marinated soy with a ground-meat consistency over a bed of bean sprouts and a side of broccoli on a fajita-style iron platter.
An unusual but appealing main course, the pine nut cup-ettes ($12) combined pine nuts and chopped vegetables in small, crisp shells.
Both the cup-ettes and the sizzling soy were accompanied by brown rice contained in a banana-leaf cone.
Nu Age offers an array of beverages, including Silk Road tea ($5) and Blue Forest tea ($3), European herbal teas steeped in pots and served on wooden trays.
For dessert, the chocolate cake ($5) and the honey berry soy pie ($5) were delightful -- a big compliment from someone who views faux cakes and pies with suspicion.
Nu Age Cafe, which replaced the longtime Holiday House in Tarrytown, is demonstrating that vegan fare can be as delicious as any other form of cuisine.
drice@statesman.com; 445-3859
