Do Soy & Sake Diners Have to Re-Start Their Vegan Clocks? A Review in Two Parts

PART I: Enjoying

VM and I love us some Soy & Sake.  It's pretty (minus the fishtank), it's delicious, the servers are pleasant & efficient, and it's a far enough walk from Lula's to restore your appetite.

On a recent visit, I went with my standard lychee martini, and she went for the pomegranate martini. The pomegranate sure was pretty, but the lychee always wins.

Of course we had to order the chicken & vegetable tempura appetizer, the only faux meat VM ever touches.

As a second appetizer we went with something we'd never noticed before, Naruto: avocado, oshinko, asparagus, mango, kampyo wrapped in cucumber with sweet wine vinegar.  It was so, soo, sooo good.

And then it was sushi time; we ordered all of our veggie favorites.

The mix vegetable tempura roll: sweet potato, broccoli, and asparagus.

Just take a gander of all the tempura veggies stuffed in there:

The veggie lover roll: cucumber, avocado, asparagus, topped with mushroom tempura and vegan eel sauce.  No, I don't know what eel sauce tastes like, but the vegan version is sweet.  And yes, by this point it was tempura overload- even for us.

And, finally, the always delicious peanut avocado roll.

I don't know what is wrong with me, but I still couldn't find the inari listed on the menu.  Luckily the server knew exactly what I was talking about and the little pockets of goodness were mine ours, ready to be filled with soy sauce, ginger, and lots of ridiculously mild wasabi.  Seriously, the wasabi at Soy & Sake perplexes me with its tameness.

And, finally, I couldn't help but to order the pad thai chicken: traditional spicy Thai noodles with soy chicken, tofu, scallions, bell peppers, preserved radish, and crushed peanuts.  As you might imagine, at this point I was quite stuffed.  But I've never had pad thai and I've been meaning to try it.  I only managed a taste and it was good; but, unfortunately, the leftovers didn't fare too well: the microwave turned them into a pasty mass.  My bad.

I considered ordering the sweet and sour chicken as well (I wouldn't have eaten it all!), but the server literally told me us I we had ordered enough (I know, but still).  So, of course I was too embarrassed to order the delicious, Vegan Treats, chocolate oreo cheesecake that I only seem to find at Soy and Sake.  Next time!!

PART II: Questioning

VM and I always enjoy a sushi feast at Soy & Sake, but when with friends I tend to order the General Tso's Chicken: a generous amount of chicken and perfectly steamed broccoli (you know it has to be for me to say steamed broccoli is good) coated with dried, whole chili-laden Tso's sauce, topped with giant cashews, and served with rice.  After enjoying this on a recent visit, I was disappointed to receive an anonymous tip that the mock meats served at Soy & Sake might not be vegan.

I returned to the restaurant as promptly as possible to inquire; the waitstaff maintained that the menu is vegan by default and the non-vegan indications are accurate as noted.  Still, I decided to delve further. 

According to the waitstaff, Soy & Sake serves Absolute Vegetarian mock meats; it is my understanding that Red Bamboo and VP 2 do as well.  But a visit to the site proved curious, as when you click on any item on the product page, you will note that none include a complete ingredient list.  Instead, they simply say "100% meat free, egg free", with no mention of dairy. 

In an effort to gain clarification directly from the source, I've left numerous messages on the Absolute Vegetarian voicemail, but have yet to receive a return call.  Emails to Soy & Sake have also inexplicably gone un-answered.  As a result, I am even more concerned that these meat analogs could contain dairy derivatives (consistently or inconsistently); what else would prevent the company and restaurant from responding to a customer inquiry? 

If you are also concerned and have the resources, I have two words for you: OPERATION PANCAKE.  Until then I'm convinced otherwise, to be on the safe side, I'll stick to the veggie sushi & martinis.  Or, I might not go at all.

Finally, Soy & Sake

I never ate sushi as a non-vegan, so my sushi experience is relegated mostly to corny cucumber/carrot/avocado rolls, or some variation thereof.  Sure, some swanky sushi bars might offer a special veg roll, but there's always the possibility of cross contamination, the inadvertant sprinkle of bonito, or lifting up your avocado dragon wrap and finding heinous orange roe lurking beneath (it's happened).

Enter the beauty of Soy & Sake.  As a big fan of Red Bamboo and the now defunct Red Bamboo Brooklyn, I really didn't doubt that Soy & Sake, with the same owner, would deliver.  Instead, it blew me away. 

The menu is huge.  There are plenty of options that can be found at Red Bamboo, a lengthy sushi menu, and a zillion other offerings ranging from Chinese and Japanese, to Thai, Indian, American, etc.  It's hard to decide where to start, so we agreed to a few ground rules:

• forego anything we can order at Red Bamboo
• make selections that would generally be found in an Asian restaurant
• concentrate on the sushi for our entrees 

We each chose a drink from the bar menu and neither of us were disappointed.  My companion went with the Bahama Mama and I chose one of my favorites, the Lychee martini.  Both were perfect: not too sweet, and neither too weak or strong.

The appetizers in and of themselves were a feast.  The chicken tempura came with a generous amount of chicken and a nice assortment of veggies.  Even my analog-hating vegetarian companion enjoyed the chicken along with her vegetables; it was that good.  The tempura batter was non-greasy and pretty authentic.  Ok, I cheated and ordered the Red Bamboo fried shrimp, but I hadn't had them in a while so I was glad to confirm that they were just as delicious as ever with either cocktail or tartar sauce.  Again, the analog-hater herself enjoyed all of the crispy ends!  Finally, the fried vegetable gyoza was a more than respectable entry into the city's gyoza wars (I made them up; it just seems that my companion is forever ordering dumplings!).

Onto the sushi!  The first roll we tried was the simple, yet unique, peanut avocado roll.  I love both, so it sounded win-win, but we were also aware that the combo could go terribly, horribly wrong.  It so did not; it was exquisite!  This is so easy, yet so delicious; why haven't I ever seen this anywhere before?

Next up was the mixed vegetable tempura roll.  Absolutely stuffed with hunks of sweet potato, broccoli, and asparagus tempura: the pieces of this roll were huge and incredible.  Nothing like the dinky, non-vegan, veggie tempura rolls I've seen served elsewhere; this was packed with high quality ingredients instead of just eggy batter and some veggie crumbs.  The decorative condiments only added to the literal explosion of tastes; I think it was possibly the dumpling dipping sauce and sriracha mayo: delish.

The veggie lover's roll sounds ubiquitous, but it was astounding.  The special roll was filled with cucumber, avocado and asparagus, then topped with scrumptiously marinated mushrooms and some kind of crunchy flakes that resembled parmesan but tasted more like flavorful rice noodle shreds. 

Soy and Sake does offer all kinds of tuna, salmon, scallop, crab, eel, etc. rolls, but we decided to stick with the veggie options on this, our inaugural visit.  We could not have been more impressed with every choice.  Each veggie role was a unique combination enhanced by perfect accoutrements.

Finally, for dessert we shared the Hawaii roll.  We actually ordered it as part of our meal but immediately realized it would be better enjoyed as a finale and saved it till last.  The roll was filled with the surprisingly delicious combination of seemingly oddly paired, but similarly textured banana and avocado, and set off by crunchy Korean pear.  Topped with mango slices and mango sauce, this roll was an unexpected delight and I would definitely recommend it as dessert (even though their dessert options include Vegan Treats and fried ice cream (!) made with Kleins).

In conclusion, the food was entirely fresh and exquisite; the service was friendly, unobtrusive, and well-timed; the prices more than fair; and the restaurant beautiful (a far cry from the short-lived Dragonfly): light and welcoming.  The fish tank is certainly an attractive centerpiece, but I'm at odds with a respectful vegetarian/vegan establishment choosing to use an aquarium as a decorative element.  Here you are enjoying a cruelty-free meal whilst living beings spend their lives relegated to a relatively miniscule, man-made habitat solely for aesthetic purposes.

That aside, you will not be disappointed with anything you order at Soy & Sake.  In fact, you will find it difficult to concentrate on your own tasty selections as equally delicious options go by your table, intended for other diners.  Consider this display the coming attractions for what you might order on your next visit, which will surely be soon.