Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City
I’m not vegan, although I appreciate the movement and find myself drawn to vegan restaurants because the dishes are often more creative and surprising than the typical omnivorous restaurants.
That’s why I was truly excited when I found out that New York has a second vegan sushi restaurant. I’ve always been a fan of the creative and delicious vegetable rolls at Beyond Sushi. And now, I have to bow down to Planta Queen.
The ambiance here is much more sleek, trendy, and a place to be seen. I don’t care so much about being seen, but I’d been dying to try a taste. So I got my vegan sushi to go.
Planta Queen’s menu resembles that of a pan-Asian restaurant you’d find at a suburban shopping mall. Think PF Chang’s with sushi, stir fries, fried rice, and dumplings. If this place wasn’t completely vegan I’d have no interest.
Despite the typical looking menu, there is real creativity happening here. No tofu or magic meat, but rather real fruits and vegetables. Instead of tuna, the chefs here are using watermelon; instead of crab meat, they’re working with hearts of palm; and in place of squid, it’s coconut rings.
I’ve encountered some of those vegetable substitutions before, but I have never seen anyone attempt to create eel in the plant world. So the unagi eggplant nigiri really called my name.
I was truly blown away by how much the nigiri sushi looked, smelled, and tasted like barbecued eel. Meaty eggplant chunks are sliced opened, charred, and drizzled with a sweet brown sauce that is called unagi sauce, but must contain some sort of black magic.
Turns out Planta Queen is an import from Toronto and I can tell that there are hopes for even more expansion. And I’m ok with that. If we have Planta Queen replace all the PF Chang’s, sure we’ll be bringing vegan food to the masses which is great, but also people will finally get to try some exciting food! Price: $6.25
| PLANTA QUEEN |
| 15 West 27th Street (between Broadway and Fifth Avenue), Nomad (917) 675-7700 |
| plantarestaurants.com/location/planta-queen-new-york-city/ |
