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Best of Metromix New York: VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT

Vegetarian cooking has a pretty poor stigma—think New Age-y types feasting on bowls of steaming bulgur wheat. Vegetarian cooking can also be pretty poor (see steaming bowls of bulgur wheat). These five restaurants make meat a true afterthought. Except in the case of meat-less oxtail. But that is pretty cool, too.

Dirt Candy

430 E. Ninth St.

New York, NY 10009

Neighborhood: East Village

If only your mother had chef Amanda Cohen to guide her, she just might have gotten you to eat your vegetables as a kid: Instead of disguising veggies, the Pure Food & Wine alum showcases the so-called "nature’s candy from the ground."

Nominees

Angelica Kitchen

300 E. 12th St.

New York, NY 10003

Neighborhood: East Village

This East Village favorite doesn't just serve tofu, but dresses it up by roasting it in garlic with tarragon infused creamy cashew sauce. Like Moosewood in Ithaca, the 33-year-old cafe was pushing plant-based cuisine well before its time.

Candle 79

154 E. 79th St.

New York, NY 10021

Neighborhood: Upper East Side

Candle 79 has the distinction of being the only vegan restaurants to be honored with one-star by the New York Times—critic Frank Bruni questioned if “an experience this meatless really be this painless?”

Gobo

401 Sixth Ave.

New York, NY 10014

Neighborhood: Greenwich Village

This West Village café drives home the idea that vegetarian cooking is more than simply plants on the plate—each dish is built on the belief that food arrives from “five senses,” or ingredients konnyaku, nori, seitan, soy, tofu.

Red Bamboo

140 W. Fourth St

New York City, NY 10012

Neighborhood: Greenwich Village

The sister restaurant to Vegetarian's Paradise 2, Bamboo places more of a Southern spin on vegetarian cooking. Oxtail and barbecue ribs are incredibly replicated without meat. Basically, savory soy is king here.

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