teany

On Friday we went to teany at 90 Rivington st in Manhattan. Teany is a vegetarian café. We’ve been there plenty of times for dessert, coffee and tea, but this time we decided to see if the food was any good.

Iced Teas

I ordered the Vanilla Sencha Iced Green Tea. This tea was very mellow and soothing. I was surprised at how strong the vanilla flavor was, considering it wasn't syrup. This is one of my favorite teas at teany and it's good to know it's yummy hot or cold. -Ev
I got the black iced tea of the day, which was Coconut Iced Tea. I grew up on the super-sugary iced tea that you make from a mix, so I’m not usually a big fan of unsweetened iced teas. I must say, though, that I really enjoyed this. Although it wasn’t sweet per se, the coconut gave it a quasi-sweetness and it tasted great. It was very cold and refreshing and was the perfect thing to drink with my dinner. -Jim

Tomato and Pasta Soup

This was the soup of the day. It was tasty, if somewhat of a misnomer; the soup was so thick it was more like pasta in a cup full of marinara sauce. A very good marinara sauce mind you, but still it was a little strange. -Ev
Yeah. Not very soup-like. It was good if you think of it as a pasta appetizer. -Jim

Turkey Club on Marble Bread

I wasn’t expecting much from this sandwich. When I think of vegan Turkey Clubs, I think of the one at Kate’s Joint, which never really did anything for me. But the Turkey Club at teany is awesome. They give you a choice of bread, which is neat. I chose marble bread and it was fresh and delicious. It wasn’t too hard or too soft. On the upper level of the sandwich was tomato, mixed salad greens and vegan mayonnaise. I wonder if the vegan mayonnaise is home-made at teany because it was really good. On the lower level was the standard vegan turkey slices, but also some really delicious smoked tempeh. Or at least I think it was smoked tempeh. Whatever it was, it was the MVP in this sandwich. It made every bite crispy and flavorful. I will definitely come back and get this again ASAP. -Jim

Vegan Quiche

This dish was amazing! I was expecting a square of mashed tofu with veggies baked in. Thankfully, this was not the case. The quiche was made of bread crumbs and soft veggies like zucchini, carrots, and onion. It was deliciously spiced, almost like a stuffed mushroom. They also gave you a tomato cream sauce w/sausage bits to eat with the quiche which gave it a more Italian flavor. The sauce was good, but the quiche itself was so delicious that I liked it better plain. Also great was the side salad that came with it; it had a really creamy, blue cheese-esque dressing. Our waitress mentioned that they often don't have this dish available. When they do, I highly recommend you try it. -Ev

Teanychino

A few months ago, teany took all their special coffee drinks (including the "Almond Joy", a mocha coconut almond latte) off their menu, presumably to focus on their specialty: tea. At first I was heartbroken about this decision. But now I’m glad, because in the void they left behind I tried a Teanychino, and it totally kicks the ass of any coffee drink I’ve ever had. Now I get one of these every time I go to teany and so should everyone else. According to the sign on the wall, the Teanychino consists of Yerba Matte, sunflower, cornflower blossoms, almond and vanilla bean steeped in your choice of milk (obviously vegans should choose soy milk). Put it all together and you’ve got a drink that’s sweet and rich yet earthy and delicate. Yum. I want one right now. -Jim
UPDATE: since this review was written, the good people at teany have put the delicious coffee drinks I mentioned back on the menu. Thanks, teany!

Strawberry Shortcake

For those of you that don't know, Vegan Treats is a Philly-based vegan bakery that makes all the cakes you thought you'd said goodbye to when you went vegan (and they're all heavenly). Teany is one of the locations in NYC that gets their desserts from Vegan Treats. Their Strawberry Shortcake is one of my all-time favorite desserts. The cake is moist and spongy but still thick. The icing is just sweet and creamy enough without any weird aftertaste. And the strawberries provide a sharp tartness that cuts through all the sugary heaven. So YUM! The best part is the slices are big and very filling -Ev

Chocolate Macaroon Cake

Another delicious Vegan Treats cake. This one is chocolate and more chocolate with shredded coconut on top. It’s a very heavy, decadent dessert (which you know if you’re familiar with Vegan Treats). You don’t taste a lot of coconut, but that’s ok. The chocolate cake with chocolate icing makes up for it. God Bless Vegan Treats. -Jim

The Bottom Line

This was one of my favorite nights out. I knew teany had great desserts; I had no idea their food would be so delicious. -Ev
Agreed. This was one of my favorite dining experiences in a long time. The atmosphere at teany is always so laid back and pleasant, the wait staff is usually very nice (our waitress this time was particularly polite and helpful), you’ve got about a million teas to choose from, not to mention the Teanychino, and the Vegan Treats desserts, and now we’ve discovered that their food is good too. I think I might be in love with teany. -Jim