Sacred Chow

We got dinner at Sacred Chow before attending the NerdNYC Boardgame Night on Monday. Sacred Chow is a vegan bistro specializing in heroes and tapas and it’s located at 227 Sullivan St in Manhattan. The funky, colored lighting at Sacred Chow caused our photos to come out a little weird, but you get the idea.

Spicy Pickled Vegetables

I love pickles of all shapes and sizes, from Kosher Dills to Japanese Oshinko. So when I saw that Sacred Chow offered a side of Spicy Pickles, I knew I had to try it. I wasn’t disappointed. The side consisted of cauliflower, carrots, bell pepper, jalepeno pepper and more, all spicy, sweet and strong from the pickling process. The mild veggies were kicked up by the pickling while the spicy jalepenos were cooled down enough to the point where I could eat them, and I’m usually a wimp with hot foods. It was a light, tasty way to start a meal. -Jim

Four Seasons Salad

Given the fact that lately I subsist on fruit and oatmeal at work, and the fact that I had my eye on a seitan sub for din-din, I thought it would be a good idea to throw some veggies up in the joint. I decided to go with a small Four Seasons Salad which consisted of greens, beets, carrots, apples & crunchy yuba strips topped with a dijon vinaigrette. I am a salad lover, especially when said salad has a unique combination of ingredients. This salad was highly loveable. The ingredients were all very fresh and flavorful. The mix of textures was fantastic as was the play between sweet and tangy. The yuba strips were excellent. I thought yuba was some kind of root vegetable, but Ms. Terry Hope Romero was kind enough to inform me of its real nature; it comes from a film that forms on top of hot soymilk and then is dried or what-have-you. The yuba tasted surprisingly like Bac-Os, or Bacos, or Scott Bakula, or however you spell it. (Strange but little known fact Scott Bakula indeed tastes like Bacon Bits). Also, the dijon vinaigrette was a sassy change from my usual Balsamic traditions. And Bakulic traditions. -Ev

Tapas Plate: Mama’s soy meatballs, Steamed Sesame Collards, Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms w/Toasted Sunflower Seeds

Sacred Chow offers a wide variety of Tapas, and in addition to what’s on the menu they have several specials every day. The Tapas come in two varieties: “Protein Rich” (tofu, seitan and the like) and “Complex Carb” (veggies and grains and stuff). For $12 you can get a plate of three Tapas, and that’s what I did. The Mama’s Soy Meatballs were off the “Protein Rich” menu, in case you couldn’t guess, and they were mighty fine. The texture was slightly on the mushy side but still very satisfying, and they were covered in chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs, kind of like an Italian salsa. The collards were a special that day. I’m used to the garlicky collards at Kate’s Joint, so the more subtle flavor of these collards was disorienting at first, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. Also, they were just the right texture. The mushrooms were good and very plentiful. I had to give away some of my mushrooms because I was getting full. Overall, the tapas I chose had a very fresh, healthy vibe to them. Which was great, though between you and me I might order some more exciting tapas next time I go (and there are plenty of exciting-sounding tapas on the menu). -Jim

Orange BBQ Seitan Sub & Roasted Black Olive Seitan Sub (w/vegan cheese)

What’s better than a seitan sub??? Two different kinds of seitan subs that you share with your friend! (I really hope Paula thinks we’re friends.) There are a few key words that get me excited about eating. Among these are “Seitan” and “BBQ”. Throw in a fruit and I’m really excited. String these words along in a description such as “sliced chunky orange-molasses seitan, ginger BBQ sauce, onions, cheese” and it’s pretty much going in my belly. I opted not to get the cheese on this one. It was a great sub. The seitan was thick and chewy, salty, flavorful. And yet, this sub was blown out of the water by the Roasted Black Olive Seitan Sub. Holy crap, was this good! We got vegan mozzarella on it, and thankfully it wasn’t swimming in fakeness. The olive flavor was fused - scientifically fused! - into the Seitan. It was so… GOOD. It had that nice olive-y tang and then the creaminess of the cheese was there to cradle it into submission, and then there were green leafy things nestled against the delicious bread. Double YUM. -Ev

The Bottom Line

Just when we thought we’d been to every good vegan joint in NYC, we find another one hiding somewhere that knocks our socks off. I really enjoyed my experience at Sacred Chow. The food was great. The location is great. The atmosphere is great. But the really amazing thing about Sacred Chow is the variety of food to choose from. They have soups, salads, heroes and 19(!) tapas, not to mention a large selection of daily specials, and it’s all vegan. Plus they have eleven homemade desserts, which we didn’t have time to sample but I’ve heard they’re very good. This was only my first time trying Sacred Chow, but I think it’s safe to say that they’re awesome. And even though they’re a couple of bucks more expensive then I generally prefer, I could see them becoming a staple in our neverending NYC restaurant crawl. Oh, and one more thing: their brunch menu sounds really good. Don’t be surprised if you see a Sacred Chow Brunch review on veganfriendly in the near future. -Jim
Word. I found myself wanting to go back the next day. Everything was delicious- especially Jim’s Mushrooms and Terry’s Pumpkin Tapas. I was expecting boring hippy-dippy food and was pleasantly surprised to find really delicious and nutritious fare. Plus the restaurant itself is cute with its window of glowing red lights. So what if our pictures came out weird? I seriously want to go back there. Like right now. -Ev