Tien Garden Vegan Restaurant

Tien Garden, Lower East Side

From the website

http://www.tiengardener.com/Main.html

170 Allen St # 1, New York, NY (212) 388-1364

Yelp reviews

This is officially the 1st restaurant we ate out at after officially moving into New York.   After our own harrowing moves, we helped our friend, Emily (who was in the midst of her own  moving ordeal), move a few of her things from her old apartment to the new.  She took us here in thanks.

I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan, and I freely admit my weakness and insatiability for animal products.  However, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy vegetarian foods and now that it is a major part of my diet within the limits of my new living arrangements, I actively seek out those veg meals I will enjoy despite my carnivorous ways.  So I definitely welcomed Emily's suggestion.

This is a small and healthy food/choices type place.  A small cafe kind of feel, very clean and one friendly waitress.

As an appetizer, we ordered steamed burdock dumplings.  I am a sucker for dumplings and it will be a blogpost at another time discussing my hunt for halfway decent dumplings in my neighborhood (thus far being 0).  However, Tien Garden's dumplings were not a disappointment.  Hot and delicious, with a fish like sauce (of course not fish, :p).  Should have gotten 2 orders.

The main menu at Tien Garden is small but there is a lot one can do with his or her meal.  I'm especially talking of the I-dish where you pick the ingredients of your own personal stirfry.  My boyfriend chose this and he picked what suited his tastes, and he enjoyed what he got.  Emily said the menu rotates a bit, so her favorite was no longer on it, but she made do with another dish.

I however, chose a bit wrongly.  I had looked at the other table beside us and they had these delicious looking noodles (by sight and what is on the menu, I am guessing it was cold noodles). I thought I wouldn't want a cold dish, so I opted for the organic curry vegetables with brown rice.  Despite the delicious name, the curry wasn't up to the excellent standards I'm used to such as in Indian restaurants or my mother's own awesome curry.  It just didn't have that richness of spices, and it tasted a bit too buttery.  And I should have known better about the brown rice, I was never a fan.  If I were to go back I would opt for the noodles and decline anything with curry or brown rice.

I would suggest this place to any vegans or vegetarians, because, like my boyfriend, they know what they like and can order quite easily.  For anyone else, when in doubt ask those around you.  I have to remember to trust my instincts more about what I do and do not like and if I'm not sure if I would like the flavor, ask the waitress.  Or ask for a bite of the noodles of the table next to us.