Red Bamboo, 140 W. 4th St., New York, NY
Hours: Noon-9 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, noon-10 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
Menu: https://www.redbamboo-nyc.com/_files/ugd/9fbf96_e39be5f33ec9467fbfd8b31b1d1809e3.pdf
Suitable for: Vegetarians, vegans, lovers of meat analogues (including vegan seafood!)
First, a confession right out of the gate: I have no idea how or why it took me so long to discover Red Bamboo. But now that I have, well, it’s become a favorite in no time!
I learned about Red Bamboo a month or two ago when its owner, Jade Wong, posted an Instagram reel talking about how much financial trouble the restaurant was in. Naturally, my gut reaction was one of sadness at the thought of another vegan restaurant going under after having made it through the covid pandemic, but admittedly my second reaction was: “Why have I not ever been there?”
And so on our next trip to New York City – which, as y’all know by now, is our chosen quick getaway location – I steered LeeLee and me to the Village on our first lunchtime possibility, aiming straight for Red Bamboo as soon as we got off the subway.
Reader, we were not disappointed.
Vegan seafood is my love language, so to start we ordered up some popcorn shrimp, which could easily have passed for the real thing. As a native Gulf Coast girl, I crave veggie-seafood deep in my bones, and with the exception of Gardein’s fishless filets, it’s a tough product to procure. Red Bamboo’s fried shrimp hit the spot, and then some. If I could have stuffed my pockets full of it and brought more back on the train with me, I would have. It’s that good. At once light and fluffy, sturdy and hearty, and teeming with tastes and textures straight from the sea, every little popcorn shrimp sang with flavor, and I swooned with happiness.
Popcorn shrimp demolished, it was time to move on to the main course.
I had the Soul Chicken Sandwich, a gleeful monstrosity of crispy breaded chik’n, slathered with mayo and Vidalia dressing, topped with lettuce and tomato and nestled within some ciabatta bread. You’ve got your choice of sides, too, and I chose onion rings, which was definitely the right call: Each onion ring was fried to a delicate crisp, the breading light and flavorful, the onions themselves popping with a bit of crunch. It was the perfect pairing and though I was completely full, I savored every bite of it all.
LeeLee, meanwhile, had the Creole soul chicken entree, which consisted of creole-spiced chik’n served alongside garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli and steamed carrots. Like with mine, his was seasoned perfectly, balanced beautifully and completely overwhelmingly filling. It didn’t stop him from mowing the entire dish down in no time flat (as did I!).
For dessert, we cried uncle, even though there was a gorgeous slice of Funfetti cake just waiting to be devoured. Next time!
And there will be a next time. Red Bamboo has immediately found itself on our list of NYC Greatest Hits – and will be visited accordingly. I can’t wait!
:)
Leave a Reply