Give me some of that vegetarian curry chicken, mon!

Every time I go to New York City for my vegan cooking class, I seek out a new vegan eatery. Since I've been going to my cooking school in October, I have been to at least 10 different vegan/vegan-friendly restaurants. Sadly, I have not been documenting my trips to these restaurants, so I don't have materials to post on my blog. But no fear, my faithful readers who lie awake at night thinking about my blog! (Hey one can dream, right?) I have finally adopted the habit of taking my camera with me to NYC and taking pictures of anything that I want to put on my blog, so look out for entries about neat vegan restaurants that I will be going to in NYC!

In the meantime, I will talk about this eatery that I went to back in November. So when I said that I haven't been documenting my trips, I really meant that I haven't been documenting my trips EXCEPT this one trip to this vegetarian deli called Uptown Juice Bar. When I go to NYC for my cooking class and have no place to stay, I stay at the cheapest but liveable hostel that I can find. During this trip, I was staying at a hostel in the Upper Eastside of Manhattan, and after a scrutinizing search on HappyCow.net, the only vegetarian eatery I found around the area was this deli.

The deli is locate in Harlem, where most of the people on the street seem to be black, with a strong emphasis of the Caribbeans. The storefront is small and plain. The front half of the deli is just as narrow as the door with the juice bar and food on the left hand side. As I was browsing at the selection of cooked food, I was pleasantly surprised. I never would have expected to find wholesome dishes such as kale, seitan, and tofu cutlets at an urban deli. I ordered a 3-item combo and proceeded to the back half of the deli.

As I approach the dining area, I felt I was at a different place. All of a sudden, I find myself in a serene, soulful and spacious room with tropical and jazzy paintings on the wall. In the very back of the deli is a set of double doors that seem to lead to a back garden of some sort. As I was sitting and enjoying my lunch, the sun was shining through the back doors that created a very relaxing and dreamy atmosphere.

So what did I get??? I got curry chicken, collard greens, and cabbage. I was craving greens when I ordered my food, hence the collards and the cabbage (you won't believe how hard it is to find some decent cooked vegetable in NYC). The food may sound plain or look plain, but trust me when I say that the taste is light-years away from plain. The curry chicken was perfectly seasoned, and I can still distinctly remember the freshness of the veggies, especially the natural sweetness of the cabbage. Best fast vegan food I've ever had by far.

On the way out I grabbed a vegan sweet potato pie to go, which was also very satisfying.

So the next time you find yourself wandering in Harlem, seek out this place. You won't be disappointed.