If you’re a tenacious vegetarian or, like me, a relentlessly curious person, New York is your city and definitely mine! Multicultural vegetarian restaurants conquer the market with different styles, budgets, and cuisines.
I went to Nix for lunch the other day and I loved it. Chef Fraser plays with the flavors from different regions of the world that seemed familiar to me. After a southeast Asian dish, we had a multicultural one: a combination of Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mexican, and it felt right.
Nix is one Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant with a simple, clean, and welcoming décor. It has some unique features like the bar with a marble countertop and the wall underneath with golden tones that match the floor. The booth benches at the entrance are made of black and white flecked fabric. The tables are made of solid wood, the lighting is warm, and it all combines to make you feel well.
The owner, chef John Fraser, is far from being a novice; he ran Narcissa and Nacbar and is the owner of the Loyal. He will soon be in charge of all food and beverage at the Edition Hotel in Times Square, which includes several dining rooms.
The menu at Nix is divided into three sections: first order, lighter, and bolder. Although it is presented in this order on the menu, the waiter didn’t respect it. It was surprising, but not frankly disturbing!
So we started with the shiitake mushrooms lettuce wraps from the “lighter” section. The mushrooms are soft and juicy, served with hoisin sauce and Thai chili. They come in a bowl topped with crispy noodles, lettuce and Thai basil on the side. You put all the ingredients in the lettuce; you wrap it and eat it with your hands. It’s delicious, well flavored, and a bit messy but this is the beauty of it. I sometimes like eating with my hands; it’s interesting to feel the texture before tasting the flavor.
The tandoor bread from the “first-order” arrived just after. Warm and soft tandoor bread served with three dips: hummus, smoky eggplant, and avocado with mint and ginger purée.
From the “bolder” list, we opted for the cauliflower tempura. They came with steamed buns and house pickles: a leap to Chinese tastes. The cauliflower was a treat in the warm and soft bun. It was exquisite and the spices were well balanced.
Nun’s puffs or nun’s farts – I’m not making this up – to end our delicious meal, a dessert from France also called pets-de-nonne: a fried puff pastry batter. They were perfectly puffed and they came with two different sauces: vanilla cinnamon and apple compote.
Nix has also an attractive list of cocktails. They offer a “modestly alcoholic” cocktail for lunch and wine by the glass from different countries of Europe and from California.
And to please everyone, some of the dishes are vegan or can be made vegan.
Nix
72 University Pl, New York
📞 212-498-9393
Price:$$$
Monday – Friday: 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:30 – 11 pm
Saturday: 10:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:30 – 11 pm
Sunday: 10:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:30 – 10:30 pm
