Candle Cafe West
“My lady friend and I both got the seitan piccata and it was put of this world.”
“We also had the mole tempeh, an Indian special that was an unbelievably inexpensive $16 and a ginger peanut stirfry.”
“It was a mini round key lime pie with a scoop of coconut ice cream on the side and sliced almonds.”
Candle Cafe West
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I went here for brunch and ordered a mushroom entree, and a side of wheatballs. I found the food was flavorful and tasty, and the wait staff was attentive and helpful. My husband ordered a burger and fries, and he enjoyed his entree greatly. I am knocking off a star because I believe the restaurant is not the best deal for the money. But certainly this is one of the top vegan restaurants in New York, and I recommend this establishment to anyone who is a vegan. And note! I write this as a non-vegan, so you know the food is in fact good.
My husband and I are doing a meatless month so we found ourselves at CCW on Valentine's Day. Being vigorous omnivores, we were skeptical – we are vegetables lovers, but 2 weeks into our experiment, we were searching for satisfaction. Fortunately, CCW delivered in a big way.
Ordering off a prix fixe menu, we had an assortment of grilled artichokes, quinoa salad, tofu steaks and linguini. The meal was strongest at the start but solid throughout – the whole wheat spinach raviolis starter was a knockout as my husband rarely enjoys whole wheat anything. Stuffed with cashew almond cheese, basil, spinach leeks and butternut squash, you can see how he would enjoy the medley of flavors. I had the grilled artichokes that came as a hearty portion over asparagus, hearts of palm, trumpet royale mushrooms, sauteed string beans and leeks supported by a v memorable smoked grape tomato sauce and basil coulis. I think I actually licked my plate. Another highlight was the avocado quinoa salad of black beans, sunflower seeds, field greens, mushrooms. Topped off with chocolate cake and chocolate dumplings, we didn't even have room so we had them to go which still tasted amazing the day after – no butter needed!
We can't wait to go back and only wish we had a Candle Cafe downtown to make more regular.
Reefer Madness or: How our service was at STEAK.
This ain't Candle 79! Ok!!!
I picked this place to eat at since it was relatively close to Lincoln Center. I've dined many times at Candle 79 and loved it, so I thought this would be a natural decision.
We arrived on time and let the hostess know that we were originally a party of 6, but a friend had to work late and couldn't make it. He would have to meet us at the Opera after dinner.
When we told this to the hostess she looked confused and disappointed.
I've worked in restaurants and this shouldn't have been a big deal but it turned into one…
She walked us over to a large round table that was near the entrance.
I let her know how excited I was to be there, since it was one of the few vegan restaurants that I hadn't been to. I mentioned a few of my favorites and she looked and me and said in a flat, condescending tone, "You get around."
While we looked over the menu, we noticed that it was awkward trying to talk to one another from the size of the table, and that it had a leaves in it that could be taken down.
Before ordering, we asked the busboy to lower the sides of the table so we could have a more intimate experience. We were going to share appetizers etc…
The busboy said he'd have to ask if it could be done. He asked the waiter, who told him no! Flabbergasted, we began to move our water glasses and silverware and lower the leaves ourselves. The waiter noticed this and came over to assist us with the busboy in tow.
It didn't get any better after that. Service was rushed and annoying. I mentioned that we'd like to hold onto a menu since we like to keep ordering appetizers until we see fit, and he continued to try and take it from the table.
Crazytown !
I ordered a Portabella steak and I asked for steak knife.
The busboy went looking in the kitchen for one, after five minutes, the waiter came back and said "Of course we don't have a steak knife. We don't serve steak here" then looked at me like I was insane.
Everyone from the hostess to the busboy acted bizarrely.
The food was good but the whole experience made me miss Candle 79.
I doubt I'll ever return.
such delicious food! I have been to the other location but not this one so we went monday – dinner for 4 without alcohol (well, two glasses of wine) was $200 so it's not horribly priced for a high end meal. Ambiance was great but low lighting for the older folks was hard (me being one of the older folks, hah) . I had Seitan piccata with mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach- we had three apps we shared also so that we could try many things – all apps were amazing although they really have a handle on cooking seitan so i'd recommend any dish with that in it. The ladies at the table next to us had teh red velvet cake and it looked really good but we just didn't have any more room so have to get it next time.
Server was great, it was alittle loud but that's ;cause they make such great food that everyone wants to come there. I would recommenf a resy for sure and hope to be back soon
As far as vegan joints go this place is okay. Just as a caution to others – I'm an omnivore who frequently eats meat and cheese so this was going out of my comfort zone a wee bit.
The dishes that don't use fake meat are fine but really aren't going to impress those who are on the fence. The only thing here that I feel is stand out are the smoothies – AMAZINGLY refreshing on a hot summer day but it's like $10 for a much smaller portion than what you could get at juice generation a few blocks down.
Your meal won't be cheap, don't expect any snacks as a starter, but if you are vegan and trying to go out for a fancy date night you would probably be a perfect fit.
This place was just alright, the prices are on the steeper side for these small portions. I've been to many organic and vegan places before and this did not blow my mind but it was still cute.
I loved the strawberry sauce that came with the whole wheat waffles and we also shared the artichoke with potato special as en entree.
Returned for dinner and had the much-talked-about seitan sandwich. It was incredible! Fresh ingredients, amazing flavors and very filling. My friend's seaweed salad was disappointing (we kind of expected seaweed to be the main ingredient but there was barely any), but 10/10 would eat that sandwich again. Yum.
I've being wanting to review Candle Cafe for ages now. I've gotten takeout from this fine establishment on a number of occasions but hadn't dined at the actual restaurant until Tuesday night. All takeout experiences were superb, so I had high hopes when I finally visited the space. Oftentimes getting one's hopes up is a recipe for disaster. But by night's end, I found myself pleasantly surprised with how fabulous and chic CCW was as a whole. People seem to have an extremist view towards veganism, and it doesn't need to be that black and white–it also doesn't need to have any sort of connotations attached. When [vegan] food is good, it's good. Simple. And CCW makes some damn good food.
When you hear "vegan restaurant" your mind likely doesn't automatically go to "bomb-ass cocktails". Or maybe that's just me, so I'll just speak for myself. Drinks are now one thing I can speak to re: CCW that I couldn't prior to actually dining at the restaurant. And I'm so glad I decided that this particular night was a night for alcohol, because the cocktails here were shockingly fantastic.
Unfortunately they don't have an updated cocktail menu on their website, otherwise I'd be quick to give you some names to keep an eye out for. All I can tell you is that my cocktail was bourbon-based and had a ginger/spicy kick to it, and my friend's cocktail was a gimlet variation made with Fair (quinoa) vodka. It was hard to choose which one I liked better. Both were delicious and well-balanced. If I had to choose, I'd go with my bourbon drink, because I just love bourbon. And my friend, who had previously labeled herself "anti-whiskey", was shocked at how much she liked my cocktail. So no need for contempt prior to investigation here.
Below, what I can speak to on the takeout front:
Grilled Kale Salad w/ string beans, beluga lentils, red onion, parsnips, avocado, sunflower seeds, spelt berries, chive vinaigrette (A)
I added tofu, because I'm one of those weirdos that loves tofu. But the tofu wasn't the star here. This salad is a nutrient powerhouse, simply put. What more do you need? Tons of healthy veggies, seeds, PLENTIFUL AVO, healthy grain (lentils), and a nice light dressing. I can't say if this is my favorite salad from CCW, because I'm convinced that after Tuesday I've now had the three best ones on the menu. I'll just say that this is beautifully fresh and absolutely worth ordering (and it travels well!)
Seaweed Salad w/ mixed greens, coconut meat, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, radish, edamame, avocado, sesame seeds w/ creamy wasabi dressing (not currently on the menu but was in the winter): A
This is no longer on the menu. I don't know why. It is sad. Perhaps it was a winter/spring salad and they've made some summer adjustment. I sincerely hope it comes back. COCONUT MEAT, people. And seaweed salad is just so damn tasty.
Wild Mushroom Salad w/ baby arugula, wild mushrooms, asparagus, shallots, toasted almonds, horseradish dressing (we added tempeh): A-/A
What a fabulous combo. Creative but still seriously healthy. All of the ingredients here play off of each other in just the right way. Warm mushrooms and asparagus, almonds with the crunch, arugula holding onto that yummy horseradish dressing, and some good ole tempeh. We weren't sure how sharing a salad would go, but it worked out fine. *Important note*: The salads here are sizable and shouldn't be considered appetizers. Perfectly viable as an entree for one.
Nightly special: Herb-grilled Tofu w/ broccoli rabe, Israeli couscous and some other yummy veggies: A-
This is the perfect summer dish. As fresh as can be. Not entirely sure what sauce was drizzled on top of the tofu–maybe some sort of cilantro/avocado number? In any case, it was tasty. The veggies are all mixed in with the light, fluffy Israeli cousous (different from quinoa-wannabe couscous though if we're being honest, couscous came first) which made for a lovely base.
Service was sublime. We ended up sitting at the bar because we didn't make a reservation beforehand, which was a total treat because we got to chat it up with the bartender. I never any ulterior motive when chatting with bartenders–I just like to hear about their menu and their personal craft. Our guy created the drink menu and as mentioned, he is a talented, talented man.