Zen Palate

I used to love Zen Palate. But something has happened- the food has gone from fantastic to utterly tasteless. Seriously, my entree was devoid of any flavor whatsoever. My dining companion summed it up: "This is the kind of food that a lot of non-vegetarians think they'll have to eat in a vegetarian restaurant". How sad is that?

The old Zen Palate was much better. It's unfortunate that the new one has such mediocre food. I would go here all the time if they get their recipes back on track.

I often crave their Cantonese pan-fried noodles (sauce on the side so the noodles stay crispy until you mix it in), and their AMAZING vegan desserts- banana bliss and hot chocolate cake. You won't be disappointed. Bon appetite!

i ate here last night with 2 friends. we each ordered an appetizer and entree & tried each others dishes. i felt the food really lacked flavor. all of it. it wasn't terrible but it wasn't good either. it was very bland. the app i ordered was the triple zen maki. it tasted like, well, nothing! it had absolutely no flavor to it and took forever to come out. the entree i ordered (sizzling medallions) is considered one of their most popular entrees (according to the waiter) and i don't understand why. first of all, it doesn't say on the menu that the seitan is breaded and deep fried. they might want to add that. i wouldn't of ordered it, had i known that. anyway, again - little flavor, with thick sticky sauce and seitan, with too much breading and deep fried. waiter was a nice person but not very attentive. he took forever just to get our drink order and sorry, it wasn't busy. he was a sweet guy though. the decor is nice but the food definitely needs work. very mediocre and i won't be back. there are plenty of other vegetarian restaurants in nyc that are much better.

Ah, my dear. How the years pass. I know it hurts to see a chain restaurant in your old location, but the vegetarian thing just wasn't going over with this generation. I know how it must hurt. But enough of your pouting! We can all taste it. Get back on your game. You brought most of my favorites with you to the new location, but you are executing them, and I'm being nice here, half-assed. It's embarrassing. I will love you until the end, but you've let yourself go, sweetie. Put forth some effort and I will do my best to bring a whole new generation around to drooling when the words "Zen Palate" are overheard. If it's any consolation, the Friday's is always empty. Always.

Zen is alright as a vegetarian joint. My date and I shared the grilled seitan which was just ok. I had the veggie burger with sweet potato fries and the burger definitely needed a better sauce to compliment it, the fries weren't the best I've had. My date had the moo shu fantasia which he liked but I thought needed more flavor. The tofu cheesecake was good, but still like everything else there I felt there were not enough good taste or flavor to the food, the dishes needed something more to make them more appetizing and worth the price. Also, when the bf first had the pineapple iced tea brought to him, we both tasted something really off about the drink, we think the pineapple had gone bad and was extremely sour. At least they replaced it and the next drink tasted as it should have. Might or might not go back, but I'd order a different appetizer and entree.

I have found the food at the new location to be very good. The service is just OK, the waiters seem poorly trained. I also order delivery all the time with no problems. Not sure what everyone else is complaining about...