Blossom, Upper West Side

Whenever we have house guests, we always recommend Saturday/Sunday brunch as a group activity. Unfortunately, most of the fixed price brunch spots don’t offer the best vegetarian options. There are usually a couple veggie options, but they tend to be rather unimpressive compared to the other options. When Matt and Nikita visited, it was the perfect opportunity to check out Blossom Cafe’s brunch. We’ve been meaning to go there for some time now, but it just never happened.

Upon entering Blossom Cafe, I noticed that their restaurant health code has been updated to an A. During the summer, they had a B displayed in the window. Well done, Blossom. I’d accept no less from an organic, vegan place. Nice space for a casual sit down meal. I have a feeling it might get too noisy when they’re crowded. If you want something fancier, try Candle Cafe. Blossom for brunch/lunch, Candle Cafe for dinner.

It wasn’t easy deciding what to order! The sandwiches (Southern Seitan and Soy Bacon Cheeseburger) both sounded very tempting, but I was in the mood for a more classic brunch entree. I settled on the Tofu Eggs Benedict ($13). Marinated tofu, soy bacon, vegan English muffin, vegan hollandaise, grilled asparagus and home fries. I also ordered a Bimosa ($7), which had champagne and bilberry juice. Pretty blue-violet color, similar in taste to blueberry juice, but perhaps a little more tart.

I am a huge fan of eggs benedict even though I’m not all that crazy about the ham/bacon that’s usually used. I’m also a huge fan of poached eggs. This was an interesting vegan alternative. The marinated tofu was obviously nothing like poached eggs, and the vegan hollandaise seemed to be mustard-based. Overall, not too bad. But I could never give up real eggs benedict entirely! I really enjoyed the grilled asparagus. Cooked to perfection, not too mushy. Home fries are always good… mmm, carbs.

John ordered the Southern Seitan Sandwich ($14). Spiced breaded seitan, caramelized onions, avocado, chipotle aioli on rosemary foccocia. Comes with french fries, sweet potato fries or a salad. The sandwich was much larger than I was expecting. The seitan was delicious. Lightly breaded, tasty spices. The foccocia was delicious too. I may order this next time we visit Blossom. This obviously ended up being 2 meals. Yay leftovers!

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