Peacefood Cafe

Peacefood Cafe is a 100% vegan restaurant that has been around for nearly a decade. There are two locations, one near Union Square and the other on the UWS. Though we are not vegan (or even vegetarian for that matter), we’ve been to Peacefood well over a dozen times over the years simply because it has good food.

Vegan cuisine is a bit tricky because of the various reasons why people choose to eat vegan. Some people are animal rights activists who are seeking foods that don’t harm animals, while others are doing it for health reasons. Some, of course, fall into both (or other) categories. As a result of the different reasons why people choose to eat vegan, two different types of vegan cuisine have emerged: (1) meals that seek to replace meat, attempting to make the food taste like the “real thing” and (2) meals that seek to highlight the vegetable without any interest in achieving a meat-like substitute. The latter is very much my preference.

The first category of vegan meals essentially ends up being a preparation of some soy or wheat product (most commonly tofu, seitan, or tempeh) that’s generally overly seasoned and fried since these foods are naturally very bland. These are also generally loaded with other fake substitutes like vegan cheese and heavy sauces to add more flavor. With these dishes, oftentimes there isn’t even a vegetable in sight, which is such a shame and, to me, defeats the purpose of vegan cuisine. The second category is the opposite of that. It doesn’t aim to please meat-eaters who just got dragged to a vegan restaurant, but instead aims to showcase the natural beauty of fresh produce and grains.

Take the concept of a veggie burger for instance. There are two types: soy-based and vegetable-based. The former usually consists of a patty that’s mostly a block of tofu with perhaps some mushrooms thrown in there. The latter, on the other hand, forms its patty from actual vegetables, legumes, and grains. It’s much more wholesome and flavorful, and the added health factor is undeniable. Peacefood offers both types of vegan cuisine and as you’ll see from the below, our preferred dishes are those that are vegetable-based instead of meat-substitute based.

Having tried half the menu at some point or another, these have been some of the highlights:

Japanese Pumpkin Soup – This is absolutely my favorite thing on the menu, but it only makes an appearance about once a week since the soup changes daily. It’s thick, not too sweet, and it’s flavored with ginger and lemongrass. It’s nice to order this with a side of their super dense spelt bread (see the Tahini Sprouts Sandwich, below). You have to call to find out what the soup of the day is, but if it’s this one, that should be a huge incentive to go. I’ve convinced many people to order it and they’ve all been happy!

Roasted Potato Pizza – Now, by pizza what they really mean is a crispy flatbread that actually bears no resemblance to the doughy goodness that normal pizza is. The cracker-thin flatbread is topped with roasted potatoes, black olives, pesto, arugula, and mushrooms. You can of course customize and remove or add an ingredient. The ingredients all work together quite well, even if they don’t end up tasting anything like a pizza. They also have other “pizzas” like the seasonal veggie and the mushroom deluxe, but this is the best.

Tahini Sprouts Sandwich – Stuffed with mixed sprouts, creamy avocado (essentially their version of guacamole), cucumbers, onions, shredded carrots, and a tahini and poppyseed sauce. It’s served on a spelt rye sourdough bread, which is one of those super health food breads so you really have to be into alternative bread to enjoy it.

Roasted Japanese Pumpkin Sandwich – Japanese pumpkin mashed and seasoned, topped with caramelized onions, ground walnuts, cashew cheese, and greens. As I’m not a fan of fake cheese, I’d suggest getting no cheese instead, but that’s a personal choice.

Charlie Brown Rice – A three bean chili and rice with salsa, guacamole, cilantro, lettuce, radish, and fried tortillas. Super flavorful and lighter than an ordinary chili, but still substantial because of the beans. There is soy in the chili, but it’s not as noticeable as you would expect.

Vegetable Plate – You can choose a plate of 2 or 4 vegetables from about 8 options and call it a meal. The only problem with this option is that the veggies are a bit exaggeratedly oily, but it allows you to have a nice variety while still avoiding meat, dairy, and even grains.

Peacefood Bowl – The same concept as above, but it’s served with rice this time and you get to choose exactly 3 veggies to go with it.

So what’s not so good? As I mentioned above, for me it’s anything that acts as a substitute meat or dairy product: tempeh, soy, cashew cheese, cashew cream cheeses.

Also, they do have a couple of raw dishes (for those who maintain not just a vegan diet, but an even more progressive raw vegan diet), such as their raw pizza. We tried that once after having had a good experience with a raw pizza elsewhere, but it was not a success here. The crust obviously is not made of actual dough (since it’s raw and dough has to be cooked), but is instead a buckwheat, sweet potato, and flaxseed mash. It’s topped with red bell peppers, onions, olives, basil, and your choice of marinara or pesto sauce (or half and half as we opted for). We were just not fans of this at all. It’s not that we compared it to a normal pizza (if you’re going to do that, then don’t bother with this at all). It’s just that no matter what you call it, it tasted pretty bad. The crust was way too sweet (I guess because of the sweet potato and likely added sugar), hard and dry. The marinara sauce was simultaneously overwhelmingly sweet and super acidic. The olives overpowered everything, the cold pesto sauce was off-putting, and it just wasn’t pleasant having cold raw vegetables on the cracker-like base.

Overall, the place has some great hits and after having tried a bunch of things, we tend to stick to those. If you have a vegan in your party, or you want something vegetable heavy, or you just happen to be in the area and don’t know where to go, you can definitely find something really good here. Don’t be deterred by the fact that it’s vegan!