Restaurant Suggestions Anyone?

Does anyone have any suggestions of vegetarian/vegan restaurants that I should try out in the NYC/NJ area and review on this blog?  If so, now is the time to speak up! I would love to hear from you and try out some new places that may not be on my list.     

Rating System (at last!)

I have wanted to have a shorthand indicator for the "veg-ability" of a restaurant so here it is:

VF  = vegetarian-friendly (as in lots of veggie options but not a vegetarian restaurant)

VEG = vegetarian

VGN = vegan

I will including these rating indicators in the title line for each review, starting with Kairo Kafe...

Kairo Kafe (New Brunswick, NJ) - VF

This Eastern Mediterranean restaurant is a gem - it's a cute little space that is made more intimate after the candles are lit, which add ambience as more people filter in. Later in the night college kids come in to smoke hookah pipes, kind of a bizarre offering if you ask me but it smelled good -- like incense.   Anyway, it's a great find for vegetarians due to the huge array of tempting options. 

The menu was so extensive that we relied on the very patient waiter to answer a bevy of questions as we decided what to order.   I decided on the mango iced tea, which reminded me of a lighter mango lassi, lentil soup, salad with red wine vinagrette dressing (salad was included with the entree), two tapas to share -- fava bean and hummus, which were served with delicious pita triangles, vegetable koshary (chick peas, lentils and macaroni - yes, macaroni - with a nice chile sauce),  and baklava for dessert.  I absolutely loved everything, especially the fava bean dip, which was served warm.  The baklava was probably my least favorite course, not that it was bad, it was good but it was  a little drier than I prefer in the honey department.   They made up for that in the presentation though, with chocolate sauce script messages on the plate (saying "Merry Xmas" and "Kairo Kafe").   [I have some pictures, however, I am having technical issues in uploading them to the proper insertion point.]

Now to the drawbacks, of which there were only two.  It sounded like someone was moving furniture upstairs throughout the night so that was a little distracting.  Later on, we were told there was an "event" upstairs.   Does that explain moving furniture?  I am not sure.  The other distraction was the overly loud, shrill restaurant telephone ringing constantly.  They need a more relaxing ringtone or at a minimum, a softer one.

The pace of the dinner was relaxed and not rushed at all, which I liked.   In fact, I think the waiter completely disappeared for a while.   The prices were amazingly reasonable - all that food for $30/person.  An outstanding bargain.   

Kairo Kafe

49 Bayard St.

New Brunswick, NJ 08901

www.kairokafe.com

732-545-2476

Hours:  

Monday-Thursday 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Friday 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.

Saturday 6.p.m. - 2 a.m.