Cafe Blossom
Restaurant, Coffee/Tea/Juice
Hours
Profile
$$ - average
American, Eclectic (Fusion), Eclectic (Varied)
Sister restaurant to Blossom, in the Upper West Side
Upper West Side companion to existing Blossom organic, vegan, gourmet restaurant.
Open for lunch, and a bit cheaper, but still vegan gourmet. The menu appears to be the same or very similar to the menu at the Chelsea location and includes items ranging from $13 sandwiches (vegan bacon cheeseburger, Philly steak), to $22 entrees (spinach gnocchi, seitan with lemon-caper sauce and chard). Cafe Blossom also offers a number of homemade cakes and other desserts.
Cafe Blossom also has a bar and juice bar and offers delivery.
On Columbus Ave, one block west of Central Park, between 82nd and 83rd streets.
- (Mostly) Organic
- Delivery
- Kid-Friendly
- Large Group-Friendly
Added by John Eckman on Dec 13 07 (updated Dec 15 08)
Reviews
I decided to grab a snack from Cafe Blossom this afternoon - I ordered the "Rainbow" smoothie and a raw/dehydrated oatmeal cookie.
The smoothie was.... TERRIBLE
Watery, flavorless and not enjoyable. Not to mention the shabby ingredients the barista used: vitasoy, pasteurized orange juice from a box, approximately 2 strawberries, one chunk of banana plus a "tinkerbell" sprinkle of blueberries.
It was $7.50. I might as well have ordered it from some deli.
The cookie was great, though half-dollar-coin-sized (and $2)!
Would not go back here now that I know the level of quality and portion generosity.
I like that Cafe Blossom offers both higher-end items (like seitan with lemon-caper sauce, mashed potatoes, and chard) and more affordable items like vegan cheeseburgers and Philly steaks. The higher-end items are very involved and unique, but even the burgers are far from typical, being served on foccacia bread with chipotle aioli.
My favorite item is the seitan w/ caper sauce (mentioned above), as it's very interesting and unique, but I also really like the veggie burgers. The vegan bacon cheeseburger (sans mushrooms) is my favorite. I also really like the southern burger, which has avocado and caramelized onions. It also has the chipotle aioli, but I needed to ask for an extra side of it last time to fill up the sandwich. I like you can get sweet potato fries or cajun sweet potato fries instead of plain fries w/ your sandwich for no extra cost. I ordered the cajun sweet potato fries but think they gave me the regular sweet potato fries. Either way, they were very fresh and tasty.
I have to say that one of my favorite features of Cafe Blossom (and Blossom, for that matter), is that they make their own desserts and don't just cop out and sell Vegan Treats cakes like about 20 other veg spots in the city. I've had a few of their cakes and they've all been good, but not as rich or moist as I'd expect from an upscale restaurant.
Cafe Blossom, like its sister restaurant in Chelsea, is a gem. The ambience is chic and modern, but the service is friendly, prompt, and exceedingly helpful. My pecan-crusted seitan had a complex array of tastes and textures, and my friend's chipotle aioli sandwich was spicy and fresh. Portion sizes are generous. I also greatly enjoyed my mimosa, which is an unusual drink option at a vegan joint. To make things even better, Cafe Blossom fills the great need for a quality vegan restaurant on the Upper West Side. Highly recommended.
Not too impressive. After reading all the great reviews on Blossom, we decided to try the cafe on our last day in Manhattan. We did not like any of our appetizers or entrees - very bland. We did really like our drinks and desserts, so that's why the rating gets a three instead of a two, but this place doesn't hold a candle to any of the numerous other vegan places we went to on our trip. We likely won't be going back here on our next trip.