Black Rican Vegan Pop-Up — Restaurant in New York

¡Buen provecho!

After stalking her instagram for THE LONGEST, and practically begging her to come to STL, I finally made it to NYC. For the first time in my life, I took the subway (all by myself too!), about a 45 minute ride one way just to make it to her food. I placed my order after I exited the subway (due to connectivity issues on the train). It was only like a 5 minute walk from the station to La Fonda so the food wasn’t quite ready yet. No worries. I sat at La Fonda’s bar and enjoyed the music and good vibes from the restaurant’s staff and customers.

The food took a while to prepare (I ordered a lot though), so keep that in mind if you’re on a schedule. When the young man brought my food, he apologized for the wait. It was an easy Sunday for me, so I had no issues with the wait. However, I did decide to sit at the bar and eat my food.

VACALAITO: 3 nicely sized fritters, made from hearts of palm, if I remember correctly. Very tasty! I ate my leftovers today - 3 days later, and they were even better! (Warm up the leftovers in air fryer for best results)

BEEFLESS EMPANADA: Should’ve ordered 2 because I’m craving more. You get one large empanada. It was so tasty and the beef was seasoned exquisitely! 10/10 would order again! (If you like a lil spice, order the chipotle sauce for dipping. So yum!!)

MOXTAILS: Freggin fire. FIYAH!! The dinner came with moxtails (vegan/mock oxtails), white rice (they were out of their arroz con gandules), shredded cabbage, y maduros.

I added her Cilantro Garlic sauce to plain the rice and OMG OMG!! Do it!! I ended up ordering 6 cilantro garlic sauces and 3 chipotle sauces; they’re that good!

I don’t know what she uses for her moxtails, but the flavor and texture are insanely succulent. No weird chewy consistency to it at all.

Initially it appeared that the portion was small, but it ended up being very filling and plentiful. 10/10 would order again.

BISTEC ENCEBOLLADO: A vegan spin to a classic Latin Caribbean dish. This plate is hefty! A huge portion of vegan bistec is accompanied by white rice, pink beans, tostones, y ensalada. I only took a nibble of this on Sunday, but today/Wednesday, I warmed it up and ate the rest. The flavors have settled in and it’s better today than it was Sunday.

I spent @ $75 before the tip, which is decent for 2 meals and 2 appetizers.

So many other things that I want to try from Black Rican Vegan, so I cannot...

I've been following Black Rican Vegan on IG for a while now and decided I'd take a weekend getaway to NY. Sure enough that weekend (April 23rd), she did a pop up. I got there early because I'm from South Jersey and wasn't familiar with the area and knew her line would be wrapped around the building (it's always wrapped around the building in her posts, so I was prepared) . When I got there, nobody was in line yet but then the people started pouring in. I was maybe 6 or 7 on the side for people to walk in and order. Someone else came around with a notepad for us to write our name and email address. It was organized, pre-orders on one side, walk ups on the other. When I got inside she explained everything to me and I told her I'd take one of everything. She asked if I was sure because it was going to be expensive, I told her I was sure. She told me about a dessert she had made and asked if I'd be interested in that, so I said yes. I got back to my hotel room and noticed my dessert wasn't in there (no biggie), I had messaged her and told her my dessert wasn't in the bag and she gave me a refund, no questions asked. I demolished that mushroom burger, and I don't usually eat mushrooms. My food was a good temperature whenI received it, and everything was still good when I reheated it the next day. I recommend doing your research upon going to a pop up. If you do, you won't be disappointed and you'll know what to expect. She tells people she sells platters until she sells out, and she sells out quick. She also tells you it might be in your best interest to pre order because you're guaranteed food. A pop up is just that, she pops up and sells her food, there's no seats, no inside or outside dining, get your food and go. If you follow her IG you will see she puts a lot of work into what she does and you can tell what she does is what she loves because my taste buds be jumping! While I was there, there was a older lady behind me and she didn't understand what a pop up was and needed a seat, her team did what they could to find her a seat. She was pleasant, grateful, and pleasure to encounter. I'd definitely take that 2 hour...

This review is for the pop up. The first time I tried the pop up, I arrived 2 hours before the "end time" and it was sold out. The second time, I arrived 2 hours earlier and the wait was out of this world, 3 hours. The event started at 1pm, I arrived at 1:30pm, didn’t get to eat until 4:30pm. Even though the food was good, it took away from the meal experience. It was 90 degrees and waiting in the blazing sun was so unpleasant no matter how good the food is. The worse part was when it was finally my turn to order they only had one plate left and it wasn’t what I wanted. I ordered it anyways after waiting so long might as well get something. The soul plate was missing a side and they didn’t offer to sub with any other sides. The mushroom chkn was 2 pieces and to top it off it was $22. There were a lot of upset people complaining about the line and portion to price ratio, with reason. There were about 20-30 people behind me who didn’t get to order because I got the last plate. Imagine commuting, waiting for 3+hours, and not even get to eat. I understand there is a large following for the business but there has to be a better way. Lastly, I am pregnant and monitor my blood sugar when I have new foods (which is normally low day to day as I cook vegan meals at home), and even 2 hours after this meal my blood sugar was spiked (yikes!). For vegans who are health conscious and seeking comfort food, it’s probably not the healthiest meal. I would definitely not return to any pop ups in the future. Hopefully the business can find a better system...