Souen — Restaurant in New York

In support of vegetarian/macrobiotic ethics, I have eaten at Souen 15+ times over the years (including the former location of Souen). The past two visits to the East Village Souen have been worse than ever. I am writing this only in hopes the owner reads this and takes the feedback to heart and improves the restaurant, as there was not other tactful way to provide feedback. Souen seems to be resting on its laurels and going down in quality, unfortunately. They need to improve food ingredients, freshness, quality, taste and preparation to retain their macrobiotic fans and draw veggie diners. Sadly the tempeh was gross: inedible block of sawdust, way worse than you can do yourself with store-bought/coop-bought tempeh and literally left a bad taste in my mouth. Could not get past the first nibble. Tempeh is supposed to have texture of soybeans and a clean tasted that absorbs flavors from the soup. This was a block that did not absorb any flavor. I suggest changing tempeh suppliers and improving cooking technique. The cookie my friend ordered for dessert (wrapped in a plastic wrap, not appetizing) was sooo dry, and not on purpose. (Not supposed to be dry and crunchy.. it tasted old and dry. Friend did not eat it.) The soups are OK but nothing stands out; didn't want to finish mine and didn't want to eat the leftovers later. Just not appetizing. The noodles tasted like store-bought ramen, again nothing special deserving of going to a macrobiotic restaurant, and you can get better store bought ramen from the better brands like Lotus. In fact, Souen should get wayyy better ingredients for tempeh, noodles, etc and indicate sources on their menu. (I'd go to a place that stated "Tofu from XYZ organic tofu, tempeh from ABC tempeh coop, etc. This Souen is not that kind of place anymore.) The added salmon was dry. Salmon could have saved the dish but.. overcooked, dry, not tasty. The veggies in the soup were fine (can't mess up kale). Another customer complained their soup lacked taste and asked for sauce, condiments, anything to assist it.. Staff was not super helpful. The service was too laid-back (server was surfing on his phone; answered questions about ingredients that may cause allergy with "I don't know" instead of "I'll ask the kitchen."). Kitchen mixed up a simple order. There are no prices printed on the paper menus. I am sad to write this but my Souen visits are over unless they big time refresh their ingredients, cooking, and service to line up with true macrobiotic, organic values. Please serve up fresh delish clean food once again. I'd LOVE to support a macrobiotic restaurant in NYC .. but Souen is...

Souen is an awesome and unique restaurant! They have been serving up healthy “macrobiotic” food since the 1970s. The majority of the menu is vegan with the exception of various items that contain fish. If you’re looking for a wholesome meal made of unprocessed, high-quality plant-based foods, there are surprisingly few options in New York City, and Souen is not one to miss. Their signature item is the macro plate that comes with the grain, legume, and vegetable of the day. Their menu has several categories of Japanese-inspired items including sushi, ramen, noodle dishes, and stir fries. They also have a number of special entrees and appetizers each day. We were hoping they’d be seed oil free (since that is definitely the vibe) but they do use sunflower oil in some dishes. We tried the pesto noodles, the squash tofu, the broccoli tofu, and the summer roll and loved all of the above. Squash sauce is a brilliant innovation. We tried the corn chocolate chip muffin that was less impressive than the other things we tried. Overall, we appreciated the great wholesome good, the reasonable prices for generous portions, and the good service. I wish there were more places like Souen. We will definitely be...

I had a delicious meal here (and ended with a bad dessert) I ordered the pad Thai and ginger salmon. The pad Thai was creamy and deeply flavorful. The veggies had the perfect bite while being soft and blending well with the pasta and the peanut sauce was very balanced. I’d give this dish an 8.3. The salmon was great as well but did have a slightly fishy flavor and I felt like the sauce was just put on top after rather than cooked in - 6.8. For dessert I ordered the chocolate mousse and I just did not enjoy it. There was no depth in flavor and the texture was weird. 5.1. I still desired a sweet treat so I got the blueberry chocolate chip muffin (I thought it sounded like an interesting combination) and it was the worst muffin I have ever had. Truly. It was gluten free like all their desserts and it fell apart immediately, was just so crumbly in the worst way - 3.2. The service was amazing (they even took the mousse off my bill) and it was a very nice atmosphere with great vibes! Even though I had a mixed experience, I will...