Restaurant Review: Candle Cafe

Living only a 30 minute train ride away from one of the greatest cities for food, especially vegan food, I try to visit NYC as often as I can. One restaurant that had caught my attention multiple times (through Instagram posts, top vegan restaurant lists, etc.) since I went vegan was Candle Cafe. After many weeks of wanting to try this restaurant, and find out what all the hype was about, I decided to actually go. I arrived at the restaurant (very hungry) and was prepared to be sat rather quickly as I had made a reservation, but, much to my dismay, I unfortunately had to wait approximately 30 minutes for a table. Although this was a long time to wait, especially with a reservation, it didn't dampen how excited I was to try the food since I was with two of my vegan friends. While waiting, I did purchase a cookbook they were selling; it is holiday themed and has recipes for many different holiday's for many different religions.

When we finally sat at our table, we already knew what we wanted to order as we had been drooling over the online menu for weeks. To start, we ordered shots. No, not real shots; we ordered 'Wellness Shots.' We got the Ginger Bomb which has kale, ginger, parsley, wheatgrass, grapefruit, umeboshi vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and cayenne pepper. This was my first ever ginger shot, so I was a bit nervous knowing how strong they are and that the paprika can burn your throat when you drink it. When they arrived to the table, they each came with a lemon. So, with my lemon in one hand and the ginger shot in the other, I quickly drank it all down and sucked on the lemon to get rid of the aftertaste. Overall, I really enjoyed the ginger shot and would recommend it to others; it made me feel more awake (since it was an early lunch) and was a fun way to start the meal. The 'Wellness Shots' range in price from $5 to $7 each. Although they are a bit on the pricier side, I still would recommend them.

For appetizers we ordered the flatbread pizza ($15) and the mezze plate ($15). The flatbread pizza (roasted tomato, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, basil pesto, tempeh chorizo, almond ricotta cheese, and cashew parmesan) was one of the best vegan pizzas I have had. It was so delicious I don't have a single complaint. The only thing I would say (this isn't a complaint) is that the pizza is already pre-made and therefore you have to order it as is. For instance, I do not like olives so I asked if they could hold the olives. They said they couldn't. But, I actually didn't mind them on the pizza so I strongly encourage you to try this dish even if you don't like one or two of the toppings. The mezze dish (hummus, artichoke baba ganoush, mini falafel, marinated olives, red peppers, parata bread, and za’atar) was also very good. It comes with three falafel balls and a good amount of hummus and pita bread. I strongly recommend this dish if you love mediterranean food, just like I do.

For my main course, I ordered the cajun seitan sandwich ($16) and truffle fries. The sandwich has a cajun crusted seitan cutlet with avocado, caramelized onions, and kale. It is on rosemary focaccia bread and comes with a side of fries; I was charged extra for the substitute of truffle fries. Just like everything else I ordered, this sandwich was to die for. It was so good that the only complaint I have is that it was too big and I was upset that I got full so quickly and couldn't finish it.

Lastly, we ordered desserts — yes plural. My friends and I sat at the table, discussed how full we were, and then proceeded to tell the waiter we wanted two desserts. We ordered the chocolate peanut butter pie ($11) and the apple fruit crumb pie ($9). The chocolate peanut butter pie came topped with caramel and chopped peanuts. Now, I am not such a big fan of peanut butter (I know it's crazy) but I actually really enjoyed this dessert. I'm not going to say that it was amazing like the other food I had, simply because I'm not a fan of peanut butter, but my friends definitely would say it was amazing. What I would say was amazing, though, was the apple pie. I LOVE apple pie; it's my favorite dessert. It was so good! It came with a scoop of ice cream which went perfectly with the pie. So, if you love either (or both) peanut butter or apple pie, I highly recommend both of these desserts.