Cafe Blossom East

This restaurant convinced me that vegan food can be gourmet. I ordered the artichoke tofu. The presentation and taste was impressive for a place whose menu was mostly sandwiches. The waitress was very friendly and attentive too. I will be back soon.

This Café Blossom location features a menu not unlike the ones at the other two locations. However, this location is my least favorite of all three.
For one thing, the décor here is less appealing, as it’s minimal, but not in a cool way. The service was also mediocre (for one thing, our server didn’t give us individual plates so we could share our appetizer).
We started with a lentil rings in phyllo dough that bordered on bland; also, the avocado «mousse» that came with it was really just a tiny dollop, and old and grey at that. It added no flavor. We should have gotten the «mushroom cigars» instead.
My friend had the Southern Seitan sandwich, of which I tried a bite. It was good, but not great. My friend enjoyed it, though, and he’s not vegetarian in the least.
I had a soy bacon cheeseburger, which was excellent. The burger pattie was juicy and firm, the soy bacon was perfectly crisp, and the Daiya cheddar cheese is a marvel (for the record, Daiya’s cheddar cheese is even better than its mozzarella). The chipotle aioli also adds a good amount of spiciness without being overpowering. My only suggestions for improvement would be to increase the size of the burger by a quarter-​inch all around, so it more closely fits its bun size; also, offer a wholewheat bun. That said, Blossom’s white flour bun was unusually good as far as white flour goes.
For dessert we had a chocolate ganache drizzled with caramel. It was like a mini chocolate sponge cake and had great texture. I think it could have been slightly sweeter, but it was good on a whole. I also enjoyed the mini lemongrass-​infused mini chocolate truffles that came with the ganache.
We also had a Butterfinger shake, which was superb. It was clearly better than the ganache. It was like drinking a Butterfinger bar and, let me tell you, that’s awesome.
This is the newest location for Café Blossom, so I’m sure they’re still working out some kinks. I’m glad it’s around, but I’d rather go to the location on the Upper West Side, or the original Chelsea branch instead.

First off, this review is mostly about service — I give the food 4.5 to 5 stars and service 1 star. I’ve been to Blossom café (west side location) a few times and I’m a big fan so chose to check out the new location today. The space is clean and nicely decorated though minimalistic. Good start. The server informed us of the specials (very minimal on the descriptions and when I overheard other diners asking further details, the server had to keep going back to check with the kitchen). Not a big deal. We ordered coffee and a juice to start. The coffee came right out but no juice for a good 15 minutes when I was informed that they were out of one of the ingredients. Ok, again not a big deal. We ordered an appetizer that came in a timely fashion (mushroom cigars — yum!). Things started to go downhill after asking three times for a refill on coffee and waiting over an hour for the entrees (2 soy burgers — not labor intensive). There were 5 – 6 tables that came in after and ordered after us and were served (and some had finished their food) before we got our burgers. The server promised us several times that the food was on the way out and that the kitchen was backed up — this didn’t make a lot of sense to me since I saw several dishes going out to these other tables that ordered after us. When I pointed this out (nicely) to the server he didn’t have a good explanation but said that «he’d take care of us.» We finally got the burgers (again, yum) and coffee refill. I do give credit to the server for comping one of the burgers, but a little explanation (maybe «I got busy and forgot to put your order in») would have gone a long, long way with me. I hesitate to say I won’t be going back (because again the food is awesome), but Café Blossom East has a lot to learn in the service department. Maybe we’ll stick to the west side location.

I was so excited to get a Blossom on the UES. I’m a huge fan of their restaurant and café. I have to admit that I haven’t eaten in the restaurant, but I have ordered delivery twice… yuck. Honestly, I can’t think of a better word… yuck. The food was honestly terrible. The second time the food was so bad that I literally could not eat it (dry, seasoned really funky, goopy, etc.). What a sad and expensive mistake. My husband, who eats anything vegan, even said it was not very good. Maybe if you eat-​in the food is at least palatable? I won’t know because I’m sticking with Candle Café.

Just today I stopped in BLOSSOM CAFE on the upper east side.
The menu was complete with tons of innovative vegan recipes above and beyond the basics you see at other vegan joints.
I can highly recommend the soups and sandwiches.
My picks for next time:
Mushroom Cigars 11
Mixed wild ground mushrooms and tempeh rolled in a phyllo crust with white truffle cream
Seitan Skewers 8
Grilled seitan in a smoked hickory sauce with caramelized pearl onions and grilled asparagus.
Their milkshakes also look soooo good had it not been absolutely freezing outside I would have tried one as well
BTW — Everything is Kosher too.