Candle Cafe West

It really is one of the best restaurants in the city.

So far I’ve only had Candle delivery, but the fact that everything has been great no doubt means that the sit down food will be even better. Hoping to make my way there soon! But if you’re thinking of ordering, go for it because the quality of the the food is stellar. I’ve gotten the fall veg ravioli, which is SUPER legit for something that contains zero cheese. The spinach pasta shell was cooked perfectly, soft all around with a bit of toasted brown on top, and the tomato sauce was perfect and garlicky. It also came on a bed of cooked spinach, making for a really wholesome «appetizer» that actually just works as an entrée.
I’ve also gotten the veggie pad Thai, which I liked less than the ravioli but was still pretty good! The noodles were really thin and overcooked but the sauce (lemon tamarind) was downright delicious along with ample amount of kabobs squash, tofu, and toasted cashews. Although I’m not vegan, I’m a huge fan of produce and I think candle does an amazing job of doing justice to the flavors of fruits and vegetables. They are especially adept in creating sauces that really work. I’m really excited to eventually make my way through other menu items!

Service was not good! The waiter ignored us… had to ask a different server to order an appetizer. Then had to call over someone else to place our dinner order. No follow up! Half cleared the table between courses. My cocktail needed more juice and they gave me a glass with a tiny amount in it and charged me $ 4.00. Ordered a coffee and never got any sweetener… It was noisy and chaotic, not enjoyable at all!

CCW was deliciously delightful. The vegan options would satisfy most meat eaters. The burrito was amazing. The nachos were fantastic. The mac and cheese was so good, started picking up their to go meals at Whole Foods market. Staff is great and friendly. Up to 5 visits and never disappointed.

Good service and food. Not too noisy. Pleasant atmos.

As far as vegan joints go this place is okay. Just as a caution to others — I’m an omnivore who frequently eats meat and cheese so this was going out of my comfort zone a wee bit.
The dishes that don’t use fake meat are fine but really aren’t going to impress those who are on the fence. The only thing here that I feel is stand out are the smoothies — AMAZINGLY refreshing on a hot summer day but it’s like $ 10 for a much smaller portion than what you could get at juice generation a few blocks down.
Your meal won’t be cheap, don’t expect any snacks as a starter, but if you are vegan and trying to go out for a fancy date night you would probably be a perfect fit.

This place was just alright, the prices are on the steeper side for these small portions. I’ve been to many organic and vegan places before and this did not blow my mind but it was still cute.
I loved the strawberry sauce that came with the whole wheat waffles and we also shared the artichoke with potato special as en entrée.

Forgot to update my review since my last visit, which was prompted by a gilt city voucher. The bill still came out quite high, but for $ 90 after tip and tax the 2 of us each had a juice, shared an appetizer salad, each had an entrée and a dessert, which was a big meal and good value. It’s been too long since my visit so I now can only vaguely recall liking every dish besides the raw pear tart. I recommend their seaweed salad and any grilled tofu entrée. They throw chock full of different veggies into each dish so your body will thank you later. I also found a recipe for their grilled kale salad in their cookbook and you can really tell that their dishes take forever to make and have way more complexity and refinement than ones you can buy at fast casual salad joints like Chop’t. Service is awesome.

Great vegan spot a plethora of options. For someone who isn’t vegan you won’t feel limited in your selections of great entrees and drinks.
I ordered the vegan quesadillas that are served as an appetizer but definitely large enough for a full meal for one.

Fantastic! The food, service, atmosphere… Maybe the best vegan restaurant in NYC! Everything was over the top good!

This place is incredible! Had the absolute best dinner last Saturday — everything is so flavorful, wonderful wine list and extremely courteous staff. This restaurant truly feels like home. Favorite dishes include the ravioli and anything seitan. And the old fashioned cocktail here is extremely well done as well.

A solid vegan option on the Upper West Side. Friendly service, warm, cozy atmosphere, and hearty vegan comfort food. Menu is now a bit dated — vegan food has come so far. But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You will leave contented, with a tummy full of tasty, nutritious chow

I don’t often review and alas, rarely rave. This review should be read as rapturous. From the reservation phone call through the the «I’m gonna be late call», to being seated immediately without even a raised eyebrow, I knew there was something very different about this place. After taking a few minutes to settle down (NEVER drive– parking is impossible) and demolish a much needed coffee, I realized the venue is lovely. It was uncrowded for brunch at 1:00 on a Sunday which made this jaded NY’er think — «Oh shit, the food must suck! «. I’m thrilled to report I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Special kudos here go to our waiter, Brian for patiently and gracefully guiding this carnivore (and first time vegan patron) through the menu and specials. There were three of us. One vegetarian and two carnivores. Each ordered different meals based largely on Brian’s suggestions, and each of us really liked –make that loved — everything we ordered. Frankly, I’ve never had better pancakes. Thank you Brian– I would never have ordered them without your spot on recommendation.
Don’t hesitate to go here — in other words don’t let VEGAN scare you. You will genuinely enjoy it.

A little overpriced in my opinion but maybe that’s because I’m realizing everywhere in New York is overpriced.
Still, Candle Café is a great place for vegetarians. The ambiance is great for a nice sit down dinner with friends. I got the fajitas, which didn’t quite taste like typical Mexican restaurant food. They were still great though! Just don’t go here if you want greasy food since everything is very healthy in that new, trendy kind of way (kale, quinoa, you know how it goes).

I want to give 3.5 stars, really, but since that is not possible, I think the score is closer to 3 rather than 4.
I am feeling a little bit bad that Candle Café West did not exceed expectations because I brought a meat-​eater here and he was not impressed. That bums me out especially since this was a dinner to celebrate his marriage to a long time friend of mine. He didn’t even finish his dessert and claimed that it was because he was too full. I don’t believe that for a second. Everyone knows we have two stomachs: one for meals and the other for dessert!
Anyway, I did otherwise enjoy the meal. We made reservations online to make sure we got a nice spot at the time of our arrival. That went off without a hitch. The ambiance is very nice, tables are well spaced and chairs comfortable. We started with a nice bottle of Cava and a homemade ginger ale.
Our appetizers were nice: we got the zucchini blossoms and the potato latkes. While the blossoms were tasty (as was the sauce they were in), it was unclear what we were eating. They are such a delicate item that it is a shame they were breaded beyond recognition. Oh well. The latkes were very nice.
I got the seitan piccata, which was nice. I didn’t absolutely love the mustard in the sauce, but the overall was quite good. My husband got the risotto, which he said was very nice despite there not being real cheese. The place is vegan so he was not surprised nor disappointed. Our friends ordered the spaghetti with «wheatballs» and the special pasta dish. Both reported that they were good, but I tasted the wheatball and was not impressed. Whole Foods sells a frozen vegan meatball that is much more satisfying. We were told the pasta dish was good.
We also ordered dessert as I mentioned. Our friends got the Mexican chocolate cake with «ice cream» and we ordered the Almond Joy pie. I did not care for the Almond Joy pie. The top was hard fudge and the bottom was a coconut something that was just so-​so in flavor and consistency. We also tasted our friends’ dish and felt it was good but not exceptional. We did not clean our plates and that is pretty extraordinary.
The service was very good with one small flaw: we had to pour our own glasses of Cava twice. The staff was quite attentive and good but I do wish they had been a little bit more on it regarding the wine. I felt bad that my friend, whom we were taking out, reached for the wine twice.
I will definitely give this place another try. The menu is pricey but perhaps we just didn’t order the best items.

A NYC vegan classic. This is one of those vegan restaurants that tops restaurant lists. Vegan or not, don’t miss it!

Première expérience «organic» dans la «Big Apple».
En pleine semaine, à l’heure du déjeuner, la queue peut vite d’allonger.
Nous né nous démontons pas, la commis de salle nous informe qu’on n’aura pas plus de 5 minutes d’attente, montre en main. Son pronostic se révélera juste,
La salle est petite, mais le cadre chaleureux. Côte à côte avec la gente de l’Upper West Side, les conversations se mêlent les unes entre elles sans que ça en devienne troublant.
Nous sommes donc installés le menu en main. Mon choix s’arrête sur un duo de wraps mexicains.
Je n’en mangerais qu’un, ils sont copieux.
Pour ceux qui aiment les smoothies et les cocktails «healthy», l’établissement en propose un large choix.

Great food/​not cheap but yummy.
Was
Here for a birthday and it was great! Hard to decide menus was very varied

This place was nice and the staff was nice. I want to give this place a 4 because the staff was nice and the food was good. However, the food was super duper awesome great like I expected. My friend and I shared nachos as an appetizer which were tasty. Then I ordered the ravioli appetizer as my main course and friend ordered the morel crusted tofu. The raviolis were nice! A bit dry and I didn’t like the crumbles inside the ravioli that much but still good. The motel crusted tofu was interesting and seemed delicious but it went from 100 to 0 really quick after the first few bites – the dish just tasted really bland to me.
Overall, this place is worth a try. However, beware like most fancy places in NYC, it is pricey for the small portion size.

Oh, YUM. Came for brunch on a Sunday at 1:30 (made a reservation just in case, but it wasn’t really necessary). The hostess was very friendly and seated me even though my friend was still on her way.
I had the waffles (on the brunch menu), which came with bananas, strawberries, candied pecans and strawberry «butter». Did I mention everything is vegan here, but you can barely tell? Amazing.
The waffles were incredible, and I also ate a fair amount of my friend’s vegan huevos rancheros — definitely the best tofu scramble I’ve ever had. The coffee is also quite good.
Only complaint is about the Green Goddess juice, which was bland. When we told the waiter it was tasteless, he gave us both a 10% discount. Now, that’s good customer service!
I’ll definitely be back for dinner. They’ve got an extensive menu and everything sounds so good. Can’t wait!

What a lovely evening :) Sat at the bar with my hubby, the bartender was a wonderful woman with great food and drink suggestions. We ordered 4 appetizers and dessert… and had to be rolled out of there.
We had the ravioli (giant portion!!), nachos (giant portion!!), dumplings (stuffing a little bland) and seitan chimichuri. The ravioli was the best… the seitan is just ok, but I think we’re just not seitan lovers. The apple + cranberry pie is the BEST!
Wonderful atmosphere, fantastic service, healthy (ish) vegan food. Perfect compassionate restaurant. Will definitely return!