New World Vegetarian

I went with a group of people for dinner.
Was first bummed that they didn’t serve alcohol, and we were celebrating and hoping for a beer with our meal.
Our first uh-​oh was the menu, which was covered with pen marking out a TON of their items. And no two menus were the same, so when we decided on an appetizer, we were surprised to find out they were out (they no longer had the distributor for an ingredient/​ingredients).
Once we did decide and order, 2 of the 5 people didn’t get their entrée for so long after the others, everyone else was finished with their meals! Only one person was satisfied with their meal and the rest of us were highly disappointed.
Not a place I would recommend or return to.

I like this place a lot. The server is a nice girl, and the only one on the floor so is busy when it gets busy.
The food is delicious and the seating by the window is great and almost always available.
It is closing very soon, so make sure to check it out NOW if you want to. Beware though that a lot of the menu is crossed out and many options are not available. But of those that are options, delicious delicious delicious!

As noted in previous reviews New World will be closing (at this location) sometime between September 1−15^th. Exact date has not been set. They lost their lease after 13 years.
They will be moving in with Symphonie Restaurant in Pt Richmond. At some point they will re-​open in a new site in Oakland.
It certainly is an end of an era. We have been going here since they first opened. We had our last meal at NW this afternoon and ordered our favorites: Fresh Tofu Rolls (the portion seems smaller-​now 6 rolls instead of 8 – 10?); Birds’ Nest (Crispy shredded potato shell filled with broccoli, carrots, cabbage); and Healthy Brown Rice (with seaweed strips, pinenuts and chopped veggies). All tasty and satisfying.
I had a Thai ice Tea with vegan condensed milk. We were so stuffed that we didn’t order the luscious vegan flan.
Our family of three has eaten here countless time. We have eaten here with all of our friends and with other relatives too. We have eaten here with groups of friends too.
I must be in the Unilocal minority, I always liked the ambiance – large windows, sunny, cozy and comfy.
Thanks New World for 13 wonderful years!
Good Luck to you at Symphonie!

New World Vegetarian is now NEW WORLD VEGAN. Yay! However, it’s also TOTALLY CLOSING. WTF, dudes?! Seriously, who in the hell is going to drive out to boring-​ass Pt. Richmond for this food (or any food for that matter)? Bummertimes.
Anyway, I came here for the first time with Brian G. and his grandmother just a few days ago. The menu was a little bit Cheescake-​Factory-​Style in that there were far too many options across all types of foods.
Good thing? Lots of options. Bad thing? Unfortunately, they were out of a lot of the things we were interested in, no doubt because the place is closing and is just making food with whatever ingredients are left. I can understand that, but Brian ordered fajitas, and then when he got his food, questioned our server with: «Isn’t there supposed to be guacamole with this?» She explained regretfully that they were out, and Brian didn’t seem to mind, but that’s kind of a make-​or-​break deal for me.
I got the vegan enchiladas. Which were good (the mole sauce was super plum-​flavoured) but for $ 12, I wasn’t blown away. The black beans were super good though. And to be fair, I’d love love love to come back here for more, but will probably be forced to check out other locations instead to get a more accurate reading on the place.

Good service and a HUGE menu that can be hit or miss. I hear they are closing though! Ack! It’s always nice to have a nearby place to get semi-​fancy vegan eats.
I’m big on their soups and fake meat. I shall miss you New World…

Super Fantastic!
My husband had the Vegetarian Gumbo and I had Rice Claypot.
Awesome service. Awesome Food
Oh yeah… we had yummy Iced Coffee too!

Eh. Really shoulda been two stars, but I guess Im a nice Buddhist after all.
This place really disappointed me yesterday — I’ve been here dozens of tines in years past, and was usually underwhelmed by everything but my favorite, the Thai Spicy Fish. And yesterday, I ordered it again expecting the same piquant, sucy deliciousness, but it sees they had changed the sauce and I got a superbland tan mush over an albeit crispy «fish.» You know something is wrong when you have to ask for salt AND soy sauce in a restaurant.
The appetizer was also sad; we got the fried sampler platter hoping to hedge our bets, but the spring rolls were bland, and the mushrooms were plain white and completely unseasoned, leaving you with a burst of hot water in your mouth. «Chicken» pieces were okay, but the sauce was ultra watery and disturbingly tasteless. For a dollar more, have the sesame fried oyster mushrooms at Millennium and be actually happy.
Golden Lotus around the corner is definitely more consistent and flavorful, if nothing else. And best vegan in the bay?!? You all need to go to more restaurants! Millenium, Medicine & Minako Organic are excellent choices in the city, and most ethnic restaurants in Oakland have something far more tasty to offer than NWV.
Well, the plum lemonade was good :-)

Let me start off by saying, I love my meat, but I also love my grandma who happens to be a vegan. I think New World had the potential to be fairly tasty, but we were really limited on what we could order because Buddhist vegetarians can’t eat onions or garlic, which seem to be staples on their menu. I was definitely jealous when I could see the dishes on other peoples’ tables, because most of the stuff we ordered was bland and lacked flavor. The Mongolian beef was pretty good, mushroom delight was okay, tofu claypot got an «eh,» and I definitely wouldn’t recommend the pad thai.
However, I still think this place is better than Golden Lotus in Oakland; Service is MUCH better at New World. Pretty expensive though; the bill came out to $ 41. All in all, I think this place might be good if you’re a regular vegan, but probably not the best option for my little Chinese grandma.

I will be honest, I used to frequent this place a lot… but better vegan options just seem to have gotten my attention.
However– New World’s Vietnamese sammiches are now served all week long! That is reason enough to pop in.

I am a food lover with no will power and crazy liberal values. This means that I eat everything and can’t resist eating something if it tastes good, even if it’s overly indulgent. It’s only afterwards that the liberal side checks in and I feel guilty.
You know those cliché scenes of a person having an inner battle between good and evil represented by an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other? Well, mine is similar to that except on one side, a vegan (wearing green with a halo) is quietly describing the health and environmental benefits of veganism while on the other side Anthony Bourdain (in black leather and pointy red ears) raves that the ducks and geese raised for foie gras live happier and more purposeful lives than birds in nature… followed by a poem about his love affair with a roasted pig. I relate to both sides. I am often torn.
At New World Vegetarian, my inner battle between the liberal and the foodie is quieted. While everything on the menu is vegan and healthy, the food is really delicious. The clay pot dish of rice, glass noodles with tofu and veggies was so delicious if I had the room, I would have ordered another. My husband’s Szechuan eggplant dish while good was drowning in sauce and a little on the bland side. But it was served with a side of delicious nutty brown rice cooked with lentils.
The service is good and the restaurant is nice and clean, if not a little boring. The price point is higher than I would have liked, especially for lunch. But I guess eating delicious food without the guilt factor is worth a little extra. Overall, I would come back for the clay pot dish and to try some other dishes that looked good.

Many people like to boast about being low maintenance, «I like things simple and easy» they like to say. Well folks I am a high maintenance type of girl. I like my stuff complicated, detailed and frilly… which is why I was quite impressed with New World Vegan.
Their food is anything but simple, it is all actually quite complicated and well, I sort of like that. I love it when I get a plate filled with veggies I cannot recognize, seasoning that is new and different. Its not easy to offer a varied menu from different sections of the globe (Fajita’s and Mongolian beef on the same menu?) that not only tastes great but is vegan and delicious.
I highly recommend their Hot and Sour Soup as well as their Won Ton Soup. Also, all of their Clay Curry Pots are tasty and their Beef Fajita’s weren’t half bad either.

Look. I’m a carnivore. For a friend’s birthday I went vegetarian all day (NOT vegan, though this is a VEGAN restaurant. My day included consuming eggs and dairy). This is the choice for dinner. It was a rough day for me. New World Vegetarian makes some tasty (albeit expensive) food. Maybe it’s not that expensive. For 6 of us we ate $ 150 worth of food including tip and 5 drinks. It’s probably that my stomach is more accustomed to a higher fat and meat content. By the time we left, I was in a strange state — it was a combination of not wanting to eat any more and simultaneously my stomach felt really light. I can’t say it was full, but I just wasn’t hungry. Maybe this is what vegetarians experience all the time, but for a consumer of meat it’s just not what I’m used to.
We had a long conversation over dinner regarding Chicken McNuggets. Most of it is actually corn products. So going along in that vein, can’t they make a vegetarian nugget that actually tastes like a McNugget? The nuggets that they serve here aren’t bad. They’re just not what I expect when somebody says Chicken Nuggets.
As far as the other dishes are concerned, it actually was pretty delicious. It’s amazing what kind of textures you can create with tofu. But don’t let that fool you. Just because it has the texture of chicken or fish doesn’t mean it actually tastes like it. It’s still tofu, but with a lot more seasoning.
IF I was a vegetarian, I’m glad for this restaurant. They have a decent variety of asian dishes that are full of flavor. But I’m not. I need meat. However, this shouldn’t stop you from going there. Therefore, as a pretend vegetarian for one day, I’ll give them 4 stars. Yes, the dishes could be bigger. The prices could be a little lower. But that could just be because I’m a meat eating pig.

I stumbled into the restaurant as I am new to the area and looking for place that serves Vegetarian food. I had been to few traditional Viet Nam restaurants and wanted something different.
I was not disappointed. True I would have paid less in China town but this was unique with a combo plate of raw veg rolls and a garlicky, eggplant tofu dish. I was quite pleased.
Unfortunately the owner informed us that they are being forced to move by some landlord issues and they are not sure where they are going yet but at least I got to try it once. I will be back if I can.
The free Kumbucha tea shot at the end was much appreciated.

In my tenure as a vegetariant (errrr…flexitarian) I’ve tried a ton of fake meat places (different from vegetarian restaurants). I typically am hesitant to do so as they’re all very similar (generic-​pan asian) with a single ‘type’ of fake meat. This was by far the best I’ve been to. Each meat had a different texture/​taste than the others and did a pretty good job emulating the real thing. I was worried that the epic nature of the menu (so many different cuisines!) would result in uninspired dishes, but everything that came out was well prepared and presented. The waitress was just fine and bringing out a pitcher of water without prompting is always a plus in my book.
If I keep eating like this my gradual slide back into omnivoreism (it is a slippery slope, beware!) just might be reversed.
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Yeah right. I love me some meat. Only occasionally, but nevertheless it is a good treat.

Some people may fault this place for having such a wide array of cuisine… but I think it’s genius. I love being able to go somewhere and have potstickers and taquitos! Everything I’ve tried thusfar is great! The Chicken Cacciatore is deeelish! The service is friendly… and I’ve even talked to the owner… who is super passionate about the environment, and vegan culture.
I highly recommend it… Even my carnivorous friends liked it!

ok it is vegan and i appreciate that. And it is close to my home. Truly bizarre menu, they are clearly trying to do way too many different styles.
The food is incredibly bland and this is yet another place run by «supreme master’s «cult. So the profits go to a dyed blond haired middle aged vietnamese woman who calls herself «the supreme master». no thanks

Hm. Let’s start with the good. Friendly server. Um… Let’s see. Uh. Oh yea, large portions (enough for lunch and dinner). The positivity stops here folks.
Bland. Bland. Bland. I ordered a claypot dish with coconut milk and curry and there was little to no seasoning. No flavor whatsoever. Blech. My friend’s eggplant dish was equally unseasoned.
I ordered coffee as I broke my glass french press and can’t make it at home right now. At $ 3 with no refills (no refills?!), I expected a large bowl of steaming hot coffee. Instead I received a small cup (maybe 8 oz, probably more like 6oz) of lukewarm vegan brown stuff. It was presumably coffee. For some reason, they automatically add milk to the coffee rather than bringing it black with a little carafe of milk or soy. It certainly wasn’t a latte. The menu didn’t describe it that way either; it said coffee: $ 3. In any case, it was very disappointing. The server did reheat the coffee, but that didn’t really make it taste any better. I know I’m harping on the coffee but a sista really, really needed her fix! Thank goodness I had a Peet’s card and went around the corner after lunch.
This makes me sad. I loved this place years ago.

Major whoa!!! I’ve seen many vegan/​vegetarian restaurants built around a cuisine or two, but not one that handles dishes coming from more than three – if memory serves me, I saw some takes on Brazilian, Mexican, Chinese, and Southern (specifically Creole) cuisines. So I had to order what I thought was the least likely to appear on a vegetarian or vegan menu: gumbo. Yes, gumbo! Wonderfully thick, and I could taste file through a complex and focused mélange of flavors paired with wonderful textures. This heavenly bowl was served up on a plate beside a beautiful pile of collard greens cooked with red onions and plenty of garlic, a gorgeous mound of red/​brown rice, and a healthy cup of chili paste for spicing up the gumbo. My friend enjoyed her BBQ «chicken» sandwich with a good side of salad.
And a good thing one of us decided to ask for the dessert menu – apparently, it’s separate. The crowning event was the vegan flan for both of us. Yet another culinary miracle.

I just don’t like this place. Been here a few times and the food is always mediocre and unexciting. The best thing I had here was an eggplant sandwich but let’s call it the best of the worst.
BTW, salt is not a substitution for meat/​poultry/​sea food. The food here is very salty and salt does not compensate for meat/​poultry/​sea food.

Though tempted to return back to Golden Lotus, I decided to seek out New World to try something… well, new.
Perusing their menu, I wondered why their cuisine was all over the place. Then I realized, they aren’t called New World Vegetarian for nothing. The eclectic menu is reminiscent of Herbivore’s, right down to their vegan Black China Bakery cakes.
Entrees range from $ 7 – 13. Ample seating is provided among its modest looking interior. Service was very friendly. This is yet another restaurant that uses IKEA water glasses (I happen to notice these things).
The claypot portion was huge and sizzling hot; my whole face went numb for a bit. The food looked appealing and tasted fine till I got towards the bottom of the pot when it began tasting somewhat bland. I get the sense that some dishes are better than others. There’s so much to choose from. I have no other choice but to return.
Overall, it’s a good veggie dining spot in Oakland’s Chinatown when you want something other than Golden Lotus.