Soy

Soy is a discrete and cozy little restaurant in the lower east side – if you didn’t know to look for it you might walk by every day and never notice it. Eating there is almost like going to your friend’s mother’s house for dinner – if your friend’s mom was a really good Japanese cook. The space is cute, whimsical and comforting, with its cheerful green walls, kimono and lobster wall hangings, wooden tables, and mismatched chairs. It’s really casual; it’s the sort of place you could go to by yourself, bring a book, read and eat at the counter and not feel self-conscious. The food is mostly vegetarian, Japanese home-made cooking, and it’s wonderful. For appetizers I recommend the hijiki (seaweed cooked with tofu, carrots and shitake mushrooms) and the shira-ae (broccoli with creamy tofu-sesame sauce). For entrees the tofu steak (pan fried tofu slices with mushroom sauce) and vegetable curry (mild curry with potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, tofu and soybeans) are great. Soy also has green tea and red bean smoothies and tofu puddings – what a treat!