February 1997

Souen
28 East 13th Street (between 5th and University Place) Manhattan 212-627-7150
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. (breakfast served until 4 p.m.); Sunday, 10am to 10pm. Entryway wheelchair accessible, but not restrooms. Souen on Hudson Street is totally wheelchair accessible.

Have you ever had a pair of slippers, long-time companions so familiar you’ve forgotten how they felt and looked when they were new, so comfortable you take them for granted, expecting them always to be there — perfect — whenever you need them? I actually haven’t had such a pair of slippers since I was a kid, but luckily I have Souen. Souen, with its muted, multi-color walls, abundant dried flowers, and great picture window thrown open to a small garden on 13th Street in the warm weather, is a comfort and at times, a trusted companion.

I have, at times, found myself at Souen three times a day: getting the special lunch to go — a bargain at $6.50 for greens, rice, steamed vegetables and a truly filling miso soup — kukicha tea or a carrot/beet/watercress juice in the late afternoon, and then for dinner a planet platter (beans, rice, greens, hijiki and some of the best steamed vegetables I’ve ever eaten for $7.75) or an assortment of vegetarian sushi rolls ($3.00 to $4.00). I might also visit on a weekend or holiday for the terrific breakfast menu (kukicha tea is included on the weekends, an extra $1.10 during the week). The mochi waffles ($6.50) are a delight: crunchy on the outside, a moist interior and enhanced by sweet aduki beans and cooked apples. Also good are the steel cut oats ($4.00), topped with fruit and served in a bright blue bowl. And that kukicha: I’ve never tasted a better brew, and curse this fact, because my cups at home always seem inadequate.

Souen is assuredly macrobiotic in its orientation. It serves fish, but no dairy, and the menu is based around basics like rice, beans, steamed greens, tempeh, tofu and buckwheat and soba noodles. The food though pure is never dull: the flavors are so clear, so honest, so fresh that they are fully satisfying. And it’s not all ascetic. Souen serves several variations on stir-fried vegetables and tempura ($8.00 to $8.50), tempeh croquettes ($8.75), seitan cutlets with puffed millet crust ($13.00) and a range of noodle dishes — fried or in soup ($7.75 to $10.00).

Also on offer is a great selection of vegetable sushi rolls (large and satisfying and a great value) and miso, tofu drop and wakame soup ($2.00 to $5.50). The starters are good and can often feel like meals in themselves. Try the tahini noodles ($4.75), sweet but not sickeningly so, or the tempeh sauerkraut ($4.75).

Raw foodists do not fear: not everything is cooked. Souen also has some great salads. My favorites are the leafy lettuce salad ($3.00), lettuce with alfalfa sprouts and carrots. It doesn’t sound like much, but at Souen even the most pedestrian ingredients come alive. They look great in the plates or bowls and really connect with the tastebuds in an often sublime, and to the novice Souen diner, unexpected way. Take the watercress salad ($4.00), served with hijiki, daikon and chickpeas. This is a dish I can crave all the way from Brooklyn!

This theme continues into desserts ($1.10 to $4.00), which include some rich options (tofu pies, carob concoctions, and dense, sweet, vegan cakes) and some that are very "clean," like fruit kantens — just fruit and a tiny bit of binding seaweed — or muffins and cookies. A wheat-free option is always available.

What makes Souen so extraordinary is what makes it so ordinary; you never have to worry, things will be as they ever were. The rice is never crunchy or undercooked, the kukicha is always perfectly brewed, the greens are always verdant, and the tempeh roll always perfectly shaped; only once has my acorn squash been dry. The sounds of Ella Fitzgerald usually fill the air — a great delight to this diner — and the service is prompt, polite and astute. My only concern is that the word about Souen seems to be getting around, too far around. On several recent visits, I’ve found Souen packed. No tables for lunch and a long line for take-out. What to do? Well, you could try the Souen at 210 Sixth Avenue, at Spring Street (212-807-7421) — different menu, but enough similarities and also very good (although no Ella Fitzgerald). Or, you could just wait: read the paper, or Satya, sip a vegetable juice, and drink in the calm and the comfort — even before you begin your meal.

Mia MacDonald is an animal activist, writer and devotee of kukicha tea who lives in Brooklyn.

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