There is no doubt that HanGawi is my favourite restaurant in New York. Not that I have been to every single vegetarian/vegan place in the city but I have been to quite a few. Anyway, so far, HanGawi is the one for me.
We discovered HanGawi on our second trip to New York when we decided to celebrate our birthdays which are only a day apart. After the discovery, I knew that was the place to celebrate my birthday (please refer to photo).
“A vegetarian shire in another space and time” is how they describe their place and that is absolutely true. HanGawi is tucked in quietly in Korea Town. There is a big guy outside, in front of a big door, wearing traditional Korean outfit, very much like the one they made me wear for my birthday photo. I wonder if it is the same outfit. Well, the question still hangs in the air.
When you go inside, they ask you –kindly –to take your shoes off before entering the restaurant and offer you a pair of beautifully embroidered, colourful slippers. Then you are led to one of those low tables with a square hall under them for your feet to dangle.
Here’s what we had on our first night at HanGawi:
Vegetarian Stone Bowl Rice (assortment of vegetables over rice served in hot stone bowl with hot chilli paste on the side)
Tofu and Mushrooms in Lemon Ginger Sauce
House Sake (Sake is served warm and is absolutely divine. We had to buy ourselves a sake set on our return to Sydney)
Mango Sorbet (they do tofu ice cream as well)
On my birthday, we had:
Vegetarian Dumplings (steamed)
Sautéed Organic Maitake Mushrooms with Asparagus
Kimchi Stone Bowl Rice (spicy preserved Korean cabbage with vegetables served in hot stone bowl)
Tofu Cheese Cake (that’s what I had, being the birthday girl and everything)
Sorbet Trio (three layers of sorbet served with fresh fruit)
HanGawi
12E 32nd Street (between 5th and Madison Ave)
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212 213 0077/212 213 6068
Fax: 212 689 0780
Email: [email protected]