By Chen Zeng

It was an overall good experience for me dining at Moosewood. Moosewood Restaurant has been around for more than 40 years in downtown Ithaca, New York, and they are known for their cookbooks that are vegetarian-friendly. The restaurant is located at Ithaca Commons which is a tourist spot, and they focus on locally produced foods, so the price is on the higher end of the spectrum. For many college attendees, it will not be an everyday go-to restaurant compared to the restaurants at Collegetown that cater to students.

The restaurant is well-decorated and it was quiet enough for conversation among the tables. When it comes to the foods, all dishes on the menu are now vegetarian and many of these dishes are also vegan and can be made vegan without the addition of cheese. For a starter, I had the Hummus with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and Whole Wheat Pita and I really enjoyed this dish. The hummus was smooth and nicely seasoned without being too tart and the pita bread was warm and soft. For an entrée, I ordered the Jambalaya. This dish was flavorful and the vegetarian sausage in this dish also tasted good. The vegetables were chunky. Some may prefer to cut them smaller when eating. My friends had Lasagna and the other dish was Strozzapretti. Both dishes had cheese in them. For a side, we ordered Mashed Sweet Potato with Toasted Walnuts and Scallion. The Sweet Potato paired nicely with walnuts and it helped to cut down the heaviness of the entrées. For dessert, I ordered Vegan Chocolate Cake. The cake had a good balance of bitterness and sweetness but the texture was a little dense to my taste, probably because it was gluten-free. Other than food, they also had a wine menu that featured a lot of local wines of the Finger Lake region. If you’re interested in their cookbooks, they also have a corner in the restaurant that sells all their merchandise.

Overall, I think it was a decent meal. The environment and service were good and it was a good option for gatherings if you want to find a lot of vegetarian/vegan options on the menu.

For more information on Moosewood, see https://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/

For more vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, see https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php