Nu Age Cafe: Not Quite What We Expected

Last night we visited the Nu Age Café in Tarrytown. We were surprised when we walked in. Given the title and fare, we expected a more modern design inside, and, well, the restaurant appears to be stuck in some 1980's time warp. There is floral wallpaper on the walls, chandelier-type ceiling light fixtures, and columns covered in grocery-store type wallpaper depicting very vibrant veggies and fruit. We decided that perhaps their interior design is catering more towards the Luby’s crowd . . . it's not what you'd typically expect from a vegetarian/vegan restaurant.

When we got seated (after a wait), the hostess took our drink order. About 10 minutes later, the server came over and took our dinner order. We ordered the Yam and Yucca Fries as an appetizer. The Yucca fries were dense with a potato-like texture, and the Yam fries tasted more like typical french fries, except better. The homemade ketchup that came with it was sweet and tart at the same time.

We got the Soy Miso Ramen as our entree. We were a tad disappointed; it seemed like they poured a whole ramen package into a bowl and added veggies. Saltiness pervaded the soup, overpowering any other spice in it. The spinach and mushrooms were an interesting addition, but couldn't save the dish.

Our dinner-mate’s NuAge Sushi Platter was much more enjoyable. The platter consisted of some pumpkin rolls and asparagus/cucumber rolls. With the wasabi, these were quite good. The pumpkin sushi was surprisingly tasty.

We didn’t try their desserts, but the dishes we saw at neighboring tables looked tempting.

We don’t see the Nu Age Café becoming a new haunt for us anytime soon. The interior decoration is too gaudy for us (we know a good interior designer if they're interested), the service was a tad slow (although we noticed a “Help Wanted” sign in their window), and our first experience just wasn’t very encouraging.

Nu Age Cafe
2425 Exposition Blvd, 78703
Tel : (512) 469-9390
Tues - Sun, 11am-9pm (Closed Mondays)

Image (c) byrdiegyrl

update: So nice we reviewed it twice. Oops.

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By Elizabeth S. in Food on April 12, 2006 10:24 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

SplendaRob

Or did I misread that? Either way- excellent.

SplendaRob

Meat as a side item?! Genius!

Ami

Rest assured, SplendaRob - I just scarfed down a side of beef as a mid-afternoon snack. mmm mmm good.

eliz. s.

I don't eat red meat, but I eat everything else. We just tried this restaurant since I hadn't been there before. I'm pretty sure there are some carnivores on this staff, but they probably aren't all writing restaurant reviews.

SplendaRob

Is there anyone on the Austinist staff that eats meat anymore?

Jessie

Seriously, if the poor interior decor stands out so much...

Maybe the reverse-psychology will create the draw? I imagine the budget was low and they reused a lot of the existing finishes. Can anyone verify who was in the previous space?

All-in-all I thought the food had much potential. The service, however, left much to be desired- kind of a "holier-than-thou" vibe from those peeps.

Ami

Agreed. I ate at Nu Age when it first opened and I was not impressed at all. Service very mediocre (at best) and decor downright disjointed and icky. Food okay, but nothing special. I still miss West Lynn for quality veggie cuisine w/nice ambience. And especially their tomato artichoke bisque. Sigh.

M1EK

Some background on this place - this moved in after the Crazy Vegetarian Lady kicked out the Holiday House, a family hamburger joint beloved by Tarrytownites for some reason (I thought it was pretty lame myself).