Spicy Moon East Village

As a vegetarian, it's always a struggle to find a good Chinese restaurant that has a variety of authentic vegetarian options as well and Spicy Moon does exactly that! I've been to this restaurant way too many times at this point, been to all of their locations and have always left extremely happy with the food. My friends from Hong Kong who are not vegetarian also love this restaurant and have raved about the flavors and the food quality in general. If you go at an odd hour you can get away with not having a reservation but if you are going for lunch or dinner you definitely need a reservation, especially in a large group! My favorite dish here has to be the Chili Oil Wontons! They are spicy and very flavorful and have a strong Sichuan kick with a slight sweet tinge which makes the dish taste so much better! I usually will keep the oil and add it to the other dishes for some extra flavor! The Dan Dan Noodles are also great!! Spicy, flavorful, peanutty- sweet and not dry which is a usual complaint with the dish at other restaurants. Love the Mapo Tofu as well and the Scallion Pancakes are some of the best I've had. I wasn't a big fan of their dessert options. We tried the double chocolate cupcake which a little dry and powdery, the frosting was good though. We also tried the 3 Mochi Flavors- mango, lychee, passion fruit. I liked the passion fruit the best because it tasted more natural and had a nice tanginess to it. The lychee tasted extremely artificially sweet. Only complaint is that sometimes on busier nights the service isn't as good and the food seems to not taste as good as well. The attention to detail seems lacking with lesser chili crunch oil or toppings on some items. Also, a quick note: the vibe of the restaurant is definitely fun, and a little quirky. Neon lights, dim setting overall, and music and restaurant can get a little loud. Especially on weekend!

Pros:+ AMAZING for vegetarians - the food isn't filled with imitation meat. What I love is that the veggies are really the star of the show+ Dan Dan Noodles were so flavorful!+ Great staff!+ Perfect for date nightsCons:- A little slow in terms of time - but worth the experienceIG: QueenOfAdventureNYC

If you are looking for vegan Chinese, you have to checkout @spicymoonnyc! We visited the new Chelsea location when we were in NYC. Here is what we ordered:-Crispy Eggplant: Was so good, perfectly cooked, tender with a light and super crispy on the outside. Spicy mayo was incredible!-Fried Dumplings: Wrappers are a bit on the thick side, but were delicious!-Dan Dan Noodles with Vegan Beef add on: We were told it was naturally spicy, so we didn't specify a spice level. It was my favorite dish and really delicious, but we did end up asking for spicy chili oil to add more heat. So if you like it spicy, recommend specifying a spice level (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) or ask for a side of chili oil.- Dry Pot Style: Was impressive coming in over a flame. Dish was delicious! Only complaint is the potato was slightly undercooked. I ate it right as it came out so not sure if you are to wait or let it cook out over the fire. I cook and eat a lot of asian food, so I may be a harsher critic here. Overall, a really solid 4 of 5 being one of the best Asian vegan restaurants in NYC! And I prefer it to other Asian restaurants we have tried in NYC, where I have rated them a solid 3.

Honestly delicious but very niche so don't come with picky eaters in tow. Food was a little oily but I'd go back to try more options on the menu. Dan dan noodles were aces.

If there was any spot that could convince me to go vegan, this spot would be it. Such delicious food and flavors you usually can't find elsewhere. Service is very kind and attentive to our table which was a large group. Ambience is pretty intimate and cozy and slightly upscale.

Spicy Moon was very SPICY! Omgosh! My friend really wanted to check out this place, so we decided to pop in! It's very busy and super loud, so if you're trying to have a conversation go somewhere else lol! The service was really nice and everything came out fairly quickly. We ordered a bunch, but I didn't like that the tables were so small and they brought out everything super quickly that we really had zero space on our table. I think it's also awkward that they seat people right under the speakers, so we had to move a few times, but the staff were really nice about it. All of the food was delicious, but please beware the spice levels, if you can't take a bunch, swing, and kick - this is not the place for you. Would come back

Such an amazing option in the EV for vegetarian - the portions are really decent and every dish I've had is super tasty. Minimal wait time and still bustling at the same time. The Dan Dan noodles with beyond beef are peanutty and not that spicy, and the noodles are well cooked IMO. The mapo tofu with beyond beef is just as good and just a tad spicier - def get a side of rice here. The cumin fries could be more fried haha and I'm one that likes a crispy exterior and soft interior, they grew on me. The only grievance I have is that the sauce for the scallion pancakes is a sort of sweet soy that is way too sweet! But regardless I'll def be back :)

I went to this popular vegetarian restaurant with another person a good while ago. The place is tiny and it was pretty loud but not too much. While the ambience kind of sucks from the bright red neon lighting (especially for photos,) the food here was excellent. I'm not someone who's a vegetarian which can easily be seen by most of my other reviews but I wasn't missing the meat in any of the dishes. Also popular and definitely the best dish the night was the Dan Dan Noodles/担担面 listed as our best seller and most authentic noodle with warm flour noodle sitting in homemade chili oil with sweet soy sauce, sesame paste, and sesame oil and garnished with scallions. You can add beyond beef but we chose not to as she doesn't like it either and I find the meat topping which tends to be pork in this noodle dish to be a bit of an afterthought. The noodles were nice and bouncy and the sauce was a good mix of sweet, spicy, and nutty. The portion size was big as well and I would probably order this alone along with maybe one of the small appetizers or something and call it a day next time I show up here or one of their other locations.Favorite otherwise was the 3 Cup Style/三杯什锦 which is listed as 3 cups/soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and oyster sauce wok stir fried with cauliflower, caulilini, AA, zucchini, eggplant, bean sprouts, potato, lotus root, king mushrooms, button mushrooms, and broccoli with tofu tossed in a sweet and savory sauce. Usually made with chicken, I really didn't mind this being entirely vegetarian. The sauce here had a good ginger flavor with a good mix of sweetness though they were notably missing the basil you usually find adorning this dish which adds a good aroma. If they add the basil, I would almost like this dish more than the noodles.The Vegetable Wonton in Chili Oil/素红油抄手 or steamed vegetable wontons filled with glass noodle, wood ear mushroom, and Chinese five spice tofu served in chili oil sauce and garnished with scallions were solid. The filling was a tad sparse (would have preferred more of mushrooms/glass noodle for texture/crunch) but the wonton texture itself was nice and bouncy and there was a good amount of mala from the chili oil. I can see why they're popular. Another smaller dish which was alright was the Eggplant With Chili Sauce/剁椒蒸茄子. I preferred other dishes due to texture. There's also plenty of dishes for only a couple bucks more or basically the same price which give a better portion and honestly better flavors. It was fine but not exceptional.My least favorite of the big plates was the Kung Pao Style/宫保 with lightly breaded and fried mixed vegetables and firm tofu tossed in a sweet, savory, and slightly spicy sauce containing onion, red bell pepper, long hots, scallions, and dry peppers was fine. It was a bit too sweet for my liking more similar to the American style kung pao then the Szechuan style though at least then taste too breaded.Outside of the Kung Pao and maybe the eggplant, the food was tasty. Not the best Szechuan but quite tasty especially for veggie/vegan Szechuan. I prefer a few other vegan/veggie Chinese spots like Wild Ginger or Buddha Bodai but still solid. Upper 3

I love love love spicy moon!! as a non meat eater for over a decade now and with the advancements in technology there isnt much i miss from the world of meat, except wonton soup, so today i decided to give spicy moons wonton soup a try and wow! its really like the real thing! I got it with two bao buns one steamed one fried both delicious! i cant wait to try more !

I've been here a couple times and it's FANTASTIC. The beyond meat in the Dan Dan noodles is a great add, and the Kung Pao Style cauliflower has the perfect flavor/texture combination. I've also had the Baby Moon drink which was a good mock tail. I'd say the Dan Dan Noodles are a must order--something I think about like once a week. Lo Mein is great here too but falls short of the Dan Dan. Can't wait to come back!