Someone else described this place well as Japanese hippie food your neighbor would serve. It is very clean tasting and healthy so some may find it bland/boring, but for those who like this type of food, it is absolutely delicious. I tried the tahini ramen (with salmon and gluten free noodles) and it was satisfying. It was not spicy or salty at all like most ramen, but savory with huge vegetable chunks in it. I also tried the gluten-free cornbread with tahini butter and it is amazing. It was even better than I had been expecting/hoping for and I could eat that cornbread with tahini butter all the time. I felt super healthy and good after eating at this place. The food is really lots of veggies, high fiber, low calorie, and none of the bad stuff. read more

Great option for vegetarians (and there are also fish options for those who care for that!) I had the curry miso ramen with zucchini noodles - absolutely LOVE that they have an option that caters to low carb dieters. This is not your standard veggie ramen! It was so so flavorful and had a plentiful amount of vegetables. Definitely substantial enough to have as a meal without any added protein. We also tried the veggie dumplings. Not low carb, but hey you've gotta live a little sometimes right? Great to share as an appetizer with friends and delicious through and through. Love that everything is healthy, organic, and freshly prepared. read more

Souen - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

Kitchen for the Macrobiotic diet enthusiasts. Food is simple with Asian influence. The place is small but wasn't too busy. A friend and I went for lunch and got seated quickly with no reservations. I ordered the tofu lunch special. It was a bento box. It included a miso soup, a salad, a pickled salad, the tofu with sesame paste and a serving of plain brown rice. The food was prepared with a healthy lifestyle in mind. It had little salt, barely any sauces and no oils. The portion wasn't huge but with the variety, I go what I wanted. Tofu bento box was $13 during lunch special. Next time I would like to try the ramen options. They had a few variations of ramen soup with gluten free noodles. Would I say that I totally loved the place? I am not sure. It is clean, simple with the health conscious crowd in mind so I will give it another go... read more

Souen - Menu - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

Souen is an organic, macrobiotic, vegetarian and vegan friendly dining option in the East Village with a cozy, modern feel and good service. I love the idea of it, and being a vegetarian 4 days out of 7, I really like places that know how to do veggies justice. That said, the meal was very hit or miss. The restaurant is narrow, with lovely wooden tables and big painted chalkboard boards. The menu had a great number of options, including stir frys, sushi, ramen, and a whole page devoted to fish. Originally I really wanted to try some tofu here, but the pickings were not as robust as I like. So I opted for fish. Jon F, and I ordered: wild cod with okabe sesame, steamed veggies, and brown rice edamame guacamole with fried seitan chips black sesame shoyu ramen cornbread with apple butter chocolate tofu pie The edamame guacamole is very tasty, and more like a dry hummus consistency. The seitan chips were really oily and I wasn't a huge fan of the flavor. The seitan just sucked up the oil taste. The cornbread was rather dry but the very tasty apple butter was its redeeming factor. The wild cod was very fresh and very tasty, but do know the portions are 4 oz and wouldn't make most people feel full. The ramen was good, but not really mind-blowing. And the chocolate tofu pie was just disgusting. It was sour, like yogurt, and didn't taste like chocolate at all. I took one bite and put my fork down, it was absolutely repulsive. I really want to like this place for their philosophy, friendly service, decent value, and know how, but with a meal that ended on disastrous, I'm going to have to pass. read more

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After seeing small crowds waiting outside all of the 6th Street restaurants we'd been hoping to score a quick meal at on a Saturday (I though Malai Marke was still under the radar!), we decided to try out Souen. It's a Japanese spot so healthy that it reaches hippie, with veggies on every plate and lots of cooked fish options. Decor is blah and the lights are bright. It's unfortunate that we were in a rush, as the pace was very relaxed. I'm talking 20 minutes to place an order... 30 minutes to get food... 20 minutes to get a check. This makes sense to me in a busy, fashionable place where you'd want to linger, but as we all got one dish in a casual, somewhat quiet environment, I wasn't feeling the wait. I had the jappa, a Japanese white fish stew with kale, squash, and other goodies. I'll cop to having a restricted palate from this cursed cold, but I found it to be lacking taste. I felt good that I had eaten it but I can't say it was because of the flavor. My dining guests were similarly satisfied but unenthused. My boyfriend had a salmon and soba dish that was similarly bland, though the underlying quality of the food was fine. My friend had the curry udon which seemed to be the winning dish. It wasn't too expensive (a little more than $20 each), but it all felt like things we could have cooked ourselves, and possibly improved upon with seasoning. This would be a good choice for picky or healthy eaters, as there's lots of vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, etcetera choices, but wouldn't recommend widely. read more

FOOD WAS GOOD aside from the cat litter box smell they had when i ate there last night.

Souen is by far the healthiest food you can eat in Manhattan and one of my favorite places to eat. Their macro plate is the gold standard of macro plates. Whenever we travel and order something similar from other restaurants, I'm always so disappointed. This here is the real deal. Here at Souen you get a variety of real fresh vegetables, prepared with minimal "extra" stuff. Pair it with the Miso Tahini sauce and thank me later. Regardless, no matter what you order it's loaded with vegetables. By far, my favorite dish is the pesto noodles because again, it's loaded up with vegetables. You won't find this anywhere else in Manhattan. I've been able to eat their noodle dishes (brown rice is my favorite) and still lose weight. But everything I've had on the menu is great and I've been coming here for years. I also am a big fan of the chickpea ramen which comes with some grilled butternut squash. So delicious. Without a doubt, if you're looking for clean and healthy food that also happens to be amazing, this is the place to try. If you want a treat, something very epic and you don't eat dairy, they have a pasta Alfredo made with cashew cream that is incredibly satisfying. Their cookies and dessert are great too because they have very little sugar in them. So you can have dessert and not feel guilty. Besides the wonderful food, the staff is helpful and friendly. They still have the same folks from years ago. How many restaurants can boast that? So every time I'm there it's such a friendly and familiar atmosphere. Definitely worth to visit. read more

Some days, the only thing that cheers me up is knowing that Souen is alive and well and that I can go there for a hot meal or can order it to go. Some of my personal favorite dishes are Three Mushrooms, Macro Plate (with Broiled Salmon (omg)), and Hijiki. But the soups and stews are also incredible. Be sure to check the board or ask your server for specials. I was vegan for a couple of years and Souen was my everyday meal. Souen was perfectly accommodating. I gave up being vegan last year but I definitely not give up Souen! The experience became even more delicious as I ventured out from my usual order. Souen has the kindest servers in NYC. And the food rocks. read more

Souen - Cornbread, chef salad, macro plate ordered to go - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

I've been going to Souen for over 10 years and it's a rare tried and true health food restaurant. There's no place quite like it anymore in the city. Get the squash tofu and corn bread with apple butter. You'll feel good after. read more

I'm a long time eater at Souen, since 2010 but lately, the food quality and freshness have gotten worse over time. It doesn't seem they prioritize freshness of ingredients. I had ordered the Fish of the day - 'Cod Fish plain with lemon', fish was frozen for a long time, tasted rubbery and strong fish odor, that's when you know it was not fresh. The Pad Thai noodle was drowning in the peanut sauce, creating a soggy mess and one-dimensioned taste. Really disappointed in the experience. Perhaps there was a change in ownership or chef? read more

The restaurant is dingy with no air passing through. The woman who waited on us was negative and with no personality. I ordered the white fish with shitake. The soup had boiled vegetables and no fish The shitake was the only thing worth eating. She charged me $25 for this nightmare. I also ordered the vegetable dumplings. They were the kind that are crescent shape that you buy in the supermarket. Tastless and mushy. The total for the worst meal I have ever consumed was $38. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. read more

It sucks for me to have to write this review, but there was a sheet metal screw in my ramen. I posted a picture so you can see what happened. I was going for the bottom of the ramen with a fork and started hearing my fork "clink" with something else sounding like metal. I scooped up this screw. How bizarre and scary. I have been going to souen for years, but no longer. read more

Souen - A sheet metal screw in my ramen - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

I used to go to the other Soeun locations. Upper West side, which closed years ago and soho closed a few years ago. All the branches had slightly different menus. Recently discovered this branch in the east village, near where I live now. Ordered in and was not disappointed. Excellent food. The only criticisms-- sometimes overly salty. My son ordered the fish and it was not good. Everything else, the veggie dishes -were excellent. A new one-to me- i tried the cashew Alfredo with rice noodles and veggies. I will definitely order it again. read more

Souen is just fantastic. It's not for everybody, so be prepared for super clean hippie eats, but when that's what you want it's perfect. I love the mellow atmosphere and I've never really had anything I don't like there. I also appreciate how thoughtful the staff is. I generally go for the macro plate with a LOT of hot sauce on the side. Every friend I've brought here has been pleasantly surprised by how much more they liked it than they thought they would. I hope this place thrives and never goes away. read more

I've been going to Souen for over 15 yrs now, and though I'm sad that the other location has closed, I"m grateful for this EV location. Without sounding redundant, since every review on here basically reiterates the fact that they are macrobiotic and organic, I will keep it to some pros and cons: pros: clean food, properly prepared for macrobiotic fare Many options - various dressings, flavors, noodles, salads, and soups Warm welcoming staff. Always cheerful, fast friendly and informative service Great place to eat solo. No one bothers you or tries to pick you up. Good specials to keep the menu fresh cons: Music. It's the one thing that I don't like here. Always very pop-ish, or just something plain bad. Think of early 2000's top 40. I think digestion is important, and the music does not aid in good digestion. I usually wear headphones while I am eating here Can get to be a bit pricey. Order wisely - extra charges for sauces, etc. Personally, I don't go here as often as I'd like because I can't justify the extreme prices, and woudl rather just cook macro at home. The chili sauce is super salty. read more

A super down to earth little place in the East Village/LES. We were originally planning to go to Spicy Moon right next door, but they were packed on a Friday night (forgot to make reservations). Souen hadn't filled up yet (though it eventually did), so we sat ourselves down and had some delicious food. I ordered the maitake ramen, which isn't on the online menu I don't think, but is on the board on the wall of entree specials. If you like mushrooms, you'll love this dish! Super generous with the actual WHOLE maitake, plus from delicious fried asparagus spears on top and some fresh green onions to top. The vegan ramen noodles were chewy in the best way, though next time I might try buckwheat noodles just to try. My friend ordered the curry ramen, with udon noodles. The udon noodles definitely aren't the super fat udon noodles at normal Japanese places- they're just slightly fatter ramen noodles. She finished the entire bowl-- super good! My other friend ordered the Thai green curry, which she didn't end up finishing because she had some food before, but she also did say the dish needed spice/heat/more flavor, so she asked for chili paste on the side. The curry definitely looked plainer than the ramen, but I didn't get to try it for myself. All in all, though a little in the pricier side ($17-20 per main entree), you feel good eating this food whether vegan or not because it's delicious but also made with careful ingredients. Lovely! read more

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Great vegan Japanese food. I've been vegan for a year (by choice) and have missed ramen. Souen's vegan ramen hit the spot perfectly. Broth full of umami, al dente noodles, crispy vegetables: a full bowl of deliciousness. They also serve sake. We need more places like this whether they are vegan or not. read more

Last night was dreary, cold and miserable. We were initially in the mood for ramen as it would warm up the soul and make the weather more bearable. But, this place caught my friend's eye and he stopped and stared a long time at their window and the orange-coloured door. And when I saw "macrobiotic and organic," I gave in without a battle. The place was very warm and cozy. They can seat 30 people comfortably. It was around 8pm when we showed up and there were about 15 people seated. The place has an immediate calming effect. It also helps that they play Zen music too. You know Yanni, Enya stuff. I can be so crunchy granola at times... I ordered a glass of red wine. And well for the most part, I am allergic to the sulfites in the red wine, so most of the time, I can't drink red wine, but last night I did. It was a good glass of red wine and I didn't go into anaphylactic shock. That's a good thing! For appetizers, I ordered a miso soup and my friend has a watercress salad. He said his salad was good and the watercress looked so green and fresh. My miso soup was excellent, chocked full with veggies, mushrooms, seaweed. It was very satisfying. For the main entree, my friend ordered the veggie spicy ramen and he said the broth was amazing. I had the macrobiotic plate. It comes with steamed veggies which include kale, carrots, pumpkin, seaweed and black beans with a side of brown rice and dressing. This dish was so good. So fresh and the natural flavors of the veggies were delicious. But you have to like steamed veggies, no frills. The pumpkin was so tender and sweet. This plate is really big, enough to share with a friend. And in the end, my friend did have some of the kale and he liked it. For dessert, we shared baked apples with granola. Very refreshing and a great way to end a wonderful meal. Oh yea, both of our waiters were super hot in that crunchy granola way. LOL. Eye candy with a veggie spin. Now...we are talking! read more

Up until today, Souen would have received a 5 star rating from me. Unfortunately, the little twit who answered the phone today ruined that rating and now they have 2 ugly stars. Why? Well, after ordering lunch from Souen for the past 3 years, today I was given an embarrassingly small piece of cod in my cod lunch box (reference the SMALL COD PICTURES on Yelp). Since my $14 piece of cod was the size of a piece of sashimi, I was certain when I called to talk to someone about this they would offer to refund my lunch. No such luck. Here is how the call went down: Me: Hi, I have ordered the same Cod Lunch Box from you guys about 30 times over the last 3 years and today my cod was about the size of a single piece of sashimi. Her: I know. The fish is small in the lunch box. Me: I understand that, as I mentioned, I have ordered it about 30 times...this is really small. Embarrassingly small and certainly not worth the $14. Her: Yeah, its small. Me: I don't think you are getting it. I have worked in the food industry and this is the moment where you apologize and offer to refund the lunch of a good customer. Her: Yeah, it is small. (Silence). (Click). I call back. Me: Hi, I think you may want to take my credit card number so you can refund my card. Her: I have nothing to do with the kitchen. Me: Great, can I speak to an owner or manager? Her: They aren't here and I can't do anything. This went on and on...then I called the other Souen to see if I could get in touch with someone that way. Apparently, there are different managers. All I can say is karma sucks. My cod-sized respect for Souen has wasted away like the lunch in my empty belly. read more

Souen - SMALL COD $14 - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

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I had the best outdoor lunch today-- pesto vegetable plate. Wonderful server and the food was perfection. The outdoor area had a heat lamp and plenty of space. Got a cookie to go and it was delicious. Def plan to return again. read more

When I used to imagine being pregnant I figured I would eat whatever I wanted. Endless amounts of cake, French fries and pizza. The last place I pictured myself dining pregno was a healthy place like Souen. However, I've come to terms with the fact that I'll have to lose all this pregnancy weight at some point (sigh) so while I've been eating a few more French fries than normal, a healthy meal is still welcome. I met 2 friends at this Souen in the lower east side of NY after learning that their union square location is currently closed for renovations. We had made reservations ahead of time, but it was only half full at 7pm on a Tuesday night. However, all the tables were full by the time we left so looks like reservations are the way to go. After sharing the dumping appetizer with my friends I did as any good yelper would do and ordered the black sesame ramen (couldn't resist after all those mind blowing reviews). While I didn't find this to be as unbelievable as many yelpers described it I did think it was pretty tasty. When it came time for dessert there was no reason to feel guilty. Even their cheesecake is made of tofu! We split one chocolate tofu cheesecake and the fruit kanten. Although I put a very nice dent in the cheesecake I think I'd prefer mine without tofu. As for the kanten- eeeeewwww, tastes like baby food! They even gave us a tiny little baby fork to eat it with. Fortunately I had a very yummy ginger soda to wash away the yucky baby food taste. I would totally recommend Souen to all those health nuts out there and even told a friend whose boyfriend eats gluten free to check it out the next night. May be a good place to go when it's time to lose the pregnancy pounds, but for now I think I'll be indulging in "real" cheesecake. read more

This is a cute little casual healthy food spot. For what it is I give it three stars. The portions are big and filling and you can make your meal healthy or less healthy depending on how you order. A lot of the items allow you to pick and choose which is great for picky eaters. Vegan, gluten free, dairy free options galore, although they do serve fish for non-vegans in the group. Only complaint was that service was a bit slow and the fish portion was pretty small and not as fresh tasting as I'd have liked, also I have been here twice and asked for no kale which upsets my stomach but they have put kale in my order each time none the less. Still, I'll be back. I appreciate the concept. read more

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A friend an I agreed on going to this place, as I wanted something healthy and he wanted Japanese noodles (ramen or soba). I've never heard of this place nor has it ever come up on my yelp searches. He got there a few minutes before I did and was told that it was a ten minute wait, there is no space to wait inside as others have mentioned so plan accordingly if the weather is not cooperating. We waited outside until we saw a party leave, then we moved inside. The host/waiters do not acknowledge you as others have mentioned. Seriously, at least five minutes pass before they bother to clean the tables for us to be seated. Then after being seated it takes a few more minutes to bring menus. We should have know from the beginning that service was not their strong point. After mulling over the menu and decor, we weren't exactly sure if this place was going to deliver as it seems to be overly hipster and artsy types dining there. I had the seafood with soba and that was surprisingly good. There were a ton of vegetables, a few shrimp and scallops and a handful of noodles. While there wasn't that much food, I didn't feel like I've overloaded on carbs as you sometimes feel stepping outside a ramen shop. I had the hot bancha tea, it wasn't bad. The description was scarier that it actually tastes. I would say it taste something like the black palate cleansing teas they give you at the end of a Japanese meal, except over here you have to pay for it. Food wise, I would probably give it 4 stars. Service I would give it 2. This is a good place to go if you have no plans after dinner and just want to sit and catch up with old friends kind of place. If you are in a hurry, please skip. The servers were friendly, but I had no idea what they were doing the whole time as the place isn't that big and there were at least three servers. read more

Souen - Seafood - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

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My friend and I came here for dinner Friday night .. soaking wet!! We really wanted to try this restaurant and we knew the rain wasn't going to let up so we figured we'd make a mad dash for it, and it was well worth it! We decided it would be best to get a bunch of things and spilt them. Prior to Souen, we stopped at banh mi zon in hopes that the rain would pass but when it didn't we ordered Veggie Summer Rolls (check out Banh Mi Zon for my review). So once we got to Souen, and I'm on the hunt to find the best Summer Roll ($6), I saw that they had them on the their specials menu. Of course we had to order them. They were filled with carrot, cucumber, burdock, mint and basil in rice paper. But the best part of these summer rolls was the peanut sauce. It was unlike any peanut sauce I think I've ever had, it wasn't too creamy but enough to stick nicely to the summer rolls and the accent of peanut was extremely strong. The summer rolls were two summer rolls cut up into six pieces and presented nicely on a piece of bib lettuce. Next we had the Steamed Dumplings, six wheat dumplings filled with seitan, nappa, ginger and scallions ($7.50). These were delicious and served in a traditional dim sum style sort of way! The dumpling itself wasn't too doughy which I always love and the combo of veggies it was filled was perfection. It was served with a peanut/soy sauce but wasn't creamy. I of course continued to use the peanut sauce from the Summer Rolls because I was so obessed! We then had the Edamme Guac with Seitan chips. The guac was had a nice thick texture to it and was very flavorful. I think I would add a little salt and pepper next time though. The Seitan chips were interesting. They were a little greasy for my liking but they complimented the guac perfectly. Finally we went for the pad thai with soba noodles. We wanted this dish once again because of the peanut sauce!! It was filled with veggies, mushrooms, broc, carrots and was the perfect amount of food to spilt between two people. The atmosphere here was great. It was so relaxing. This is a tiny little restaurant and around 8:30 it was relatively busy. The service was great, attentive and very helpful when it came to menu selections. Our bill was $33 for the two of us which for the amount of food we got, I don't think is too bad at all! read more

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Blown away by how flavorful and healthy tasting all of the food was. My friends and I shared the edamame guac and it came with gluten free tortillas. It was delicious and it was nice to know that the guac contained some protein. For dinner I had the tahini shoyu ramen with zucchini noodles and loved it. It tasted authentic and the zucchini noodles made me feel like I was getting more nutrients/vitamins than the regular bowl of ramen or soba. I will definitely be heading back here again when I want to get my ramen fix, and I recommend it to anyone else who likes eating healthy! read more

Souen - tahini shoyu ramen with zucchini noodles - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

Wow the eat in dining experience at Souen REALLY disappointed me. I've gotten their Tahini Miso noodle soup and macro plate before to-go and the macro-plate was tasteless but was saved by the sauce. The noodle soup, though, was delicious. So I thought any noodle soup here would be great. Boy was I wrong. -2 stars food: I ordered the Maitake Mushroom Soup with Homemade Buckwheat Noodles special. The pumpkin and mushrooms were good but the noodles were horribly overcooked. All the noodles were in tiny pieces and I don't think I got a single noodle over 1 inch long. The noodles disintegrated on my tongue like a watered down doughy paste and it was disgusting. Worst of all I told the waitress this problem and showed her my tiny chunks of noodles and my clear dissatisfaction but she just brushed it off and said the buckwheat noodles are just like that. They're "fragile". -1 star service: The service was extremely slow and unorganized. I get that it's a Friday night but it took forever to get a server's attention, we didn't even get all the menus and when we finally ordered and got our food, we had wave them down for utensils because they didn't give us anything to eat with. Still, I consider myself lucky because there was a group of people who had been waiting on a 8:30 reservation for over an hour! The servers were also unapologetic (see food comment above). We were also seated at the only table along the other wall and were blocking the entrance. People kept squeezing past us to get in and get out and every time the door opened, there was an gust of cold wind. This made for an even more uncomfortable dining experience. +2 stars for positive takeout experience. Bottom line: Save yourself the horrible dining-in experience (especially on a busy night) and order your food to-go but do steer clear of the overcooked mushy mess they call "buckwheat noodles". You've been warned. read more

Souen - Maitake Mushroom Soup w/ Home made buckwheat noodle (Special). Most overcooked noodles I've ever had. - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

Oh my god, I love this place! I saw this place on a Japanese TV show which introduced a top 10 Japanese restaurant loved by NYers. I had the White Sesame Ramen which got more than 10 kinds of veggie toppings! I am not a vegan but loved the taste, very satisfying. I also loved their appetizer Burdock Root. It was delicious! I want to know how to cook it. The restaurant is very small, but does it matter? Nope! read more

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This is probably one of my favorite Japanese vegan spots. They have really good appetizers. Their edamame guacamole is really good!! The have very good variations of food on their menu and it's very nice inside. Cute small place for a date night. I've definitely would come here more then once. They have a lot of noodles options to choose from. I came here and I ordered their sautéed kale, basil pesto with organic brown rice noodles, tahini spread ramen with organic brown rice noodles, ofc the edamame guacamole that's what i really come here for and the bloody beets juice. Something always worth trying! Will be back soon!! read more

I went on a Sunday, where its was a nice vibe, though service was slow because of only one waiter doing everything he was amazingly nice and informative! We had the Tofu Pad Thai with whole wheat Soba noodles. This was great! Homemade peanut sauce was on point. My dish was the Veggie Tofu Pesto with basil pesto.... AMAZING. If your palate isn't used to eating vegan it's good to start off with the veggie tofu pesto because it has really great sauce that drenches the vegetables giving an awesome flavor! read more

Souen - DELICIOUS Veggie Tofu (Basil) Pesto - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

I am delightfully surprised by Souen. Ramen we tried was okay, I think the broth was a bit bland and so were the fish chunks. Forgot the exact name but it was on the specials menu. I did, however really like my Sweet Miso marinated black cod entree with Brown Rice and Steamed vegetables. They even let you pick a dressing for your steamed vegetables. I picked Tahiti Dill, which was a creamy sesame dressing sauce, sooo good !!! This place offers you food that you make you leave feeling satisfied and energized. I love how organic food does that to me~ The only miss of Souen was the homemade ice cream. It was green tea flavor and it lacked milk and sugar,causing it to be rather sharp and bitter. I'll definitely want to come back more if it wasn't so pricey here read more

I came here with a friend for lunch. They have a great $10 lunch deal, but I went for the cod ramen, which was very flavorful. Overall, our waitress was really cute and attentive. The menu is impressive, with lots of veggie options and not just ramen. I would definitely come here again. I'd probably go for the lunch deal, though, because it comes with more stuff! read more

A year ago, this would have been a five star review. Their seitan chips with edamame guacamole was a brilliant dish. But they've gotten rid of the seitan chips and now just give you bland tortillas instead. Yes, the edamame guacamole is still tasty, but it went with the seitan chips in such a way that both were elevated to the next level. It was a peanut butter and jelly esque perfect pairing. Now, you're basically just given yellow paper to dip into it. The tortillas are that unremarkable. When a restaurant guts the best thing on their menu, they lose my trust. I will not be coming here any more. read more

Vegan and gluten-free options for ramen?! Yes, please! I went with the Curry Miso broth with zucchini noodles ($1 extra), and ... just wow. Delicious soup with plenty of vegetables. I wanted to sip up every last drop of the broth. My only complaint, though, was the lack of any protein. I would have liked the bowls to include tofu or beans or something with a more significant amount of protein without having to pay up to $2 extra for toppings, because it would have been like an $18 bowl of ramen. And while it was really good and was a decent-sized portion, that would have been unnecessarily expensive bowl of ramen. Service was great, though we did come a little earlier than most people would come have dinner, and pretty much everything else on the menu sounded absolutely amazing. The dining area is a little on the small side and I can envision it getting quite cramped when full. read more

Souen deserves more stars than 3.5. In nyc where almost every restaurant is loaded with additives, souen is a rare gem as it SERVES REAL FOOD. I came here on one of the coldest days of the year craving for something hearty but not greasy, and souen fulfilled that. The curry miso ramen was hearty with 7+ vegetables, and flavored solely by the spices of curry and miso base. I liked that you can choose your noodle type, from organic ramen to buckwheat noodles. Their $10 macro plate also seems filling and delicious, and the price is very reasonable compared to most healthy eateries in the city. read more

Souen - Curry miso ramen - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

This Souen is my favorite of all of the locations. No weird rules or strange/spaced-out servers. Pleasant, helpful waitstaff (with good knowledge about food allergies), great food, unique menu, and plenty of clear options for gluten-free folks. I had the lunch box with grilled salmon - it came with rice, a salad with choice of dressing, pickled vegetables, and a yummy bowl of the soup of the day. No complaints - everything was really good. For dessert, I had the salted vanilla rice milk ice cream (gluten-free) along with a gluten-free cookie. The cookie was great but the ice cream left much to be desired. read more

Souen - Souen's grilled salmon lunch box. - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

The customer service here is a bit iffy. When I came here with a group of about 6 people everyone's dishes came out different times, and they messed up one order and gave the person shrimp instead of salmon (they were allergic to shrimp too), they made them a new dish no questions asked. The vegetable dumplings were very delicious. They're probably the tastiest vegan dumplings I've had to date since I went vegan. I also got the curry miso vegan ramen. It didn't quite taste like normal ramen, not because of it being vegan, but because it wasn't really salty and the toppings were healthy macrobiotic things. It was still good, I just wouldn't compare it to traditional ramen. I would've liked it more if menma was a topping (I have no idea if menma is macrobiotic). But my favorite thing about Souen's food is that you can taste the nutrition when you eat. You feel like you're eating healthy (and you are) and it's still very flavorful and tasty. You will feel healthier after eating here and not feel like a fatass at all, even if you eat a ton. It's wonderful. read more

Souen - Storefront - Japanese Near Me - New York, New York

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Souen is a popular spot, even late at night on Friday. The inside is tight, to say the least, and when you are stuck waiting 15 minutes for a table, there is no good place to stand. You can stand in the vestibule, but then you have to determine if the shower curtain is moving because people are leaving, or because someone bumped into the opaque curtain. The other option is standing directly in front of the waiters and praying that someone gets up so you can be jammed into a sardine can while seated. Or you can come in the summer, and hope that it's not raining and you can just wait outside. This place is truly a Pescatarian establishment, since you can still eat seafood. Their rendition of edamame guacamole with seitan was delicious. I'm not sure I would really call this place Japanese, simply an American establishment making a name for themselves in the ramen/noodle industry. I ordered Curry Shoyu with the sodu noodle. The sodu noodles were nice, dark and not too thick. The zucchini noodles were very good, but you don't get many in your dish, but you won't fill yourself up on useless carbohydrates. As for the curry ramen, people were raving about the flavor, but I thought something was amiss. It's good to be adventurous and try other people's food, even if that means no meat. Come in with an open mind, if all else fails, there are hundreds of places for a quick bite nearby. read more

From someone who is not a vegan, and even stubborn about vegan diets, this place does vegan food very well. The ingredients seem to be of very good quality and are very well prepared. The chef is an awesome guy too! Itadakimas! read more

Cozy vibe and a wide variety of options to choose from; from ramen to rice dishes, there were a lot of good options. Portion sizes were extremely generous and prices very reasonable. Good food, good service. read more

So glad I reconnected with Souen! I used to come to the East Village location in the 80's and always loved the good clean tastes from fresh whole plants. Very hard to find these simple preparations anywhere and it's so good for ones/my system. They have some new dishes and ramen and even have alcohol which might appeal to more people. I don't think the other locations are around any longer so get over to this one. PS It's not 'vegan' it's based on macrobiotics. So not sure of all the rules, no meat or dairy tho fish would be ok at times. Have to read up on it again... ;-) read more