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Birthday Dinner at Kaijitsu

For my birthday last month, I had wanted to celebrate it at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to experience a lot of fantastic restaurants with prix fixe courses, but each time I needed a substitution (I’m allergic to shellfish), they’d replace it with a kind of meh vegetarian dish. So, I was curious what a prix fixe course at a vegetarian or vegan restaurant would be like because of all the restrictions. Not to mention, I’ve always been curious as to how good vegan food can really be after watching the Chef’s Table episode with Jeong Kwan, the nun from South Korea who prepares vegan food.

After a bit of searching, I decided to celebrate the special day at Kaijitsu, a Japanese restaurant that specializes in shojin cuisine. According to their website, “Shojin cuisine refers to a type of vegetarian cooking that originates in Zen Buddhism.”

I had seen the restaurant before, because I’ve stopped by the Ippodo located on the first floor. Each time I was there, I’d always see people going upstairs for lunch and I was really curious about what restaurant it was. Well, now I know 🙂

The menu changes every month; we got to experience the menu for May
Watercress with a tofu dressing
Rice and fava beans, green beans with a sesame sauce, red miso soup with an onion
A huge assortment of vegetables; dandelion, burdock root, mushrooms, watercress, tomato, potato, strawberries in a black sesame sauce
Grilled bamboo with a potato puree and sansho peppers
Burdock root (I forgot the green vegetable) tempura
Radish sushi wrapped in a bamboo leaf; mountain leaf tempura
The radish sushi unwrapped
Fava beans, scallions, black fungus, kelp, simmered for a long time
Green tea soba with fresh wasabi
Strawberries with homemade gelato (I forgot what this was made out of)
Blueberry mochi in the shape of an iris flower
Matcha and sugar candy
Vegan brownies, fruit, and tofu cream for my birthday

The meal was amazing. Each course was beautifully presented and well-seasoned. It was really easy to taste the flavors of the vegetables without it being hidden by the batter or seasoning. Most of the time by the end of a multi-course meal, I feel overstuffed, but the portions were perfect and I was really content. It was a really fun and great experience, and I’d love to stop by again sometime in the future for another special occasion.

Kajitsu
125 E 39th Street
New York, NY 10016

Comments

  3. OMG this vegan fine dining place looks soooo amazing!! Aww I’m so sad that this place is in NYC since I live in LA but I will definitely bookmark this place in Yelp so I can try it out next time I’m in New York. I’ve cut out red meat for my diet and always try to opt to eat vegan food when I’m out when I can. I loveee how inventive and creative vegan restaurants are getting (there are a ton here in LA), since it’s definitely encouraging more people to be more open in trying vegan food.

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  7. This all looks delicious. I’m not 100% vegetarian, but mostly so I love it when I find a restaurant that has veg food that’s actually interesting and inventive. I also love Japanese food, so this place sounds just perfect.

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  8. Happy belated birthday Mai. Coincidentally a friend ate at Kaijitsu last month and was raving about it. Adding your experience, I really need to give this place a try. I try to eat vegetarian as much as possible and it’s encouraging that there are so many great options for dining out in the city now.

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    • Thank you Rowena! Same, 90% of everything I cook at home is vegetarian/vegan, but I do eat meat when I go out. But it’s good to know that there are a lot of places to choose from in NYC when I feel like eating vegetarian when I go out like Chloe’s or even Bareburger has a lot of vegetarian options now.

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  11. Wowww, so many of these dishes are so unique and I’ve never seen anything like them! I know that vegan food sometimes has a rep for being boring or gross, but that’s just because some places are so lazy with their vegan alternatives. Places like this prove that eating vegan doesn’t have to compromise taste or innovation! -Audrey | Brunch at Audrey’s

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    • I know! There are a lot of vegan/vegetarian places around NYC at a more affordable, casual price point too like Terri’s or Chloe’s, which are both great!

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  15. Happy belated birthday! I hope you had the most incredible time celebrating your special day 🙂 I’m so happy to hear the food was not only well presented, but also tasted good!

    aglassofice.com x

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  24. This food all looks absolutely stunning! This just makes me realise that I really need to start trying new types of food in new places – I would definitely like to check out this restaurant some time!

    Have a great weekend 🙂
    Amy x Wandering Everywhere

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  25. It is so cool that you got to check out Kaijitsu! I like that you got to sample a bit of everything – all of the dishes look well crafted. I never had grilled bamboo before – sounds tasty! The radish sushi looks super cool with it being wrapped. It gives you that super interactive experience. I’m glad you enjoyed your time there. I know I would want to check this out! Happy belated birthday by the way!

    Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me

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