09/02/09

Great Food!

by nonimas

I love the food here. Everything is fresh and healthy and prepared in interesting and creative ways. The flavors are spot-on. Their desserts and especially their cocktails merit mention as well. I have heard people complain that the portions are on the small side and the place is a bit pricey. All true,. However, That's when you remind yourself that there is a cost to cooking totally FRESH food from LOCAL ORGANIC producers. I commend them and I loooooove their food.

• Pros: Local.Fresh. Organic. Creative

08/27/09

horrible as ever!!

by samfrogger

Tried Counter for the last time the other night. It was my birthday night and I was eaten alive by bites on our legs in the seats.... yeah- and after my friend told me they were leather!!!!!!!!!!! leather seats in a vegetarian restaurant??? By the rash on my legs and my experience with bed b_gs before... I think the restaurant has an infestation.

The food was fine (although whom I found out later was the owner) but the person seating us with her mouth full of food was strange at best. After she sat us she yelled at one of her servers for not seating us fast enough. She then returned to the bar to eat her food and drink wine... then returned back to the floor to try to help someone. Someone should help her? A busboy whom didn't smile and took our plates away before we were done... was very disruptive. Our server whom was nice (thin female- sorry no name) had to apologize three times for her work mates actions.

Again the food was fine- with all the other mistakes... it seams domed to fail VERY soon. Good luck.

• Pros: it won't be around for much longer
• Cons: maybe a non-leather seat vegetarian restaurnat will open

07/31/09

Cudos to Counter

by georgieduncan

I don't know how I happened upon Counter? I live in upstate NY and rarely venture to New York City. My friends live in the East Village and on a hot sweaty night we popped into Counter and had a wonderfully surprising evening. Most vegetarian restaurants have very little alcohol, which I love, and unimaginative food, but Counter had both in abundance. I dream about their heirloom tomato and watermelon salad. Check it out. It was an awesome surprise.

• Pros: I Love Counter
• Cons: none

07/18/09

change of chef - great thing!

by marthaface

i'm sorry to say, but counter's new chef and the positive changes he is making, may turn off some of the old customers. in the past, the food has been very heavy and kind of boring. believe me, i tried it and vowed never to come back. however, for some reason, people really liked the blandness.

six years down the line i heard things were changing, and gave it another shot. this is truly what vegetarian/vegan food should be. fresh, local vegetables and fruits. not heavily laden with mock meats. amazing desserts that don't taste like the vegan dense, dry bricks that are far to common in this world.

i am truly one of the pickiest eaters in the city. i have been vegetarian for over 12 years, and believe me, would much rather go to a non-vegetarian restaurant that has fewer options, but with spot on food. the vegetarian restaurant scene in new york may be plentiful, but geesh, a small handful are worth going back to.

with that said - counter (current) is really raising the bar in my eyes. finally.

• Pros: fresh, local food

06/12/09

change of chef--not as good as before

by cavhr

Firstly, i should say i really like this restaurant. I am a veggie, lacto ovo not vegn, but have always loved Counter since it opened. Now, however, the Chef has left and a new one is in place and the food last time we went (2 weeks ago) was just way below par. Everything seemed to have changed. We hope it is just the transition and Counter finds its way back but if you have been recently and it has been your first time; don't judge it on that soley. We hope the owners read these reviews and know they have a fan base but they need to get back to its original good form!

• Pros: has consistently been good and hope it comes back!
• Cons: changed chef and food not great now

03/07/09

are all the other reviews written by the owners??? look at other websites for the real deal..

by michaelpjohnson

really ordinary food and way overpriced. probably the worst value meal i've had in the last year. you can get a better vege dish in a non vegetarian restaurant..

12/31/08

Love the bar!

by Johnnyehicks

I loved the cauliflower risotto and I don't even like cauliflower that much. The bar gal, Tanya was knowledgable and funny and the drinks hhad such clever names:). Our waitress was very efficient. There was so much food and all of it good but I had room for the great chocolate dessert.

With a resturant like Counter, who needs meat?

• Pros: Organic wine, good bartender, food was excellent
• Cons: crowded

11/10/08

Great Vegan/Vegetarian food

by MandMslover

I love the appetizer with great hummus and all the other delicious spreads. The drink menu is brilliant and the bartender Tanya was great. I liked the desserts- hard to believe they had no milk products!

• Pros: Drinks, desserts, staff
• Cons: Hard to find

06/22/08

Average!

by AaronFreeman

I wanted to like this place, but unfortunately the food quality wasn't enough to justify the cost: a meal for 2, plus sangria: $80 :(

It might be that we ordered the wrong thing, but we got 4 things and of all of them I really only liked 1: The food was pretty mediocre.

Also, they say that it's tapas style, and recommend ordering 2 dishes person, but I think 2, maybe 3 dishes is enough.

• Pros: Location!
• Cons: Portions are very small!

06/09/08

Divine entrees!!

by yippee

This was my first time here, and I would definitely return. For appetizers we tried the 3-meze sampler (red pepper and eggplant "pockets"(?); assorted olives; spinach and feta "fingers"). I'd say this was just "ok". In addition, some of the sauces were surprisingly very spicy (a la Indian food), although this was not stated on menu. Other appetizer was a spinach salad with mango and slivered carrots. Not super tasty, but the spinach was extremely FRESH. For entrees, we got some type of a vegetable sampler (fennel, mushroom, carrot with cucumber, sweet potato with maple syrup, haricots verts, quinoa). The melange of flavors in this dish was EXCEPTIONAL, and one of the best meals I've EVER had! The other entree was like a terrine made of avocado, cucumber, and I think a type of cheese. Also QUITE good. Overall, the entrees we got far exceeded the appetizers. We did not get any dessert. Service was OK although the waitress did seem to forget about us once our meal was done, and we had to wait not only for the plates to be cleared, but again for her to take our credit card. But because our entrees were so good, I'd definitely return!

• Pros: Entrees
• Cons: appetizers (at least the ones we got weren't so good)