East Village's Spicy Moon serves up bold, authentic vegan Sichuan dishes like fiery dan dan noodles and crispy kung pao tofu in a cozy, art-lined space.
"Classic Sichuan dishes get the vegan treatment at Spicy Moon, a cozy space tucked away on the East Village’s buzzing Sixth Street. (There are four locations now.) Options include General Tso’s mushroom and vegetable wontons in chile oil, with bigger plates featuring vegetables, tofu, eggplant, or potato in dry pepper, dry pot, and kung pao styles." - Eater Staff
"Vegan Szechuan delivery and takeout available - call or order through their website." - hannah albertine, nikko duren, bryan kim, arden shore, matt tervooren
"While mapo tofu is historically made with minced beef, most Sichuan restaurants in New York City use pork. Spicy Moon is one exception, since they omit meat entirely. This vegan Chinese restaurant with locations in the East Village and West Village makes mapo tofu that will certainly not make you miss meat. What this mapo lacks in intense numbing spice (even if you request spicy), it makes up for in fermented funk and garlic. Make sure to get an order of scallion pancakes too, they’re notably thin and crispy." - hannah albertine
"Spicy Moon in the East Village serves vegan Szechuan food like dan dan noodles, vegetable wontons in chili oil, and mapo tofu that's so good you’ll wonder if the dish is better without meat. This spot is great for a casual dinner any night of the week, and there’s also a location in the West Village." - neha talreja, bryan kim, kenny yang, willa moore
"If you’re looking for vegan Sichuan food, head to either one of Spicy Moon’s two locations immediately. Both the East and West Village restaurants have a full menu of dishes that suit a plant-based diet, like spicy wontons with mushrooms, fluffy eggplant buns, and super crispy Sichuan pepper brussels sprouts that we order every time. During the day, you’ll see a mix of NYU students and families, but both locations transition nicely to pregame destinations in the evenings. The West Village location has a bigger bar and a mini-lounge, but we prefer the red, darkroom lighting at the East Village location, which makes feasting on dan dan noodles and dry pot with tofu feel like an intimate dinner party." - neha talreja, kenny yang, carina finn koeppicus
